After last night, I realized that Siyang deserves a legit final blog post, at least. It's my final night here...I will be leaving for Shanghai in 8 hours time. But it's strange to think about my time here actually coming to a close. I know I've been looking forward to it for a while now, but to leave, and say goodbye, and realize there is a good chance I won't see most of these people ever again is weird. My bags are totally packed, I just need to put in those few things I'll use in the morning, like my toothbrush. If it wasn't totally apparent from my last blog post, I'm not excited to have to take public transit to Shanghai, but we'll figure it out. We're taking the first bus out of here, and we may just spend the money to take a cab directly to our destination, to avoid lugging all of our bags around the city. Either way, we're down to 5 days in China, and then we'll be heading back to America :)
Today I had my final classes, and said goodbye to my students once and for all. I received a few more gifts, which I am going to try and take back to America, and got my "memory book" from my top classes that I might read a few pages from tonight, just to bring everything to a close. Tonight we had our final Chinese dinner with the teachers from my office. Everyone was so nice and complimentary, and they actually didn't pressure us to eat or drink more than we wanted, which in turn made us super happy and willing to partake, but all in all we just had a lovely night. I was able to talk with my colleagues, and thank them for being so kind, and they all sent me on my way with good wishes for safe travel and my future. They also told me that all of the students love me very much and will miss me, which made me very happy and sad. It is hard to leave so many great students. They have obviously enjoyed having me at their school, and it's been my pleasure to teach there. We did a bunch of photo opts, and gave hugs around and finally decided to say good night. As we were leaving, Chen said that she would go the other way and it was time to say goodbye. I can honestly say that Chen is my best Chinese friend. She has done so much for both Laura and I while we have been in China. I was so sad to say goodbye, and we shared some tears before parting ways. I hope that someday she will be able to come to America and I can invite her to my home and into my family the same way she did for me. Chen is reason enough for me to come back to China and to Siyang....I hope we can stay in touch long after I've left. A few students came over to say their final farewells, officially ending my time here. I have so many things I wish I could share and express, but it's hard to find the right words. I know that I've been challenged here, and things are completely different than home, but I made Siyang a part of my life, and I will never forget the time I spent here, or the people I became friends with. These experiences are something I will never forget, and I hope to have made as much of an impression on the people here as they have made on me.
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