You think you know, but you have no idea!

I originally met the folks at Cultural Embrace (CE) during a internship/study abroad fair at Texas State University. We started talking about what I was looking for in an internship, and it kind of sounded to good to be true. We had discussed doing an internship and I would just have to pay for a plane ticket. For CE, I would have to take pictures and keep a blog of what I was doing. I had recently bought a DSLR camera and really enjoyed writing. So that was the initial process.

I ended up choosing China, since I thought it would be a place I would never go to on my own. I'm not sure the set up now, but I went all over China and did the following: 2 weeks in an ancient village with the Yao minority, adventure treks in Yangshou (my favorite part because of rock climbing and a lot of hiking), life changing week at an orphanage in Changsha, amazing week a Panda reserve in the Sechuan province, and then taught English in Yantai.

It was all absolutely amazing!!! I kept in touch throughout my time over there, but I also had in country contacts that arranged transportation and lodging. You have to be okay with adventure, and if you are, this will be a trip of a lifetime. I encountered both men and woman of a wide variety of ages that all had a great time. I felt very safe the whole time and highly highly (that was on purpose) recommend this.