As the clock ticks away

As I write this post, my eyes continue darting towards the bottom-right of this page as my mind creates the vibration of each tick. Each vibration seems to me like an uncomfortable cleave at the already-deteriorated allowance of time I've been given in this country that I'm sure to miss. I may just be tired, but the Earth itself seems to be stretching as the forty-five minute drive back home to my family and friends seems to elongate to an almost 7000 mile distance and Beijing suddenly seems a mere car ride away. Only 28 more minutes remain until saddening goodbyes are given to the rest of the Bridge Year participants, each of whom must depart for their own journey. I consider myself privileged to have met all these incredibly intelligent and talented people who (unfairly) just happen to be some of the nicest people I've ever met. It's weird; I've never had such a mix of feelings of excitement and doubt, of fear and confidence, and of homesickness, while still home. I'll miss the wonderful people who helped me get here and I thank them for everything they've done. Fifteen minutes left and I must go! Zai jian for now!

So what's up with the name(withthewesternwind)?

Since creating the blog and becoming a bit more active in it, a couple of people have asked why I chose the name "with/the/western/wind". I thought it would be fun to write a little bit about how I chose that name. Because the blog was set up mostly for the purpose of detailing what I do on my voyage to China, I thought it would be appropriate to choose a name that somehow referenced or included some aspect of Chinese culture or language. I watched a couple of YouTube video(thank you Ben from learnchinesenow) and researched a couple of sayings and I found one that really fit my situation. 

In Chinese, when you want to see somebody off before they go on a trip or some type of voyage, you say 一路顺风(yi2lu4 shun4feng1), which would be the equivalent of saying "have a good trip". Literally, the saying means "one path(which is the way you say 'the whole way' in Chinese) with the wind". So, a couple of names popped up into my head. "One path with the wind", "Journey with the wind", "Walk with the wind", and "Wend with the wind"(gotta love that onomatopoeic alliteration) were some of the names that came into my head, but then I remembered another Chinese saying, 万事俱备只欠东风 (wan4shi4 ju4bei4 zhi3qian4 dong1feng1). This one would translate to "everything is prepared, all we lack is the eastern wind." This line is actually a reference to what a Chinese military strategist(ZhuGe Liang) said to his emperor during the Three Kingdoms Period when the state of Wei was at war with the state of Wu. He and the general had prepared a strategy to oust the opposing forces of the state of Wei and for it to work, they needed the eastern wind. You can see the full story here: full story from learnchinesenow.

I thought I finally had my name "with/the/eastern/wind", but I was slightly disappointed that I had lost my onomatopoeia, so I decided to change direction and use the western wind instead. Coincidentally, this actually made a lot more sense. The western wind was considered(in western tradition, at least) to be the mildest and most helpful wind in travel. The wind also happens to originate in the West(like I do!) and travels east(as,hopefully, I will eventually). So the name stuck and there it is! Hope that wasn't too long an explanation and thank you for taking the time to read it! 

Why Bridge Year?

To start off, I thought it would be useful to let others know why I wanted to take part in the Bridge Year Program in the first place. Because that was actually a question on the rather lengthy(very,very long) application, I felt that it would be good to post the essay that I used to answer that very question on the application. While I was trying to complete my application, I had absolutely no idea how to express my want to be accepted into the program. I knew why I wanted to go, but I couldn't put it into words, so I decided to write down everything I thought as I thought it(granted, I had to pause for a few brief moments as my fingers caught up to my rambling mind) and this was somewhat what resulted, with the exception of a few initial grammar and spelling errors. Hope you enjoy!

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            Articulate my reasons for applying to Bridge Year? Hmm, well what can I say? I know why I want to be a part of the program, but how do I say it? How do I let them know that this is an opportunity I could only dream about without sounding as cliché as I just did. I’m sure that everyone who applies will say roughly the same thing. How do I stand out amongst all the applicants?

How can I tell them that I would love to stop fantasizing over Youtube videos like Yong An’s “Three Inches of Heaven” and actually see and hear an erhu being played for the first time? How can I tell them I’ve watched Mohabbatein’s “Soni, Soni” about nine times in the past three or four hours without sounding a bit, what’s the word, crazy? Do I even have an English playlist? I think I might, somewhere.
Maybe I can tell them that I would like the opportunity to dedicate myself to a cause and to the bettering of the lives of other people. Now I sound like a Miss Universe contestant. How can I say I want to learn selflessness without being so blatant? Still, I really do want to help. I want to say I contributed to a water harvesting projecting in Yunnan province or maybe taught some English to little kids in India or Senegal. Maybe those kids can teach me some Chinese or Hindi or Wolof.

Is it too general to say that I want to learn how to be a member of the global community? Sure, the US is home to a large percentage of all the world’s different peoples, but how often can I interact with them as I would like? I want to form lasting relationships with people I may not be able to meet here or play some charades with people I can’t speak with fluidly. How difficult would that be? Would our shared humanity be enough to allow understanding even if we came from different worlds? What exactly does it mean to be human? How different does a different upbringing really make us? Great, now I’m just getting philosophical.
            Even just the fact that I can take a year off to recover from those four years of nerve-wrecking high school sounds appealing. I would have a few more months to ponder about my future, what I’m going to major in, what I’ll do with a degree, or wait, I could also use the extra time to learn to play my dizi or practice enough to impress people with my abacus. It would be such a different experience to be able to learn without the pressure of grades looming over you. I would no longer have to plan my schedule for some Chinese calligraphy or some Indian dancing. I would be able to do it as part of the experience. For once, I could learn solely for the sake of learning. Wow, that sounds selfish. Didn’t I just talk about learning selflessness? Well, that’s a problem.
            How long has it been? Two hours? Four hours? A couple of days, maybe? Ok, maybe not. Still though, I can’t seem to think of how to say what I want to say. Maybe, I just need some songs from Mohabbatein. “Soni, Soni” is a possibility. Think, Luis, think. Well, maybe the words will come to me eventually. Maybe.

A Little About Me

Hello reader! Allow me to provide you with some background information on myself and why I started this blog. My name is Luis Legro and I will be a Princeton University student starting next year. I say "I will be" because I will be taking a gap year in 2013 to 2014 as a part of Princeton's Bridge Year Program, a nine-month, University-sponsored program that allows a number of incoming freshmen students to delay their freshmen year and contribute their service in community-based projects, while providing them with new perspectives and a deeper appreciation for service. For more information, check out their official website Bridge Year Program Homepage.

Acceptance into the program was, for me, one of the most extraordinary privileges that I have been gifted with and I would like to thank both Princeton University and Mr. Paul G. Haaga '70 for funding my stay in China. 

Although as I write this post, I am still in the US, I have started to feel the reality of the coming events sinking in. I find that every time I talk to my family and a couple of my best friends, a sensation of longing for home assails me, even though I haven't left yet. As you can probably tell, I am super attached to my family, especially my parents, and for those nine months, I will long for my mom's famous hugs and my dad's playful tousling of hair. That is why I have decided to start this blog, so that I can update my family and friends on what I've been doing as well as provide some sense of security that I'm alright(that's mostly for my parents). I've never had a blog before nor have I ever kept a journal,so bear with me as I get used to it.