It's the start of Easter break, so I wasn't expecting anything today since I figured government offices would be closed. Guess I was wrong. Despite this, I still continued to check my email, because I was waiting on a response regarding a question about getting my visa. The last time I checked my email (around noon), they still hadn't sent me anything, so I was ready to call it a day.
Again, wrong.
Around four, one of the girls in our GM asked which city everyone had been placed in. I was confused as to how she knew, but then it dawned on me to check my email. Sure enough, a response to my question and an email about city placement was in my inbox.
"The American Councils for International Education is pleased to inform you that you will be spending your summer in Nanjing, China, on a program implemented by the American Councils for International Education."
I feel like the last part of that sentence was a little redundant, but joking aside, I'm super excited to be spending six weeks in Nanjing. Jessica and Justin are also going to Nanjing, which is very exciting. Unfortunately, not everyone in our current GM is going to the same city, but we'll at least get to see each other at PDO. So far we've got six going to Xi'an, and only one person going to Suzhou. According to the email they sent us, we're divided up by language level based on how we answered the "language self-evaluation" questions.
I'm slightly jealous of the Xi'an people only because they get to spend a week in Beijing before going to their host city. But hey, from the information they've given us, Nanjing looks awesome. It's the second largest commercial center in Eastern China after Shanghai, and ranks third for centers of education in all of China. It's located along the Yangtze river and has been the capital of China for six of its major dynasties, which is why its name translates to "southern capital".
The climate is very hot, and is one of three cities to be considered China's furnace, so that's just great. But I'm used to hot, humid summers thanks to living in the south all my life.
BUT OH MY GOD THE FOOD.
So most of the food is just dumplings in some variation and duck. I am so ready for these dumplings. Also, the food is very light in flavor, which excites me, because, while I can handle spicy food, I prefer to not have my tongue melting while trying to enjoy a meal.
In addition to food, they also gave us a little information on what our daily schedule would be like. We will be studying at Nanjing University, and will have four hours of language classes in the morning, followed by lunch. Afterwards, I believe we have some culture classes. On weekends we are feel to explore the city. They also mentioned homework (bleh) and frequent tests and quizzes (also bleh), but I guess I shouldn't complain since I'm the one who signed up to do this. It'll be fun though.
Transportation is the only thing that scares me because:
a. I'm Chinese, so if I get lost on the subway, no one's gonna be like: aw that poor foreigner. Instead they're going to be like: wow this kid's stupid.
b. I'm a sad privileged city kid who has never had to use any form of public transportation by myself, so I can't wait to figure it out in Chinese!
They said some people will live closer to the university and have a shorter commute while others' will be longer. Some people even get to ride with their host family to school, which is cool. My hope is that I live close enough to where I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn, but far enough where I get to try some independent travel. I could honestly use the experience.
So yeah, super pumped! Can't wait!