Commencement

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Trip Start Aug 17, 2008 Trip End Sep 24, 2008 Next
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  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Saturday, August 16, 2008

Earlier this summer, I graduated Cornell with all the pomp and circumstance that inevitably accompanies such a weekend. Somewhere between Maya Angelou and the drudgery of packing my 4 year's worth of accumulated possessions, I fixated on the word commencement. I found it odd that the end of college is called a beginning. But as I thought about my friends, I realized they were, in fact, beginning a new stage in their lives. Microsoft, Lockheed, Target, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, medical, law, and graduate programs across the country...all of my friends were about to start their next adventure.

I then realized I was to some extent jealous of their certainty. They all knew where they were going. Yes, I knew vaguely in which direction I was to commence. With graduate school looming somewhere in my future, I want to first ground myself with tangible experience - in the workplace and in the world. As a new student of Arabic, I hope to live abroad in the Middle East and gain proficiency in the language 

But I'll admit I find the plan a little daunting. I've never lived on my own before (college doesn't count when you have 20 friends within shouting distance of you). I've never had to go apartment shopping. Never had to cook for myself. Never had to fix a leaky faucet. Never had to buy furniture. Never had to have Thanksgiving away from home. I've never had to do a lot of things. But yet the plan - my plan - is to try all these things for the first time in a foreign language, in a foreign culture, and in a foreign country. But beyond that, precise details elude me and the plan emanates uncertainty. So, yes, I'm a little daunted and a little jealous.

Enter Adam, Rachael, and the Asia trip. Adam and Rachael have spent the summer in Beijing teaching English. Tomorrow, I am flying to meet them. After spending several days in the city, we'll head south towards Hong Kong over two weeks. We'll then have a beach vacation on the shores of Thailand before moving on to the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. We'll spend our last two weeks tramping north from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi in Vietnam. And I'm terribly excited about it all.

I have never visited such exotic destinations before nor have I ever truly played the role of foreigner. And I have always enjoyed the unfaltering support of porcelain beneath me. Without a doubt, this trip will be a tremendous learning experience, not despite, but because I will be forced leave my comfort zone. More importantly, it will be a tremendous learning experience because Adam and Rachael will imbue me with the confidence necessary to leave that comfort zone. So, I have become comfortable with the prospect of discomfort because I know adventure will vindicate every moment. For that reason, I know our experiences in Asia will prepare me for the uncertain road ahead, in the Middle East and beyond.

So when this adventure comes to a close, I will not be jealous of certainty. And when this adventure comes to a close, I will not be daunted by new experiences. But most importantly, when this adventure comes to a close, I will finally be ready to commence. 

This travel blog will document that adventure.

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