Airport/ The Beginning

      

          (Dulles Airport: where I depart from)

The airport. Where all good journeys start and end, and where I intend to both begin and complete this journal in no more than nine months. 

At this point, my feelings are mixed, surprisingly very different from the blantant sense of fear that I thought I would be experiencing as I leave the US for nearly a year.  However, rather than fear, what I feel is nausea--a combination of nervousness and hopeful expectation for the amazing trip which I am about to undertake. For those reading who have ever been in an on stage performance (ie. talent show, play, concert, annual hotdog eating contest)  what I'm feeling is tantamount to the feeling that you get just before you step out of the wings and on stage. In short, right now is the moment that counts, it is how I am going to make my first impression . 

As I stand in line with boarding pass in one hand and iPad in the other, the main concern on my mind is what I am going to say to my host family when I first meet them. Is an enthusiastic " 父母好，我是你们的新的黑儿子” （hi new mom and dad, I'm your new black son!）be too off the cuff? Or would a more laid back, “你们好，我高兴认识你们” ( hello, I'm pleased to meet you) be better. I've spent the last few days playing this moment over and over again in my head., and I'm pretty positive I've foreseen all the ways our first encounter could go horribly wrong or incredibly great.  I'm certain they'll be kind and accepting, but will I be what they expect? And what exactly are they expecting?  These are just a few of the questions that I have yet to answer.  What I do know is that my host family consists of my host mother and father, and also a twenty year old host sister.  I also know that they live in a relativity suburban part of Beijing that is located between the  second and third ring (basically highways that circle the city). The rest I can only wait and find out.

Well so long for now, they're calling my boarding group and I'm about to get on the plane and embark on the  most exciting adventure of my life.  See you on the other side!