Zai Jian

I have had a wonderful time at home preparing for this journey I'm about to embark on. I leave in just a few hours...nine to be exact. Soon I'll be at the airport saying, "Zai Jian."

Tonight, we went to Prime Catch for dinner. Grammy and Granddaddy came too. We had awesome meals! Then, Grammy gave me some di-cut letters she came across and the map of the world that she had finished sewing together for me. I bought the map, so that it could go in my classroom on the wall. I envisioned it on a wall with faces of the kids in my classroom posted on it next to their passport country. Now, it looks like it would make a perfect blanket. hmm... She did a beautiful job, as always. After we all decided that hanging out in the parking lot was a little toasty in this wonderful hot month of August, we voted on coming down to the house and playing Sequence and making fruit smoothies for desert. (Great idea, whoever that was)!

Saying goodbye has proved to be harder than I thought it would be. I mean, I knew it would be hard, but I didn't think I'd be battling homesickness this soon. I haven't ever really been homesick. Squeezing family and listening to their muffled sobs in my ear isn't helping. I'm so thankful that I have family to cry with and rejoice with. To SING with and laugh with (by the way, tonight during Sequence, we were all playing some sort of game, that only we would understand...singing lyrics to any song, humming tunes and guessing lyrics, and making random noises with our mouths). I love my family, and I will miss hugs back rubs. I'll miss singing together and talking in the kitchen. I'll miss borrowing a purse or a shirt from Jamie's closet and watching Jared get taller than Jamie. I'll miss you all so much! Wo ai ni (I love you).