Goals and Objectives

19 May 2017 - Mateo Atwi

Hello Friends and Family!

First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents for this opportunity to explore the world. I'm starting up a new blog to cover my trip to China with Tiago this summer. We will be attending the Georgia Tech China Summer Program to study and travel in China.We will be flying out May 18th to arrive in Beijing. There we will stay in the nearby city of Tianjin till June 9th. We will then fly to Shenzhen and stay there till June 30th at which point we will transfer to Shanghai till we leave on July 27th. Additionally, I realize this has a lot of words, so in the future I will try to post more pictures and less words.

For this first post I want to cover my goals and objectives. I am going to reflect both before and after because a trip of this scale should somehow change or add to my person. My goals and objectives are as follows:

Explore Chinese History, Geography, and Culture

This trip serves to educate me (in a very real way) about the Chinese history of architecture, art, music, and food as well as provide me some insights to the culture that fuels American consumerism. Additionally, Chinese Geography seems very fascinating both because the population of China is more than 4 times that of the US, housing some of the largest cities in the world and because a lot of the species and landscapes in China are very foreign compared to the US. There will be lots of food to try, tea to drink, knockoffs to buy, and people to meet.

Develop My Relationships

As I mentioned early, Tiago will be going on the trip with me. He was basically my best and only friend growing up, so this will prove to be a great opportunity to grow closer to each other. Furthermore, I want to challenge him in his faith because in China it will be up to us to read the gospel and find churches to go to. Also, I really value my interaction with RUF, and while I cannot replicate that community for Tiago in China, I would still like to have the lifestyle RUF encourages.

This summer program has about 27 students going. I've talked to a couple, but I really don't know anyone. This is a small enough group where I definitely think I can get to know everyone's name at least. I really look forward to being able to meet some new people and spend some time exploring a totally foreign country with them.

Maintain the Normal Rigors of My Lifestyle

I seek to continue certain parts of my lifestyle no matter where I am in order to continue to develop myself. Some of these things I have found very necessary to maintain because of they have changed my life a very profound way. I will continue to read the Bible daily and pray. I certainly plan on doing well in my classes. I will carry my personal journal and a camera on me to both record what I do and feel, where I am, and what I see. Lastly, I will continue to workout as best I can to maintain my health. I plan on hiking a lot in China, so it will be best to be in shape the whole way.

Thanks for reading!
-Mateo

1 Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.