Three days later.

I won't lie and say flying over 18 hours away from home, crying family and friends, leaving my apartment and forgoing school was immediately categorized as a great idea when I sat down on the airplane that whisked me away to Dalian China.
The feeling I had the morning of my trip was one more of sad finality. One that I was leaving what I knew and loved, not of what I will see and learn to love. True, its only the third day, but so far seeing what will come is slowly balancing out what I left. I felt empty of anticipation of my travels, only sadness in leaving behind people who cared about me. That first day, the flights and the running to terminals in the nick of time...the excitement that was supposed to be there was lax. I had drive to make it through the trip, and a promise to upkeep that I would indeed, have fun, and enjoy my time here...in China.

Five years ago, if you had asked me where I would go to travel, my first response, without hesitating would've been Greece, Germany, Italy...etc. Two years ago, China entered my head. I heard about the program to study in a hotel, do the training program for management and a small idea of possibility was born.
Possibility that bloomed into a definite plan. First the call out, then the interview then the acceptance then orientation for the trip, then reality set it. I was actually doing this! Crazy as it seemed, my path was redirected to a 6 month long adventure in Dalian, China. 6 months of waiting dwindled down then flew by into two weeks, one week, four days, two days, then suddenly I'm packing a suitcase that should sustain me for 6 months in a foreign company.

Did I mention how awfully underprepared I was? I packed one suitcase, which weigh a mere 35 pounds, and a backpack with odds and ends...I now know and will forever regret not packing the things I had last minute pitched to save space or weight. Unpacking was a sad affair that took about ten minutes. My face reddened at the airport when our baggage came in, and the other girls gathered their stuffed suitcases, struggling to pick them up Now I can see the wisdom in paying the price for too much. Better go with, and pay than without and regret.

Its 6am here, in my spacious and quite accommodating apartment, and I've been up since 3am due to, I assume a strange form of opposite jet lag. Let me say this...I can't think of a better way to see a new city come to life than watch the wee hours of the morning pass by. Dalian is not a large city, but its filled with tall buildings, and a vein of traffic is ever flowing. I await a new day, in my new city, to learn about a culture, and make the best of what I have been so graciously given.

Also, the food is phenomenal.