Pass the rice

Exciting (and crazy!) news: We're headed to China for the summer! Jack has been offered an internship position with Goodyear in China, and we're taking it. There is so much to think about, I just don't even really know where to start. I'm so proud of Jack for getting this position. The internship search has been long and grueling. We started searching, applying, and interviewing six months ago and really expected to have an offer by Christmas, but that didn't happen. Many of the companies he applied for seemed like they would be a great fit and we were quite hopeful for a few of them, but none panned out. We kept telling ourselves that the Lord is in charge and that there must be something bigger and better in store that we just couldn't see yet. And we were right.

Goodyear came recruiting at BYU much later than most of the other major companies, which turned out to be a great thing for us. Jack had his first interview on campus the last week of January, and then he flew back to Goodyear's headquarters in Akron, Ohio, for interviews Feb. 19th. They were very interested in his China connections and language abilities and asked if we'd be open to going to China for our internship. I really wanted to be excited. Part of me was---I knew it would be a great opportunity for Jack's career. But China?! My Chinese vocabulary consists of about nine words, none of which I pronounce correctly I'm sure. How would I go anywhere or do anything? How would I go grocery shopping? Who would I talk to and be friends with? What about medical needs while we're there? Do we just take clothes and then start over and buy other necessities there? How do you find a place to live half a world away when you don't speak the language or know anyone? Won't I be lonely all the time? I just tried not to think about all of these things. A guy from Goodyear called the day after Jack's interviews and said they really liked him and to expect an official offer early the next week (last week). He also wanted Jack to talk to a head person at their China facilities about the possibility of going there. We waited all week for the official word and finally got it this Monday, but didn't know if it would be for Ohio or China. Big difference. It's hard to arrange a phone call when there is a 15 hour time difference, but finally they were able to talk yesterday. She told him all about what is happening over there and pretty much told him that if he wanted to go to China, they'd love to have him.

Jack told me about the call and my response was, "Great! Let's do it!" ...I kind of shocked myself, but I really do feel good and calm about it now. Sure, I still have all those same questions as before, but I know it'll all work out. We had been praying to know what would be best for our family and Jack's career, and I have especially been praying to be able to be accepting and trusting of Heavenly Father's plan for us regarding where to go, and to be calm with the outcome and supportive of Jack. And I guess this is it. I really am excited now---it'll be such an adventure! I'm going to try to learn the language more. And it turns out we'll most likely be in Shanghai or at least split the time between Shanghai and Dalian; that makes me feel a lot better about it all because Shanghai is a much bigger city, where there would be lots of other expatriates living there, western medicine, and even some branches of the Church. So, we're doing it! We have a lot of details to work out still...like exactly when we'd go there and come back; right low it looks like mid-May through mid-August. I'm really excited and am looking forward to it all. Well, maybe not to the crazy food and squatter toilets.

Who wants to come visit us in China? Bring your own toilet paper!