Hi everyone!
My name is Arden Pettit and I enjoying coloring as a way to relax. Since this is the first blog post of our amazing ACE China adventure I thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce the nine other awesome people on this trip.
Since we are so commonly defined by our sport, university, and major I decided that none of that would be mentioned in this blog post. I will provide an interesting fact about each person on this journey that wouldn’t typically come up in a casual conversation.
Izzy is full of energy and leads the group everyday in the ab exercise known as planking. When she is not planking, Izzy enjoys baking. Her two favorite things to bake are cinnamon rolls and cheesecake.
Ryan is a fun-loving guy who helps keep a smile on everyone’s face. Ryan collects pez dispensers and has over 800 in his room back home.
Anna instantly made friends with the resident dogs here at CERS and therefore earned the name “dog whisperer.” Anna is also one of the only people I have ever met who prefers the reduced fat wheat thins to normal wheat thins.
Colt likes to educate the group on his snowboarder lingo with terms like “sweet beans” and “cooking my grits.” A couple years ago he ate three pounds of Swedish fish, two packs of Oreos, and three two-liter bottles of 7up in one day as a dare … people say he has a sweet tooth.
Jenna likes to show off her insane flexibility when she whips out a handstand or full split in the middle of our workout sessions. She also gives surf lessons back home to local kids using minimal Japanese.
Zeke, also known as “DJ Young Zeke”, has an uncanny ability to sleep/nap throughout the day and is 100% in love with The Wizard of Oz.
Tanner has taken on a love for the Chinese language. He learns cool words and then teaches them to the rest of the group. He also casually walked across Spain in 30 days last month. Here is a picture of him eating some local raspberries we were picking.
Dom is the resident dancer and can break out moves anywhere and anytime. She led our group when teaching the kids of the village how to whip, nae nae, and dab. It was quite the hit.
Jack is known by the group as “President Keelan” because he never loses one of the card games we play as a big group. His two favorite music genres are folk and EDM.
As you can see we all bring unique things to the group outside of our sport, university, or major. It has been an amazing experience getting to know this group the past week and I can’t wait for more team bonding as the trip continues!
Zàijiàn,
Arden