Day 1

Oct 7^th

Thursday 3:38pm.

“…with life comes struggle, but with struggle comes hope, love, and happiness.”- Amihan &Alejandra.

And so the adventure begins today. I am on the plane flying to Beijing while I write blog number 2. Today was hard saying good bye to my friends, girlfriend, and family. But the adventure only began. I have 21 more weeks to go. I could not grasp the thought that I am acutally leaving America and going to a foreign country for six months. Even when I had my boarding pass in my hand, handing it to the Air China attendants, I still couldn’t believe im doing this. I know I will not regret this adventure. Yes there will be many struggles, from the Kung Fu trainging to Manderin classes to being home sick. But I know I have the will to conquer this trip and to make the most out of it.

My Goal is to keep everyone reading my blogs updated everyday. No promises though. My hands might be too exhausted from morning training to even type. Or ill be taking naps every chance I get. I really have no idea what will happen in the next 48 hours. Im just diving head first and hoping for the best. All I know is when I land in Beijing after this 12 hour flight, I will have to take a train to my luggage, get my luggage, check it in, and then wait 5 hours till my next flight which is only an hour. Once I land it will be midnight in Yantai and I will be staying the night in a hotel. In the morning I will be picked up by my martial art school. People ask me if I am scared and nervous. I am a little scared and nervous but by being a little scared and nervous itll help me stay focused and attentive while traveling.

Today at the airport, my luggage was double the accepted weight. So my Dad, Mom, Auntie Cecil, Kc, and I ran around looking for a luggage I can buy. I needed another luggage so i can put the stuff from my big luggage in it so it would be me more light and pass the weigh in. After that we went to exchange American money into Chinese currency. The ratio is One American dollar equals Six Chinese yuan. It made me happy that my cousins, aunties, and devin and tara made it to the airport to see me off. It was hard to say bye, but we will all keep in touch through email and on here! Chad escorted me to my gate and while we were going through the security check point I took everything out of my pockets except for my magic thumbtip. I walked through the metal detector with ease, but then I saw security patting down two people in front. If they found my thumbtip, I think I would have been in trouble. I was running out of time. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. Luckily when they patted me down I was able to do a simple magic trick by making the thumbtip disapear in my hand so they didn’t see it. I thought that was an intense situtation. For those who know what my thumbtip looks like I bet you could imagin what the Airport security would tihnk if they found that. When I got on the plane I was in the center seat in between a couple, but I told them they can sit together and they let me have the window seat. I liked how that worked out. And now I am here writing. I will blog again either tonight at the hotel or in the morning. Thank you to all my family and friends for supporting me in my decision to go to China. Without you being strong for me I don’t think I would have been able to go along with this adventure. I love you all.

-Scott