Math Camp and Morning Kindergarten

I signed up for Math Camp. That means school unofficially starts next week. Grad school math camp is like summer school for the kids who are maybe a little behind in math. (or in my case, a lot behind) I never really did the whole summer school thing when I was a kid. I was a smarty-pants in elementary school. My only summer school experience was when I was in 4th grade and I went to summer school for smart kids. We read books by Gary Soto, made cookies, played with a parachute, and learned the words to "I Just Called to Say I Love You". It was a lot of fun and it made me feel smart - and special. Math camp doesn't make me feel smart or special and I don't think that it will be a lot of fun. Hmm, when I type it "Math Camp" it looks like it could have the potential to be a Disney Channel movie, like "Camp Rock". Maybe the Jonas brothers will be there. Megan would like that.

I wonder what Math Camp would be like next week if we made it into a musical? Maybe I will be the girl who comes in with a bad attitude and leaves with a boyfriend and a new found love of all things mathematical. I will totally win the big math competition on the last day of school, make a lot of new friends and learn something about myself in the process. Then we will all sing about how we are "all in this together" and we will dance our way out of math camp and into our next big adventure.

Maybe math camp won't be so bad...

BTW I got into morning kindergarten! In the MPA program there is a morning section and an afternoon section. Yesterday we got emails with our team assignments and I am assigned to a group in the morning section! That is just what I always wanted! Hooray!

Home again, home again

I am back! I am officially over jet-lag! It is wonderful feeling. I have spent the last several days slowly getting settled into my new apartment in Provo. It has been strange to be back home. I am very grateful for tap water and regular toilets. I am thankful to be eating food that isn't going to make me sick. I am also grateful for freedom of speech and my closet full of clothes. I miss chopsticks and using an umbrella for shade. I miss $2.00 meals and Chinglish signs. I also kind of miss having people want to get their picture taken with me. Fame is so fleeting...

So, overall, China was incredible. It was a wild adventure and I am so glad that I went. Now I am gearing up for a new adventure. Grad school officially starts in 2 1/2 weeks. I feel a bit like I did before the mission. I knew that even after all I could do to prepare, I wouldn't really be ready, because you just don't know what it will be like until you get there. It is a mystery, and I am excited to see how it goes. I just hope I survive!

In China it is 5:30pm. That just happens to make it 3:30am here. For some reason, jet-lag is always more difficult for me on the way back. It may have something to do with the fact that international travel is a little bit exhausting and therefore weakens my ability to fight the lag. Perhaps this time it is also a little worse due to the fact that I am wading through the waste land that is my final paper, and stressed about moving next week, and worried about officially starting grad school, and my baby sister just had a baby and I am not going to make it out to Nevada to welcome her to the world, and I am readjusting to soft beds, and normal food, and dry air. Maybe that has something to do with it...