Well, here’s the first post on the new blog. (I destroyed the other one in an impulsively cathartic cleaning of the slate during the last few weeks of school. Ahhh.)

Speaking of school, the end is oh so close. Admittedly, knowing that by next week Thursday I’ll be completely done with my undergraduate career is a bit crazy. I’m stoked, believe me, I’m stoked. But being totally done with school? Unprecedented.

What excites me the most is everything ahead of me right now. If everything goes well, I’ll be moving to Shanghai the first week of June and spending the summer there. I really can’t wait. It’s quite perfect actually. Initially I was going to spend only a bit of time there before moving to Nanjing in the fall, but in the back of my head was always a little voice saying, “Dude…..Shanghai…..”. Now, I get to satisfy both subconscious desires and have fun while doing it.

By, “everything going well”, I mean making sure I have enough money to pull it off, and more importantly, that I’m able to get a visa in time.

The visa situation is kind of crazy and this’ll be the first time I’ve had to do it on my own.

I could get a tourist visa. They can last 180 days after which I can have the status of it changed to ‘z-type’, or a working visa with the proper paperwork from Nanjing University.

Or, I can try to have Nanjing U send me a working type right off the bat and not have to worry about a thing.

The latter option would make things much easier, but is less likely to happen than the former. Here’s the thing about the tourist visa. I’ve heard people say that it’s really difficult getting one when flying on a one-way ticket, which I will be doing. So, to avoid any complications about this, you can just buy a round-trip and not come back. Given how much more expensive a round-trip is, I’d really rather not do that.

Secondly, I know nothing of changing visa types. For all I know, it might be a huge pain in the ass. Either way, I am determined to figure it all out.

In other news, the month of May shall be a good month. A family vacation to Bryce and Zion national parks for a week: really sweet. From what I’ve seen it’s an incredibly beautiful place. Also, my dear friend, Kyle’s wedding is on the 26th and will be equally beautiful. Lastly, not being in school, I’m going to be able to spend some time with my friends before taking off for China. I’m going to miss them all. Some more than others, but man, that’ll be crazy.

Boomshakalaka.