Almost time for CHINA!!

In exactly 13 Hours 12 Minutes and 55 Seconds, my plane will be landing in Beijing, China to begin two of the most amazing weeks ever. My summer has been absolutely insane thus far and is never ending. Last night was the first night that I slept at home all summer. As I said in my previous post, I was at BBYO's ILTC and Kallah programs at Camp Perlman. The program is not over until Sunday, but, because of my trip I had to leave early. Yesterday my mom came to pick me up and I had to say my goodbyes. It is a very bittersweet situation because I was so upset to leave all my friends, but, so excited for this upcoming trip. Well, I packed up from camp, said bye, and hopped in the car for a quick time at home.

This morning I woke up, still not packed, having a list of errands longer then the Great Wall, and with so much on my mind. I am finally done packing and just cannot sleep. I am trying to get used to the upcoming time change (12 hours) and am not going to sleep tonight. With that said, I will keep myself busy by blogging and letting you know all of the excitement I am feeling right now.

So, as I said tomorrow I will leave for China (in fact, I am leaving for the airport in 5 hours) and will begin to explore a land which is so different from anything I have ever experienced in my life. The opportunity that DSA is giving me through this trip is absolutely incredible and I cannot thank them and Mrs. Sullivan enough for it. I was reviewing the updated itinerary today and the things that I will be doing are absolutely AMAZING. Just to keep you in the loop, here is a basic outline of my trip (some activities may be changed without prior notice):

• August 1st - Meet with all the other schools and depart for Beijing, China.

• August 2nd - Arrive in Beijing and begin with an in‐country orientation and welcome dinner.

• August 3rd - Visit the Bijing Urban Planning Center and then walking down a restored street to experience a beautiful example of the area’s past. Later that day we will go to Tiananmen Square and then explore the Forbidden City, the world’s largest and best‐preserved Imperial Palace. This evening we will learn about Ping-Pong with a professional Chinese coach

• August 4th - Explore the Temple of Heaven. We will then practice Tai Chi with locals and later explore the Hutongs. Later that day a local family will give us lessons in Chinese calligraphy and we will join them for lunch. That evening we will explore a Silk Museum and learn about silk production.

• August 5th - We will accompanying a local chef to the market to purchase fresh ingredients and then enjoy a cooking lessons to prepare our lunch. We will then visit the National Stadium, known as the “Bird Nest” and then learn about the engineering of the National Aquatics Center, also known as the “Water Cube”. That evening we will go to 798 Chinese Contemporary, Beijing’s most active art enclave of contemporary Chinese artists.

• August 6th - We will be learning about Dragon Boats, very long and narrow canoe‐style human‐powered boat, and form teams with one drummer and participate in our own Dragon Boat race. We will then journey to a village at the foot of the Great Wall and be welcomed with stories and history of the area before being welcomed in the Mongolian fashion for dinner in a Mongolian yurt and then camp at the Great Wall under the stars.

• August 7th - We will hike one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the Great Wall of China. After lunch, we will journey through the countryside to Chengde.

• August 8th - We will journey to the World Heritage listed Summer Mountain Resort and be introduced to some traditional music as musicians practice in the gardens and then view and picnic in the imperial garden of China’s royal families. That evening we will learn the traditional craft of paper cutting and try our hands at a simple design.

• August 9th - We will visit Puning Temple, often nicknamed “Big Buddha Temple” because it houses the world’s tallest Buddha and then explore Puning Temple’s grand‐scale neighbor, the Putuo Temple. Later we will journey through the Chinese countryside and work on our conversational Chinese as we learn more phrases. After dinner we will board a train to Luoyang.

• August 10th - We will explore the Longmen Grotto and its carvings. We will then go to the Shaolin Temple and receive a lecture on the ethics of Kung Fu. Later we will explore the Pagoda Forest. That eventing we will go to the Kung Fu school to watch a demonstration from current students and become acquainted with their school.

• August 11th - We will begin begin your introduction to the art and mechanics of Chinese Kung fu alongside Chinese students. Later we will discover the Astronomical Observatory and then explore a local market for supplies and souvenirs. That evening we will meet the students who perform in the Grand Shaolin Zen Music Show, a multi media production sharing Zen principles as well as entertainment and then join the audience to watch our Chinese friends in action!

• August 12th - We will join the monks at the Temple for Morning Prayer, breakfast and then help clean the courtyard of the Temple. Breakfast with the monks will be done in silence and will be a really interesting experience. Later, we will learn more about Kung fu and then witness demonstrations of more advanced students.

• August 13th - We will meet with a Shaolin monk and learn about the spiritual side of our experience, as well as Shaolin’s place in traditional Chinese belief systems. We will then complete our Kung Fu training at the Shaolin Temple with the Warrior Monks and receive our completion certificate. That evening we will have a farewell party with Kung Fu school students and the warrior monks as our adventure in China comes to an end.

• August 14th - We will take a train back to Beijing to conclude our adventure. We will then enjoy a Duck Dinner at the Quanjude Peking Duck Restaurant and then enjoy our last nigth in China.

• August 15th - Sadly the amazing trip will come to an end and we will board our plane for our flight back to New Jersey.

As you can see this experience is once in a life-time and absolutely amazing. I was asked before leaving in a survey what three things am I least looking forward to and, honestly, I could not choose one. I will be half way across the planet participating in a journey that could not be improved in any way. I hope that I really take full advantage of everything on the trip and am able to share with you how remarkable this adventure is. I am hoping to constantly tweet throughout the next two weeks (in the top right corner of my blog) and post a blog at least once a day. I will have my camera on me (a gorgeous Nikon D80) the entire trip and will be sharing so many amazing pictures. I will be including pictures periodically in my blogs so you can see the amazing things I will be writing about. Well I have about 16 hours of air travel ahead of myself so I am going to relax a little and get psyched.

I hope that you are as excited as I am. I really encourage you to comment on my blogs and email me (cbolotskydsa@gmail.com) and let me know what you are thinking. Ask me question, give me suggestions, anything. This trip is not just about me; it is about sharing my experiences with the world.

Ziajian (That is goodbye in Chinese)!

Its almost time for China!

In less then a month (25 days to be exact) I will be on my way to Beijing, China to begin 2 of the best weeks of my life. It is crazy to think that in one month I will be around a completely different culture with everyone around me speaking a different language and all of the food being very foreign. The thought of this is awesome and amazing but slightly scary.

Right now I am at B'nai Brith Camp Pearlman at BBYO's International Leadership Training Conference (ILTC). BBYO is the world's largest Jewish teen movement and I am Central New Jersey's Council President. Here at ILTC I am learning leadership skills and learning about my Jewish heritage. The weirdest part about this is that after learning all of these Judaic lessons I will be travelling across the world to the largest Buddhist population in the world. This paradigm shift will deffinately give me an interesting perspective when in China. Well anyways, I am going to go back to camp but I will talk to you when I'm closer to getting to China! If you have any questions or want to learn more about me feel free to email me at cbolotskydsa@gmail.com. Also, make sure you "follow" my blog because one lucky follower will be randomly chosen to win a special present from China. Thanks!