This Blog Won't Be Ending Anytime Soon...

I am sure you find that confusing. But Heather, you're thinking, won't you be coming home in August? And wouldn't it be silly to keep writing about your adventures in Asia from your living room in Caledon, Ontario?

Yes. That would be silly.

But here is the juice: I am moving to Beijing, P.R. China!

For most of you, I am pretty sure you think this is coming out of nowhere. That makes sense...I have really only told my parents and a few friends. But now, I am finally ready to tell the world!

I have been accepted to the Masters in International Development Program at Tsinghua University (see below) in Beijing. Classes start in September, and I will be graduating in January of 2011.

There are two main reasons for the move:

1) Globalization has been a hot topic for a long time now - and China is right at the centre of it all. No one is denying the fact that China's economy has become one of the most important in the world. As a business student, I have known all this for a while. What I didn't know what how I could integrate all of this into my future. Actually, I didn't think it was really possible.

2) Then, I went to Shanghai (It was a great trip...you can read all about it here). There, we met tons of young, 20-somethings living in the city, speaking Mandarin and having an incredible time. And that's when I realized...that I could do that, too. I could move to Asia!

So, I have pretty much been working out the details since I got back from that trip. I knew I wanted to go to school in Beijing, because it is the best place to learn Mandarin (the Beijing dialect, Putonghua, is China's official language). I also knew that I wanted to go to Tsinghua University, if possible, because it is one of the best universities in China (if not THE best). In fact, at the Ivey Networking evening, one of the Ivey Alumni that we met said that Tsinghua won't just be the "Harvard of China" in a few years - it will be right up there on the same level. Cool.

Tsinghua offers a few English programs, but the Masters in International Development Program appealed to me the most. It is fairly new - only two groups of students have been through the curriculum thus far. It is also quite small. This year's class has 32 students, from 21 different countries - such incredible diversity! I am sure I will learn a LOT.

If you want to read more about the program, click here.

The only downside with this whole thing is that my time in Canada in August is being cut really short. I thought that I would need to plan to arrive in Beijing at the beginning of September, but I just found out that I actually need to arrive in the middle of August, in time for their Orientation activities.

I am so sad because I wanted to have more time to hang out with my family!

Oh, well. It's a sacrifice. The world isn't going to stop needing development just because I miss my mom.

I will update as I find out more...