Desiree Goes to China!: "You've Been Accepted" CHINA!!! :D

I could not be more excited :) I got accepted to the ILP program to go as a volunteer and teach english to little kids in China this fall!! Aug - Dec :) I'm freaking OUT!!! :D

I got the acceptance email last week. But I got assigned a city today :) I kinda felt like I was waiting for my mission call! :p

It's crazy because Zhongshan is the city that I felt like I would enjoy the most, and it's the one I got assigned to! :) I got the email while I was waiting for the bus at UVU and I started freaking out. Pretty sure the people around me thought I was crazy. I'm just so happy! I thought things couldn't get any better, but looks like they have :)

WHY:

Why am I doing this you might ask? I am going with ILP to teach English for multiple reasons :)

1) I want to travel! Preston gets to live in Europe for 2 years. I have to live somewhere other than Utah while he's gone :)

2) Just because :) You didn't think I would just sit around and do nothing while he's gone did you?

3) I want to experience a completely different culture. I'm obsessed with different places in the world and learning all about them.

4) I'm hoping to minor/get a certificate in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) which I will use when Me and Preston are married and move to Hungary :) And this is something that will teach me a lot about that, and also look good on my resume

5) I love little kids! It's also a good learning experience. I know it'll help me learn some things that will help me when I'm a mother.

6) I've always wanted to be a volunteer for something like this. If anything, I want to help change the world. Even if it's just one child at a time.

INFO:

If you aren't interested in knowing about the program, you can skip down :) ILP is a non profit organization based out of Orem and they send volunteers to Russia, China, Ukraine, Mexico and Thailand. All of them only go in the spring, and in the fall. The only summer one is in Mexico. So, they are all 4 - 5 months. Honestly, I was tempted to pick Ukraine because it boarders Hungary and I'd get to visit Hungary while being there. I could have been in the same place at Preston. But I prayed about it and China just felt like it's where I'm supposed to go :) Anyway, It costs $2,520. But get this, it covers your food, airfare and housing. That's cheaper than a semester of college. They provide 3 meals a day except for during travels. That's the other great thing, we get to travel everywhere! Ok not everywhere but we get to travel a lot. I'm probably most excited for the Great Wall of China :) We have a lot of free time. We only teach for a few hours everyday and the rest of the time is for us to do whatever with. We can also take Chinese, cooking and Kung Fu classes. Kung Fu!!!! I'm sooooo excited.

Now it's picture time :)