Saying Goodbye

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I can’t believe it’s our last night. The last week has been crazy, hectic, and slightly stressful. It’s hard to even remember everything we did. We got our lasts all finished: last dancing, last KTV, went to a Chinese movie. By the way, the movie was called The Flowers of War, with Christian Bale, and about the Japanese attack on Nanjing. It was an incredible movie, but so difficult to watch. The plot centered on a group of young girls and their priest who was trying to protect them from the Japanese. I would recommend it but be warned, it is very disturbing.

We had our final on Tuesday and I think I did pretty well. With that finished, I expected to be able to relax for the last week, but instead I was rushing around trying to get everything else done. Carey and I went to He Fang Jie for the last time to get the rest of our gifts. It’s funny, at the beginning of the semester, we didn’t want to buy gifts because what if we found something better later, but now it was just a rush to find everything for everyone. I was proud of us though. It was the first time we left in time to get a taxi before they changed their shifts. Every other time it was right in the middle of rush hour and the taxi shift change so we would wander around for at least 30 minutes before finding a taxi.

Today was the worst day of all. We went out dancing last night, so didn’t get to bed until 3:00, so I was very tired but had to wake up at 9. I had made a picture for Mubin as a farewell/Christmas gift and I had to get it printed. The problem was, I had to have Mubin go with me to the print shop to talk to the lady there. My surprise was blown, but at least I made him look away so he didn’t see the picture then. We ate lunch then I headed to the silk market to get Miss Li’s gift. Everyone in the group pooled some money and I found a really nice silk scarf for her. Then I had to rush back to campus to get my hair cut before dinner. I wanted to do it one more time here because it’s only 35 kuai ($6). The guy that did it wanted to cut a lot off, but I said no, then he still cut off too much! I’m a little ticked off. And he spent about an hour straightening my hair when it could have taken 20 minutes. He was so intent on getting every strand perfectly straight. Then, since it was taking so long, another guy came to help, so I had two guys working on my hair at once. I guess I can’t complain since it was very relaxing, but I only had a half hour to get ready for dinner and get Miss Li’s and Mubin’s gifts ready.

Back at the apartment, we were all rushing to sign their cards in one room, while Miss Li and Mubin were in another room finishing our gifts. They had had little booklets made with pictures we gave them from the semester. It’s our family album! Miss Li talked to us a bit before we left for dinner, and as soon as she started talking, I started crying. I guess it was good that I was so busy today because if I had had time to think, I would have been sad all day. She told us what a great group we were and thanked us for a memorable semester, and I cried some more. I didn’t think I was be this sad.

We had our last dinner at the restaurant where we had our first group dinner, and it was of course delicious. After, Carey and I had to meet DJ and Becky at Burton’s Bar to say goodbye while everyone headed back to the apartment to hang out. We had a drink then said our goodbyes. It’s very strange to say these. I’ve never had the experience of saying goodbye to someone that I’ll never see again. I had already said goodbye to Jenny and Chen Ying earlier. Chen Ying couldn’t make it to the dinner, so she stopped by our dorm to drop off a gift. I’m just glad I got back from my haircut in time to give her gift and say a proper goodbye.

So our goodbyes finished, we headed back to the apartment for a game of Three Kingdoms and watching Mulan in Chinese. I was so excited because I could understand a lot of what they said! It was getting late so we said goodbye to the apartment and I went back to finish packing. My room is so empty now. My suitcase is way over the 50 pound limit, but I’m just glad I can fit everything in it. We leave tomorrow at 11:30 from the bus station and our flight leaves at 6 pm. I’ll be home in twelve hours, but I’ll be missing this home.

Thanks for reading, until my next trip!

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