Is this real?

You know how I admitted to being an anxious freak on my first post? Well. Things have not changed, my friends. Sometimes I think Xanax would do me a world of good.

I am leaving this country in less than two weeks, and it's safe to say that I feel like I'm going to die. I've been planning this trip for a year and half now, but it's almost like I've been planning it for someone else. Nope. I'm the one going. Weird.

I said my first round of goodbyes this past Sunday when I was leaving Kentucky. It was the last time I will see them until Christmas, sure, but I feel like the last four months and last four months before that have gone by awfully quick. Christmas WILL be here before we all know it. I'm finally understanding what old people mean when they say the time flies. Anyways, these goodbyes were indeed a little teary and I realized I was having to convince myself that I'm not dying, like much of family seems to think I am.

In other perspectives I feel like I'm dying (total exaggeration, get used to them) because I have so. much. to do! I stare at this Godforsaken packing list of mine everyday hoping that if I send enough evil glares in its direction that maybe it will shrink a little, or disappear altogether.

I'm vaguely considering renaming my going away party. I should call it my "going awaybutcomingbackveryshortly party." What do you think?

I guess I should just feel loved that people are actually sad over not seeing me for awhile. Maybe I'm not so bad after all? But the problem is, I can't even handle my emotions so throwing everyone else's into the pot makes for an anxious freak (see my Inaugural post).

And then- there's the boy. You see, I'm really quite attached to the little fella. I've never gone more than a week without seeing him in over three years. I'm going to do my darnedest to not be obnoxious over the fact that I'm going to miss him with every fiber of my being. I've always told myself that I would never be dependent on anyone but myself. But the fact that I will need an act of God to will my legs to walk away from him just might allude to the fact that I shot that notion of independence to hell a long time ago. I need him and I'm not afraid to admit it. He is the single best thing that has ever happened to me.

And then there's also Jackie (my mama). My sister is moving to Ohio University next Friday and then I leave the following Wednesday. I haven't lived with my mother in almost two years, but I know it's taking a stab at her heart that we're both leaving at the same time. And how will she show it? By being as absolutely grumpy as she can possibly be. That's okay, I love her anyways.

Realistically, I won't be finished packing until Megan picks me up to go to the airport (I am my mother's child) so I'm not sure why I bother being all crazy about packing and lists. It never seems to motivate me so what good does it do??

OH. And my flight has been changed- again. On August 29 I will depart Dayton at 8:47 am and arrive in Shanghai at 5:45 pm the next day. Let me fully express my excitement for a straight twenty hours in airports/on airplanes. Yippee.

Despite everything, I really am so excited to go. This is the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm ready to embrace it. It's really eerie how everything has just fallen into place. I've had so many donations that I'm actually getting a small refund from ILP for what little money I actually paid into my program fee, and to think there was a time when I thought I might not be able to go. I truly believe that I am meant to do this and it's going to change my life for the better. I can't wait :)

ILP training, Salt Lake City, and Idaho!

My, oh my. What a time we have had the past five days. Just a warning, this might be the longest blog post in the history of forever. I'm fairly certain we even took sleep tours or something because I haven't felt rested the entire time we've been here. We've just been doing so much STUFF!

On Wednesday morning, I woke up at the pleasant hour of four am, made my way to Megan's to ride to the airport, succumbed to being molested at the ripe hour of five, and hopped on a midget plane for the trip to Denver. It was a rough morning. We were sitting in the very back of the plane so it was only plausible to sleep if you find the sound of heavy machinery appealing. Which apparently Megan does, because she slept the entire way. It was interesting to be sailing back in time. When we landed in Denver, we technically hadn't even left Dayton yet. We had a 30 minute layover and then hopped on board a normal sized plane to Salt Lake City.

This trip was one for short people. Little planes, little cars, and our first two nights in Salt Lake we were even put into a handicapped room. Anyways, after picking up our rental car, we drove to Temple Square which is right smack dab in the middle of downtown Salt Lake. This is the location of one of the Mormon temples. Temple square is absolutely beautiful. So full of flowers and intricate sculptures. Oh, and fountains. Mormons like their fountains, which is totes cool by me, because I LOVE water. Shoulda been a fish. We wandered around downtown for awhile, found a local Chick-fil-a to support, and then headed to our hotel. We took a three hour nap which was much needed after not sleeping more than an hour the night before. Plus, that time change really messes with you, and by eight o'clock we were ready for bed because it was ten OUR TIME (wink wink,  Elysia). At any rate, we decided to try out a western food chain called Cafe Rio. It's comparable to Chipotle, where you get a tortilla and they fill it with things of your choosing. It was alright, but I have a special place in my heart for Chipotle. Exhaustion was seeping out of my pores by this point so I was grateful to go back to the hotel and go to bed.

View outside our hotel

Mountains, mountains, everywhere!

The next morning, we arrived at the Provo library for ILP Training Day 1. We got to meet some of the people in our group and I think we'll really get along great with most of them. Learning about the teaching method was a little overwhelming. Imagine someone throwing twelve coconuts at you at one time and you only manage to catch two. Yeah. It was a long day, but really great to know what we were supposed to be doing. After training, our chauffeur Dolores picked us up and we headed to another western food chain called In 'N Out Burger. It was delish. I will definitely be eating there again. The purpose of going there was to meet this girl, also named Megan, who just got home from Changzhou at the end of June. Which, by the way, we learned at training that we have been saying the name of the city wrong for approximately a year now. We've been saying it like Chang-Jow. It's actually pronounced Chong-Jo. Who'da thunk it. So Megan filled us with lots of awesome tips for going there and we are so thankful for it! Especially Dolores, who had about fifteen questions written down for Megan to answer for her. That lady is hardcore, and absolutely hilarious. We went back to Temple Square after dinner and got to see the temple at night with all the lights. Absolutely stunning, it was! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was also rehearsing so we stopped in to listen for a few minutes.

My bestie in front of the Salt Lake Temple.

The Temple

ILP training Day 2 was a little bit less of a hair-loss. We finished the teaching method in the morning, and then started on the rules and culture. Going over the rules was actually fun because they had hilarious stories about volunteers being thrown into Chinese prisons. For culture, we broke into groups based on what country we were going to. A girl who has been a head teacher in China led our group and gave us lots of wonderful info about culture shock, what to pack, and what is appropriate and not appropriate based on Chinese standards. I'm relieved to know that I can let a big one rip on the bus and no one will pay me any mind, but I can't wear flipflops in public.

After training was over on Friday, we began the five hour trek to Idaho. Specifically, Rexburg. Megan is going to be attending BYU-Idaho when we return from China. I am so excited for her, but I will miss her terribly, especially after living together for four months.  So Saturday morning we met up with this girl Hailey who went to Changzhou last fall, exactly a year before we will go. She was also extremely helpful and provided a very real explanation of how things are, which I appreciate. I don't care how bad something is, I just want to know. I hate sugar-coating. After a delightful visit with Hailey, we arrived at campus to take a tour with a lady named Mari Ann, and her daughter, a different Hailey. They were so amazing to us! They even took us to lunch after the tour with their entire extended family and gave us all free tshirts and hoodies. I can't say anything else besides they are some of the nicest people I have ever met, and I'm glad Megan will have people like her and her family around. After lunch, we took a tour of the apartment complex that she'll be living in. If God gives her one nice thing (or three), it needs to be good roommates. I'm sure they will be wonderful :) 

Another state I can cross off my list!

Mountains in Idaho.

Sunset in Idaho, taken at the rest stop.

Lastly, we drove back to Utah and checked into our last hotel. We lacked motivation to do anything besides lay in bed and watch TV. Oh, and we also paid EIGHT DOLLARS each for a four inch pizza. Okay, maybe it was five or six, but definitely no more than that. And actually, when I got up to the room I figured out that the lady didn't charge me correctly so I got mine for free. That's what they get for trying to rip people off! 

Yes, we were your typical tourists.

We slept like babies in a milk-coma Saturday night. Sunday morning we arose early (story of our lives this entire trip) and went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform. They were amazing, and it was truly a memorable experience. It was calming and made me feel a little less stressed about everything going on. With hours to kill, we had brunch at this place called JB's which was fantastic, and then went through the LDS history museum which was also cool.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Fun Fact: That organ has 7,708 pipes, 5 keyboards, and 32 foot pedals. Talk about multitasking! We also were in the presence of their 4,325 performance :)

This brings me up to now, where I am sitting in the Salt Lake City airport writing this very blog post. I still have two hours until our one hour flight leaves for Denver, and then a two and a half hour flight to Dayton before I'm officially home. I can't wait. Oh, and Wynona Judd just got behind me in line at the Auntie Anne's inside the airport. Weird.

When I turned around and looked out my window, I saw the most beautiful sunset ever.

For entertainment purposes, here are some quotes from Dolores that had Megan and I in stitches.

"OH! There are COWS out here!"

While driving though downtown Salt Lake late at night: "Girls, keep an eye out on our surroundings in case I have to pull a U-ie and get us out of here."

Every time she smelled a skunk: "Well I guess they have skunks out here in Utah/Idaho."

Every time there was a commercial on TV about buying a new laptop: "Oh yes, let's just go out and buy a new laptop like we have the money for that!"

There isn't really a quote that goes with this, but while watching a commercial she started humming and moving her arms like she was dancing. Let me just say that the dance moves with her arms were very similar to the dancing in the video for Thriller. Hilarious. 

While in her nightgown, completely out of the blue and random: "Well, I've got to go start a fight with the school system this week."

This lady has some serious stuff to check off of her to-do list, clearly. As much as we laughed at her, she really made the trip memorable and we love and appreciate everything she has done for us :)

AND! I finally got my itinerary. My departure date is August 29 at 1:30 pm. Megan and I will fly together to Detroit, and from there we will take a 27 hour plane ride to Shanghai. Which is pronounced Shong-Hi for all you non-Chinese speaking people :) I can't truly express how excited I am. With going to training and getting our itineraries, I am starting to feel like this is actually real life. Which is wonderful and scary at the same time. I know that I'm going to have the experience of a lifetime, but my heart is a little heavy for being away from those I love so much.