Swearing In Ceremony

Me and some of my favorites after we were sworn in as PCVs!

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Whitney Morgan
SIT Graduate Institute '12
U.S Peace Corps

Chengdu, China

wwm013@gmail.com

Home!

Yesterday marked the first day of me being a Peace Corps volunteer! Our swearing in ceremony, luncheon, and goodbyes all took place within 4 hours and now I find myself... 18 hours later in Guiyang, my new home!

The good news is that the apartment was "cleaned". Enough that I didn't suffer a panic attack as I walked in the door... but there are still a few things to clean. It's a bizarre feeling to know that I don't have to talk to a host family member so the silent awkward moments are avoided - I don't have a curfew, and I finally get to act like a big girl! This is the beginning of the next two years for me. Monday the school year starts and for the first time, pretty much ever, I am walking in as the teacher! There will be more to talk about soon, but a quick hello to every one out there that it's going well (for now) and after this week I should be a bit more settled into my new home.

Pictures will follow of the apt./campus/city and the swearing in ceremony.

WM

More Site Visit Photos

My host mom (one of the best cooks and cutest women ever!), a mural painting in the old village (300 yrs old) that I visited in the country, and the special dish in Guiyang called "Sour Hotpot" - you put fresh vegetables, tofu, fish,  whatever you like, let it cook within the boiling broth and then eat... it's wonderful!!

--
Whitney Morgan
SIT Graduate Institute '12
U.S Peace Corps

Chengdu, China

wwm013@gmail.com

Site Visit Photos

These photos are from my morning hike in one of Guiyang's parks about 15 minutes by bus from my home. The others are taken from a trip to the country side with my host family as well as on my 18 hr non air-conditioned train ride back to Chengdu from Guiyang.

--
Whitney Morgan
SIT Graduate Institute '12
U.S Peace Corps

Chengdu, China

wwm013@gmail.com

Site Visit

A letter to the past tenants of my soon to be new home...
Dear past PCVs,
Thank you for everything. Thank you for your millions of used, dusty, scratched, and perhaps completely damaged dvd collection. Thank you for the dirty dishes left in the sink, next to the every growing piles of dust located in every nook and cranny of the apartment. Thank you for the two closets filled with every possession y'all decided was not worthy of making the trip back to the United States and/or a friend nearby. Thank you ever so much for the wonderful smell wafting from the unplugged refrigerator that has left the entire apartment smelling something similar to vomit and soy sauce. And most importantly, thank you for the left over shoes, dirty sheets, bed linens, and left over taco seasoning packs that should have been thrown away three years ago. All gifts stated above are treasures that I will truly enjoy throwing into the garbage as soon as I arrive back in Guiyang.
Best,
The incredibly overwhelmed, P.O'd PCV.

As for everything else, the city is really wonderful. There are tons of parks to go hiking in, the city is surrounded by rounded mountains, there is a beautiful river that flows through the entire city, waterfalls to explore and the special hotpot dish served in the city is delicious. The people I met at my university were lovely and very helpful... although I still have many questions, I'm sure they will all be answered in due time. Until then, bleach, rubber gloves and shoes, lysol, as well as fabreze will all be used in large amounts until I have cleaned the apartment to the best of my ability.

2 more weeks of training and then it's off to Guiyang for good!

WM

Guiyang, Guizhou

 Thursday has come and gone, and since then everything has just been so chaotic and busy! But I finally got my site announcement and as of right now I am thrilled with the result.  I am moving to Guiyang (approximately 3 million people...small city for China), which is the capital of Guizhou province. I will be working at Guizhou Normal University in the tourism department as their first international Native-English instructor (yikes!). My apartment is right in the middle of downtown, which is great and not so great for many reasons - but every one in the boonies seems to like the fact that I am located there. This coming week I am living with a host family - from what I've been told, because the sheet is written in Chinese characters, my host sister graduated from the University I will be teaching at, with a degree in English. She now works at another nearby school as an assistant to the Waiban office.  Waiban is the word for a government official who is in charge of all international faculty, so the good news is my host sister for the week speaks great English! 

Big day ahead for me and my 21 other Guizhou-ers... we've got about 13 hrs on an overnight train ride into the Guiyang.  And for those that have traveled in China by train before, this will certainly be an interesting experience... especially with all the luggage we've got. Wish me luck! Pictures and such will be posted when I get back next week.  

WM
--
Whitney Morgan
SIT Graduate Institute '12
U.S Peace Corps

Chengdu, China

wwm013@gmail.com

The End of Model School

 The end of Model School was this past Friday. It was definitely a relief for many of us to have this come to an end, however, the break is only for a few short weeks until we have moved to our new sites and start our new jobs as English instructors.  It is still a mystery as to where I am moving, but come Thursday we will all find out where our next adventure will take place. Myself as well as pretty much every one else in the PC China 16 group is very excited.  On another note, the past few days have been the hottest days of the summer - without air conditioning it has been a test of strength in many circumstances.  Finding the bus station downtown with a partner on a sweltering Saturday morning is the last thing many of us would want to be doing (especially on public transportation). However, the task was simple enough and compared to other people, it looks as though my sense of direction is still intact to some degree - if not then we obviously just asked a random person for help.  Attached are a couple photos of my classroom as well as the school building that I taught in during Model School. 

Next week I travel to my new home so look out for updates soon!! 

--
Whitney Morgan
SIT Graduate Institute '12
U.S Peace Corps (PCT 16)

Chengdu, China

wwm013@gmail.com