Today is the day! I am off to meet my host family in 2 hours. Things are about to get very real--no more cushy hotel with broadband internet in my room, Western style toilets and compatriots next door. I'll be staying, I believe, on the campus of the university where I will do the remainder of my training. Our host families are predominantly teachers in those universtities, so we've been assured by our language teachers that they will be very understanding with our very fledgling Mandarin skills. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is indeed the case.

Many of you have inquired after my address. It follows:

Mary Bortscheller
US-China Friendship Volunteers
Wang Jiang Road No. 29
Chengdu, Sichuan 610064
China (PRC)

I would LOVE to receive packages. If you need suggestions for contents, I'll post that later. One proviso: I'll be moving on September 1st to my permanent job site, which is still yet to be announced. So, if you want to mail something, be sure it'll arrive by 9/1/05. And other Volunteers have recommended using the good old USPS for mailing packages. Apparently they should arrive in 10 days or so...? We'll see, I guess.

I've got more to tell, but that will have to wait until later. For now, I must go. Until next time!