1 is the loneliest number.... at 8:38 AM

There's two types of teachers in the program that got me to China. Those who stay for a month, and those who stay for a year. At my school in Lingling there were two teachers. One was staying for a year and one was staying for a month. The one staying for a year(Jason) got deported in November (Long story for another blog, but don't worry he's fine and coming back soon) and the other teacher(Brooke) left 10 days ago. Not only did they leave, but 8 other teachers left too. Leaving me alone in my city, the Rygg family alone in their's (One hour away), and the Carters in their's (2 hours away).
So yep, it's just me, hanging out in Lingling. Yay....

Admittedly I did decide to come to China by myself without friends, so technically, I have no one to blame but myself. But the prospect of a month with out other foreign teachers sounds a lot to me like solitary confinement, or something of that nature. However, I shouldn't complain. I can still go to church, I can still see my friends on the weekends (the one's remaining) and I suddenly have much more time to exercise. (Dad, I'm down to 160 lb, how you doin?)

On a more optimistic note there are three things that make me think it will be fine for the next few weeks:

1. This is probably the best opportunity to study Chinese I'll ever have. I have a great program on my laptop and a lot of time without distractions, so I may not do much else for the next few weeks. Next semester(March-June) more teachers will return, and I bet I'll find myself distracted again from my studies. In other words, this is my time to crack down. If I play my cards right I think I can get a lot of book knowledge for the next few weeks, and then for the last 5-6 months I'm here, I'll know enough that I can actually practice speaking to people, we'll see how it goes.

2. I have skype. Skype is a wonderous program that helps me stay connected to people who can actually speak English. This is a blessing to someone who lives by them self and still craves intelligent human interaction, which I can only get here from Chinese people with good English, since my Chinese stinks.

3. Purpose. I do feel like I'm supposed to be here. So I'll do the best with the time I have and hopefully it will turn to someone's good some day.

We'll see how it goes. If you get a tear stained blog entry in two weeks, you'll know I'm not feeling as good about it then as I am now. At that point, feel free to send me money, candy, classic literature, or expensive electronics....
Here's to Adventure.