Just hours away

It's 1:30 am and I leave to catch my flight at 4:00 am. Looks like I'll be playing sleep catch-up during the 19 hours plane ride.

My suitcases are packed and, ugh, so much for the one suitcase goal.
Dan is not going to be proud of my (over) packing.

HONG KONG HERE I COME!!!

OKLAHOMA at Grandma Iris's Home

Next up was seeing Grandma Iris.
Highlights:
*BANANA PUDDING
*Seeing my grandma's face light when she gave a tour of her kitchen
*Going to the movies

OKLAHOMA on The Ranch

Ladies and Gents we’ve made it to Oklahoma! Our first stop was to my moms parents home out on the ranch.

Highlights:
*My little cousin’s birthday & dance party with the interactive DVD
I finally learned how to do the Cotton Eye Joe and the Hustle. We had such a fun time I ordered the DVD to take to Hong Kong and show other study abroad students. LoL no joke
*Nana’s home cookin’
*Experiencing the life of a cowboy by riding horses, visiting a dairy farm and feeding the cows.

Little Rock

Next stop: Little Rock, Arkansas
In Little Rock we spent the night with my aunt. I loved her house filled with books, Christmas decorations, and one heck of an entertainment system. In the morning we went to the Clinton Library. Parsons would be proud :)

Memphis

"Then I'm walking in Memphis

Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale

Walking in Memphis But do I really feel the way I feel "

Highlights:
*Having dinner with Dr. Elkins
*Spending (what seemed like) and hours trying to get the perfect picture of “ten feet off of Beale” street
*Meiko snapping a picture of Arabeth

Nashville

In Nashville, Tennessee, we spent the night with my basketball coach from the Australia Hoop Life Tour. It was SO good to see them again! Props to the Moucka’s for putting up with the 7 guests.

Highlights from Nashville:
*Seeing the Mouckas and meeting their family
(I also loved seeing pictures of the Fritz’s around the house)

*Dinner
(Epic Fireballs, we went to dinner where Coach Bauche’s son was the chief! Small world, eh?!)

*Dancing for 3+ hours at the Wild Horse
Line dancing was a blast! Note to self: enroll in a dance class next year. Maybe African dance of ball room dance?!

Huntington

Huntington, West Virginia, (home of the We Are Marshall movie) was the first stop where we had breakfast at Tommy’s sisters home. Ummm! French toast and fresh fruit. One thing I won’t be missing over the break: dorm food.

Road Trip Map

My family always reverts back to it’s roots and travels to the great state of Oklahoma because all of my relitives live here. We get to see our family once (twice if we’re lucky) a year. So when we finally get together- theres always great food, company, and laughter. My sister & I cherish Oklahoma and have always wanted to show it off to others. Luckily our dream came true and Meiko (from Japan), Andi (from Austria), and Arabeth & Tommy (WV natives) came along for the ride. We mapped out our trip:
Martinsburg -> Morgantown –> Hunnington–> Nashville –> Memphis –> Little Rock –> Oklahoma visiting friends and family along the way.

Meetings from 8-12, pack up entire apartment & cram it into the car, pick up Youseff at 5, dinner at 7:30 with soccer buddies back home, pack for Oklahoma, pack for Hong Kong, leave for road trip by 2am. OK NOW GO!

That was the situation I faced on Friday. Needless to say it was a bit hectic.
Highlights:
*My car was literally packed shut and I somehow had to squeeze in Youseffs bags. Remember, he had to pack up his entire apartment also.
*Then there was that phone call, "Hey Becky, are you going to pick up your visas?"
Talk about a heart attack! If I can survive that phone call I can survive my whole study abroad experience.
*Unpacking everything from the car to my room back home. Disaster area to the max! Good luck cleaning that up Sarah.

Greetings from Little Rock, Arkansas! We're officially on day 3 of the roadtrip to Oklahoma. We enjoyed spending time in the great state of Tennessee and spending nights on the town in Nashville and Memphis. More details on the way!

FINALS

You know, I used to be a responsible student. Now all I find myself doing is checking up on Lingnan University, day dreaming about Hong Kong, and bracing myself for the upcoming packing mess. I have three finals and ugh, “I ain’t as good as I once was.” I’m afraid that 4.0 aspiration is in jeopardy.

Let the countdown begin...

I’m leaving on a Jet Plane and I don’t know when I’ll be back again
(YL Club- I will miss you!)

On December 31st, 2006, I’ll be heading overseas to China. Direct flight from St. Louis (random I know) to HK. I’ll be celebrating New Years on a plane, pretty cool huh?!

But before that 19 hours flight takes off I’ll be road trippin’ it with the family to O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A. If it didn’t get any better, my sister and I persuaded 2 international students (Andi from Austria & Meiko from Japan) and 2 WVU friends (Tommy & Arabeth from Southern WV- a whole different culture in itself) to tag along. On the 20 hour drive we'll take a break in Nashville, Tennessee, where we plan on line dancing the night away and checking out the Grand Ol’ Opery.
Fingers crossed: I also hope to visit my Aussie basketball coach.

Accepted

Ladies and Gents behold an acceptance letter from Lingnan. WATCH OUT CHINA HERE I COME! The next step is to schedule classes. EEK! So far I’m scheduled to take History of Modern Islamic Societies, History of Contemporary China, Media-Culture-Creativity, and ____ I’m still scoping out options to fulfill the 15 hour goal. Any ideas???

Why Hong Kong?

People ask me all the time why I chose Hong Kong to study abroad. To be honest, it just sort of fell into place. The original game plan was to travel to a traditional country, like Australia or England, but luckily I was able to check them off of the places-to-go-list this summer. (See pictures below). Why study abroad to a place you’ve already been? I thought to myself. Plus my study abroad advisor suggested I study overseas in a country I wouldn’t typically see myself in. Long story short, I put down Lingnan University in Hong Kong, China, as my first choice for my Spring ’07 semester.