Henry Gillam

Here's what I know about Henry Gillam: he's independent and forges his own path. After all, he spent the first half of his summer traveling by himself in China--and doesn't have Facebook. Henry, a self-proclaimed politics junkie, originally hails from the suburbs of Chicago and currently attends Georgetown, where he's majoring in international economics and physics. While he's a big supporter of Nader and Obama, he insists that won't stop him from being friends with any McCain supporters.

Henry will be an asset for all of us on the trip. He's taken two years of Chinese (although he argues that he'll probably understand very little once he encounters the provincial accents), and has already navigated his way through Guangzhou, Xi'an, Yunnan, Shangrilila, Beijing, Xichang, and Kunming on his own this summer. In Shangrilila he was able to party with a group of Tibetan guys, an experience he greatly valued because of his interest in their culture. Henry is still wandering around China, meeting travel companions along the way, and is currently in Hong Kong. He hopes to ride a camel through the deserts of Xinjiang before returning to Shanghai for the program.

Overall, Henry sounds like an adventurous and easy-going guy, two qualities that seem ideal a LE volunteer!