Words of Wisdom

As I mentioned in my first post, I never had children but my husband has three daughters. When Brian and I met, his oldest, Barb, had already left home and was living in Alberta, the other two were living at home with their mother. Veronica, the middle daughter was working full time and going to university the youngest, Laura, in her last year of high school. Here it is, almost 6 years later, Barb is now living in Ontario, Veronica has graduated, moved into an apartment and is talking about heading out to Alberta in the Fall. Laura is about to head off to China Friday. She, along with several others from her Education class at Acadia are going to be teaching English for 4 months in Shanghai.

I am both happy and sad. I'm happy for Laura as she is embarking on an exciting adventure and sad because, well, I'm going to miss her. Okay and maybe I'm a little bit jealous. I've travelled to a few places around the world but never to Asia.

This event lends itself to providing some words of wisdom. I'll never forget my dad's words as he dropped me off at University, my first time living away from home. He said “If it's a choice between the easy way and the right way, choose the right way.” Unfortunately, he neglected to mention that the right way was not always obvious.

Not that I profess to be terribly wise but here is what I've come up with for Laura's big adventure:

• Keep your wits about you. A good idea wherever you are but especially important when you are in a foreign country.
• Don't drink too much alcohol, see above.
• See as much as you can, you may not get another chance.
• Every now and then, leave the camera home and just imprint the experience with your senses.
• If the thought of doing something new scares you, pretend it doesn't and act like you've done it a hundred times before. It gets easier after about the fiftieth time.
• Have fun!

What are your words of wisdom? Any suggestions for Shanghai or China that she must do?