A hearty welcome to the 2008 China Odyssey…we’re very happy that you’re here!! I need to pass along a few items of information, so bear with me ;-)

1) Your first task is to introduce yourself to everyone else. To post your personal introduction, go into your activity conference—RED or GREEN--you have your own blog there, and that's where you should post your personal introduction. You need to click on CREATE CONTENT and then you'll see the option to make a POST. Your first POST should be an introduction of yourself…what do we need to know about you? What are your interests? Where have you traveled? Where would you LIKE to travel?

2) Our discussions this term will be based on the reports of Matthew and Sarah Baughman about the experiences living in Shanghai, China a couple of years ago (though we hope that they'll be able to join us for our discussions from time to time, they won't be regular participants so you probably shouldn't address questions directly to them). In any case, to find the reports, just go into your activity conference (RED or GREEN). You’ll automatically see the current report when you enter that space. Read the report to the bottom and you’ll see links to either ADD A COMMENT at the end, or continue past the end of the report to view the comments that already have been made. Each response has a REPLY link at the end, and by clicking on that you can target your response directly to that person’s posting.

3) When you go into RED or GREEN, you’ll see the current report on the main page (we post new reports, and enable discussion about them, every 2-3 days). If you want to go back and see (and comment upon!) earlier reports, just click on TRAVELLER REPORTS along the left. There, you’ll be able to see previously-posted reports and comment on those, and you'll be able to view upcoming reports as well, though you won't be able to comment on those until their official posting date.

4) Has anyone responded to me? To help you keep track of your postings, and the responses to your postings, we have a link called RESPONSES. There you can see links to any postings that you've made and you can also see if anyone has replied to your response (there'll be a number in the far right column). If they click on the title of your post, you'll be taken to see your posting, in context, with any responses easily viewable.

We’re very eager to read your thoughts and to engage in some interesting and challenging discussions.

Have fun!! Sui Wah Chan, Jeff Stanzler & the Odyssey Mentors