Zai Jian, Changzhou

I remember the very first time I saw Tsingying Wujin Foreign Language School. I was exhausted, thrilled, and already slightly homesick all at once.

The bus pulled into the gate and upon first glance at the humongous, perfectly constructed buildings and all-encompassing irongate fence, I remember thinking to myself, "Where am I?!" I was at a rich kids' school, that's for sure.

My very first view of my home in Changzhou

I remember the grueling haul that was dragging my 130 pounds of luggage up five flights of stairs. I remember  walking into my room for the first time, room 5507. I remember walking into my bathroom, staring at the squatter, and thinking to myself, this is going to be a long four months. I remember happily unpacking and finding a new home for all of my things.

My building! I'm the fifth row up, seventh window over from the right.

And now? Now I'm sitting on the floor, surrounded by my scattered belongings, and of course Megan and Kate. I can't believe that I came here with three suitcases and I'm leaving with only one. Actually, I can. I'm leaving nearly all my clothes here. After four months of hand-washing and "spinners" as a method of drying, everything is so stretched out that I might as well be wearing garbage bags. The bagginess could also be credited to my weight loss, an impressive 43 pounds at my final weigh in. I'm pretty proud of myself in case you can't tell. Oh, and the clothes just plain smell. Like China.

I've had my last Muslim meal, my last tuktuk ride, my last walk into town, my last visit to the night market, my last wrap. I have yet to shed a tear.

Tomorrow will be the real test. Tomorrow is, indeed, my last day with my kids. I will be saying goodbye to them for forever. I think that I've just started looking at leaving China as a step that I have to take in order to get to all the other exciting things that are coming up in the future. I love my kids. They will always have a place in my heart. All I know, is that I was so blessed to have gotten to know them and I'm a better person for it. Tomorrow is also my last night out in Shanghai with my girls. Saturday will be the day I say goodbye to my wonderful roommate, who I instantly bonded with and loved. We will forever be China besties, Katelyn.

I came to China because I wanted to know what life was like outside my little bubble in the United States of America. I wanted to be humbled. I wanted to realize how blessed I really am. I wanted a deeper frame of reference for my life.

Smearing cake on Teacha Kayla!

Yeah, yeah, he got me.

And the favor was returned :)

I got everything I wanted out of this experience, and then some. I know in my heart that I will be back to China. It's a huge part of who I am now. And I will drag whoever will come with me. So for China, it's not goodbye, it's see you later.

Zai Jian, Changzhou.