Last Update

Note from Suki: The last post was actually sent to me sometime last week. This one was just yesterday. Lindey comes home on Sunday.

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This is my very last update at Jiangxi Mayflora International. We have just about six hours before a bus comes to take us away to Guangzhou.

The performance that we were supposed to do yesterday never happened. I’m not sure when they decided to cancel it, but they did and didn’t tell us until a half hour before we were supposed to do it… I don’t really mind, truly. Instead, we went to go say goodbye to our kids and hang out with them. It was just the most fun I have ever had, even when some of them think it is hilarious to pull down their underwear while I’m filming.

There’s a hole in my heart.

I don’t want to be so overemotional about things, but I have always had a hard time letting go. I may bounce back easy, but it’s hard to just let go.

I haven’t truly cried yet, actually. Not even when saying goodbye to the kids, mostly because I don’t think it’s sunk in that we’re not coming back and I will probably never see any of them again.

It broke my heart saying goodbye to Lory and Colt. They are the two kids that I came to love as much as my own nieces, who are the children I will love the most until I have kids of my own.  I hung out in Colt’s dorm room and we just cuddled up on his bed and he showed me his elephant and was just so happy to see me. He got so sad when I had to say goodbye. He has this thing about doing running-jumps to give me hugs. I am going to miss him.

Lory was even harder, because Lory actually asked me to stay and started crying. He told me to not leave the school, or at least go to Japan with him and his family instead of going back to America. At some point, he laughed and called me a bad teacher for leaving him and I just wanted to cry. I am going to miss this boy so much, he has been my precious little friend for this semester.

We said our goodbyes to the teachers we’ve known and everyone else. I have now removed everything from my room and just need to do a last minute mop-job.

In three days I will be back in the States and back with family. I’m excited, but I wish traveling around the world was easier. I would love to return to China, to come back to Jiangxi Mayflora even, if just to see my kids. There’s so much more to see here and I think it’s a great country, even if I cannot comprehend the language and sometimes the hygiene really sucks.

It'll be really hard to not be around the girls. We've just grown so close and I can't believe I can't go to Desi wedding. But we'll keep in touch and hopefully meet up in the future.

I think I’ll just send this off now and call it good. All the other stories will come once I’m back in the States and everything else.

Farewell, Mayflora. Farewell, my kids. I have loved my stay here and I hope you all have amazing lives and time finds you with a smile on your faces.