"Face your fears Ms. Illa."

I once had a student named Danielle who said to me, "Face your fears Ms. Illa." This statement comes to the forefront of my thoughts whenever I get nervous and scared to do something that goes beyond my comfort zone. Traveling by myself internationally in a country with such a different culture, is one of those trying times. Even though I am thrilled and excited to be going to the Olympics in Beijing, I am not quite sure that everything will go off without a hitch. (I hate that voice of doubt.) This will be the very first time I will be going it alone. (My brothers would call me weak, but I have to prove them wrong.) It's one thing to go into unknown territory, but it's quite another to travel by myself  to a destination in which the language is totally incomprehensible. I'm thankful for my colleagues at the USOC who I could call if I was in a real jam.

I can really relate to my immigrant students who step foot in my classroom knowing little or no English. I tell them that they are brave and I try to reassure them that they can trust me. I'll have to put my money where my mouth is and suck it up. My students inspire me to be courageous when I have to go through seemingly difficult situations. I will be thinking a lot about them. Their bravery will give me strength.

I think that I've done everything in my power to ensure that I get to the apartment safely. What scares me is that I have to rely on strangers to help me. Thank goodness for them though. Without them I would be totally freaking out. I have all of the addresses in Chinese characters on bright pink card stock that has been laminated, hoping that the person translating it didn't make a mistake. I was told to show this card to a taxi driver and they would be able to get them there. I hope that my driver can understand some English otherwise, it's going to be a long 20 or so minutes. Can you believe that I have never been in a cab by myself, let alone at night. I am supposed to arrive at 9:05 pm  on Aug. 29.(Remember China is a day ahead of CA) After immigration and a long wait for a taxi, I may not get in until about 11pm. Yikes! All I know is that I won't be able to relax until I get into my apartment where I will meet the owner for the first time. I keep telling myself that I have to have faith. I wish that I was arriving during the day. 

Now that I've thoroughly freaked some of  you out, I intend to make a posting ASAP and I will call my sister when I'm safe in my apartment. Did you know that I could be  such a nervous wreck. I hide my fears quite well. 

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt