Happy Birthday, You're Going to China!

What a wonderful golden birthday! After an amazing day of school (Mom and Dad sent me 22 tulips, my colleagues had an "Amy Cake" specially made and got me an entire bag of Bath & Body Works goods, my students sang and wished me well, my Kool Kidz program got me an ice cream cake and sang. . .), Dad called to let me know my invite had arrived via Fed Ex. I had him open it for me over the phone and he gave me the great news: I'm going to China to teach English in a university setting. :) I will leave for staging on June 28th, and then enter China on July 1st, 2007. My service ends on September 6th, 2009. 2009! That sounds so far away! :)
I cannot wait! This nomination just feels extremely good . . . If it's possible for something to "click" into place, this is doing so. :)
After I got home and read through my invite packet, Luke (my beautiful younger brother) stopped by and gave me my bday present: He got me a blank scrapbook to take to China and designed the cover with Asian and schooling stickers and wrote "Love" in Chinese. He's unbelievably amazing. :) Afterwards, Dad made us stir fry, and then Mary and Dan came into town for my birthday and took me to Asian Gourmet (my favorite restaurant) to celebrate. . . The whole day was filled with lots of fun, and way too much food. ;)
Yesterday, after reading the Volunteer Handbook and browsing the China: Welcome Book, I called PC and happily accepted the invite. After that, there was, of course, more celebrating to be had, and my friends from Nepal joined us and Shikha and Utsav gave me a breathtaking shawl that was handwoven in Nepal. I can't wait to bring it to China . . . and travel with it to Nepal! :)
Overall, it's been three days of me on an excited high. However, don't get me wrong; I definitely have concerns. Here are my biggest 3:
1.) I'm not good at being structured and my teaching description emphasizes structure. At Senior, I sit on a table to teach and get sidetracked easily; I'm an extremely liberal teacher, don't take discipline very seriously, etc. I'm worried about being too liberal for the Chinese school setting.
2.) That this is more of a "Posh Corps" position. Silly as it sounds, I really wanted to live in a rural village where I'd have to boil my water or leave it in the sun to warm it, didn't have electricity, etc. China, although different from the states in many ways, won't leave me struggling for my amenities. This forces me to look at my Peace Corps service in a slightly different manner.
3.) I hate cold weather. Parts of China get pretty cold, and I usually feel pretty miserable when it's cold out . . . I easily feel colder than most (when it's 60 degrees I'm comfortable in a winter coat and/or gloves), and hoped to go to a warmer climate. I hope it doesn't get tooooo darn cold where I'm stationed. :) In this regards, I am (contradictory of my second concern) glad that I will have heating in my apartment. ;)
Sooo that's that. The goods and the bads. Today, I filled out my visa and gov't passport applications, and started working on (meaning thought about...need I remind my readers that I'm an expert procrastinator?) the official Peace Corps resume and aspiration statement (that will be sent to the country directors in China as a way to introduce myself and help them decide which of their schools to place me in). I can't believe I leave in 3 months! Sooo much to do in such a short time!!
*Sigh* Sooo that's my status up to present time. I just keep on absorbing and breathing this all in . . .