For the past I don't know how many years, my family has traveled about, to various states and countries. To this day, I've been to Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Ireland, and I'm not sure how many different states. I think it's safe to say that I've kind of grown fond of it, being able to travel to a distant, alien enviornment and being dropped straight into it with little knowledge of what to expect from the experience.

As a freshman student here at PLU interested in Music and Communications, Its absolutely terrific that I get to travel abroad to China my first year in college. The course will cover any number of topics of the emerging super power but will concentrate on cultural past to present. I became interested in this trip through Prof. Youtz's Music/Culture class in which I was taught about the history of musical tradition in China. Being the music nut I am, I could'nt really pass up the oppritunity to travel to one of the worlds oldest nations and study their experience with musical expression. Also, I am eager to travel to a country that isn't governed democratically and discover how they live their lives.