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Greetings from the chilly Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Life out in the West is okay. I'm in my office at the Museum of Western Development, where Hu Song and I will be working for the next three months. It's a pretty cool place - and all the staff members are really nice. Our job duties include painting back-drops, working in the gift shop, cleaning artifacts, and helping construct an exhibit. Right now we are currently taking a break from setting up Christmas decorations.

My host mom's name is Christina, she is a single mom with a one-year-old baby, but the baby is not living with us right now. There is a big custody battle going on, but she should be home soon. I don't have any experience with babies, especially babies from Saskatchewan, but I think it will be okay. On the weekend she will be taking us to Regina for Agribition, which is some sort of rodeo (I think). Unfortunately we do not have a dog... Heh, but I think I will be doing some extra volunteer work at the humane society, so that's okay. My dog Beau is the only thing I miss from home ^^

In my spare time, although I really don't have much of it, I have been going to the YMCA with a few of my friends to work out or play sports. I've also been reading a lot, lately. Now I know why my mom was always so keen on getting me to go to the library... It's a pretty cool place.

Okay, time to get back to work. I'll talk you all later!

-Joe

Back to the Motherland!

Hello Everyone!

The first half of the program - the Chinese phase - is now over, and I am back in my home-country Canada. We are stationed in the beautiful capital city of Saskatchewan right now - Regina. It feels really weird to be back. It probably doesn't help that I am suffering from a severe case of jet lag, too. Regina actually has snow already... I didn't see that one coming. I also didn't expect to see Christmas lights up already. Completely forgot about that! I just ate four slices of pizza though, and we're about to go for a swim and sauna... So I'm quite content.

I've got some good stories to share about Beijing city! In short... I'm very glad that we were the CWY group who went to Yichang, and not Beijing. It was way too huge, and we got attacked by street merchants every where we went. But, as you know, we went to see the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. The time we spent in Bejing was short, but we had such a blast. I think my favorite part was waking up at 5:00 to see the raising flag ceremony in Tiananmen Sqaure. Few members of the team were brave enough to wake up early enough to see it - which was a real pity for them. Ooh, and we saw the countdown for the 2008 Olympic games, which got me all excited for when I go back to take the gold medal for diving. YICHANG IS AWESOME!

We'll be going to Moose Jaw in two days... I'm getting nervous! We actually meet and go home with out host families right after we do our 'What we Learned in Yichang' presentation... Which I am the host of... So, let's all hope I make a good first impression!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am still alive after the twenty hour train ride, visiting the capital of China, the thirteen hour plane ride to Canada followed by a six hour wait in Vancouver, and another (brief) flight to Regina. I even lost my passport (which makes it the second time during this program... W00t! I got the record!), but right when we were about to board our plane they called me to the front desk because somebody had reported it. Hey - I could have gotten to Regina without it... Let's just be glad I didn't loose it in China! I know I know, I should be more responsible... I'm working on it! JF actually lost his ticket moments before going through security, so we are all crossing our fingers in hopes that he gets reimbursed. Cause that just flat-out sucks. Hu Song seems to like it here so far, but we have not done much outside the hotel.

Okay! Hope everything is going well back home! I'll talk to you all later.

-Joe

24 Hours Left... Panic Strikes!

Hello everyone!

This is just a quick 'hello', and to say that you probably won't hear from me for the next week or so. My time will be occupied with last minute packing and buying, spending time with my family and friends, trains planes and automobiles, a few days in Beijing, and a COW in Regina.

The other day Song Song, Mi Mi and I made a goodbye lunch for our families. We had to get up early and cruise through the crowded market streets to get all the vegetables and ingredients to make our very own dumplings! Mmmmm, dumplings are amazing... But I think next time I'll just buy them instead of making them - they took four freaking hours to make even with six people helping! It was so much fun though - and rewarding in the end, too. I'll try to smuggle some dumplings back for everyone! Saying goodbye to Mi Mi was the hardest though... We spent so much time together in the past few months, and I'm really not ready to say goodbye to her. I didn't think saying goodbye would be so hard to do, but I got really attached to some people. It seemed like such a short time, but the friendships I made with Mi Mi and a few others are incredibly strong. It's not the last I'll see of her though. Sounds corny and all, but we made a promise to see each other some time again in the future. Uh-oh, I better stop now before I get too worked up. I'm seriously dreading the last goodbye to my family at the train station... Krud, what's with all these crazy emotions I've been going through lately?

Ohohohoh... Guess what our group is doing in Beijing? Ever heard of the GREAT WALL OF CHINA?! Yup. We're taking a group trip there. Our hotel is also close to Tiananmen Square, too, which we'll be sure to check out. And how could we miss out on the Forbidden City *tries hard not to squeal*?

As you can probably tell, I'm having a lot of mixed feelings. Leaving Yichang isn't something I look forward to doing, but at the same time I'm excited to go to Canada with Hu Song. I'm even more excited for the fifteen hour train ride and thirteen hour plane ride! Yaaay! I'm just trying to enjoy every moment while I can. Which probably means I should be getting off the computer so I can enjoy Yichang while I can?

*Runs out to dance the Ba Shan at Yiling Square*

-Joe

The Last Hurrah

Only a week left in Yichang! There's still so much I'd like to do, but we have so little time. I don't know how the other Canadians feel, but I personally wouldn't mind staying longer!

When we were finishing up our work placements last week, I went to the University to help Natasha out with her final exams for one of her classes. That was real interesting! The students had about five minutes to read an article on Halloween, and then I just had to ask them a few questions to get them talking. The mark that I gave them was 50% of their total mark, so I felt a bit crummy afterwards because I gave some students a pretty low mark. Didn't fail anyone though (unlike Natasha).

After that there was a HUGE goodbye party for our group. It was incredible - the whole school was out watching in the bleachers, and the students had prepared various dances, shows, and songs. There were decorations, dressed up MCs, camera crew... Quite professional. Some of the acts put on for us included a fashion show that had traditional costumes from all of the minorities in China, a hip-hop dance, a girl who sang 'Hey Jude', and even the Ba Shan in which we all got up on stage and danced with them. The participants who worked at the University also prepared a little presentation. Steph and Vince read poems, and Natasha demonstrated the magic chair game (I'll have to show everyone when I get home). And somehow... I got suckered into singing a Chinese pop song. Yup. With a microphone, in front of hundreds of people, all by myself... I got up and sang a song not even in my own language. I still can't really believe I did that - hearing my voice on the speakers made me cringe... And the funny part was, after the show was over, so many people ran up to me and asked for my picture or email address! Hahaha... Too funny. Awesome night though.

Last weekend my host family and I went to the Three Gorges, but this time we took a cruise up the Chang Jiang on our very own boat. Just my family and a few other friends they invited. The sun was out and the sky was so blue. I had so much fun with Hu Song just kicking back and watching the beautiful scenery. My host dad is working on a video he is making me to take back to Canada. It's a compilation of all the trips we have gone on before, and in the next while he is going to film 'A Day in the Life of Joe'.

Right now we are in the middle of 'De-Briefing' and 'Re-Entry', where we reflect on everything we have done in China, and prepare ourselves for what is to come in Canada. Hu Song and I are actually the Vice-Supervisors, so we have been pretty busy the last while. We're all planning a goodbye party for our host families, which we just found out is going to be at a big hotel. Everything there is provided for us free of cost, and in exchange, we have to help them promote the Hotel. Yup, it's going to be one big promotional event... But we needed to do something special for our families, and they really aren't asking for much. Plus, there is karaoke there... So it's going to be a blast.

My picture website is updated with the trip to Three Gorges, our Halloween party, and a few from my Tae Quan Do class.

Hope all is doing well in Canada, Thailand, Australia, Mexico... All those countries my friends and family are living in right now. Talk to you all later!

-Joe