Hello!

Hey guys,

Stephanie here, waiting in Minneapolis airport for my flight to Tokyo! It's going to be a long 48 hours. My flight schedule goes like this...Detroit-->Minneapolis-->Tokyo-->Shanghai-->Changchun. It's a blessing that I have a friend in Shanghai who will let me stay there for a night, or else I wouldn't be able to make it!

I can't believe i'm sitting here in the airport waiting to board the plane. It's been a really long process to get here. I've had some VISA problems and parental problems and just flat out rejections from so many companies. But I know I'm blessed, because I'll be flying across the world in just 2 more hours. My parents dropped me off at the security gate this morning at metro detroit airport (can you say, 4:00 a.m. wake up call suxs?!) and it was difficult. This is the first time I will be flying away by myself. It's pretty scary for me, so I'd imagine it's more scary for them.

I'm so excited to be leaving at the same time though. I'll be teaching english in Changchun for the entire summer (my flight back is august the 27th!). I'm excited to find out where I'll be living and to explore the city! My biggest fear is not being able to access youtube, facebook, gmail (i can't live without gmail!) etc. etc. etc. I've been sort of documenting my travels so far and i'll be making v-logs. I just gotta figure out how to get people to access it (i mean, if i can't put it on youtube, and it's too big for email, then these v-logs are pretty pointless!) Regardless, it's been fun carrying around a camera and narrating my life.

Anyways, that's it for now that I can think of! I'll be posting more soon! Miss you all already!! go AIESEC!

with much love,

Stephanie Chang

Germany

Hey everyone! I'll be headed to Germany in less than two weeks, as soon as finals finish. Just introducing myself and my internship:

I will be a Junior this upcoming fall semester studying Chemical Engineering. My internship is in Halle, Germany, a medium sized town an hour and a half south west of Berlin. I will be working in a company that manufactures pure Organic chemicals, not exactly sure what I'll be doing yet, but I'm planning on brushing up on my Organic Chemistry quite a bit (haven't studied it since freshman year and I don't remember enough!).

I have been conversing with some AIESECers in Halle through email, and I am very excited to meet them as they are to meet me. I don't know any German, so getting around should be interesting to say the least. They are still figuring out my living situation, but other than that my health insurance, flight ticket and work permit have all been figured out.

Well I'll probably put my next post up after my first day there or something. Hasta la vista!

Welcome to Ghana

Hi everyone,

I'm also keeping a blog at jeff-ghana.blogspot.com. Here was my first post from January when I arrive in Ghana. Since this post I have gotten very adjusted to living here - but each day a new challenge appears. Enjoy reading about my adventure!

I'm already technically into day 3 of my journey... I left Monday, January 18th at 11:30am and finally arrived Tuesday the 19th around 4pm. The program is through AIESEC, a cultural exchange experience. I will be working with junior and senior high school kids, helping them learn about AIDS and HIV and how to prevent it. I will know more about the work once we start...

So, some AIESEC members picked me up from the airport. The one runway landing zone is what it really is. Customs and Visa check points were pretty organized and they moved quicky. For customs I'm not really sure what they told me to do, so I just walked away and out the door. I'm not arrested yet so I think that I'm safe.

We then traveled via Tro-Tro (combination of a bus/taxi system) to Kaneshie Station - which is like a main hub for all the buses. They told me that you can get anywhere in Accra from this point. Now, its not what you might expect from a bus station. Dirt roads, old vans that hold about 15. No signs, and people just everywhere. Apparently it just works. Also, I felt bad since I had my giant bag which took up the space of a whole person.

From Kaneshie Station we got onto another Tro-Tro to reach our destination - the AIESEC house/apartment. This whole trip took over an hour and I'd say we went about 10 miles...maybe. The place I am staying is fairly big. About a dozen bedrooms, a big common space and a kitchen, which is pretty jank (Jank = not old or broken but just not right). Overall it looks like a crack house, but a nice one. I wish I had brought a computer since they have Wi-Fi! No running water right now because the pipes are ... malfunctioning? but hopefully next week. I showered with a bucket yesterday. That was fun.

At this point I'm trying to break through culture shock and cope with the heat. It's a bit warmer than the midwest.... Dinner last night was chicken and rice. It was actually not bad, but my stomach is still freaking out from all the travels.

There are 2 other interns with me, both from China. Apparently 6 more are arriving today and 2 more are somewhere for something. Basically, I have no idea what is going on. But we have internet and a lot of UPN shows. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper is a favorite.

The plan for today is to convert some money and get a cell phone. Wish me luck!