Sunday. The day of my departure. The last day in this chapter of my adventure. Woke up at 8 after 3 hours of sleep to move my bike into Chelsea's room. Since she's coming back next term, she's going to try to sell it for me to one of the incoming students. Saw off the morning bus of people and said goodbye to them. Got breakfast with Melissa, which was an adventure. Decided we wanted Nanguazhou, so we went to a restaurant outside the Southwest gate, but it wasn't open yet. But the area outside the southwest gate had a ton of food vending carts so we ended up picking up some fresh youtiao and nanguazhou. I freaking LOVE youtiao. It tasted soooooo good. Headed back to the dorms and worked on finishing up the last minute packing, procrastinating, etc. Went to the store to buy snacks and use up the last of the money on my student ID. Before I knew it, it was time to pack my bags and load up onto the bus. I was worried my flight might get delayed because it was snowing and the roads were slippery. Made it to the airport in almost no time. Thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad today. Checked my luggage and got my boarding pass. Mona had a little bit of a problems with her bags, so Melissa and I ended up going on ahead. It's nice that Melissa and I have the same flight together. Took the shuttle over to the terminal and located our door. Good thing we didn't stop to buy water, because in China they confiscate any liquids before you get on the plane...a little annoying. Sadly, I didn't get to say goodbye to Mona because as soon as we got to our gate, the plane started boarding. It had taken us a while to get through all of the stations at the airport. The best part was the Melissa had the seat beside me so we each had someone to lean on when we wanted to sleep. The flight was long and the food was bad. I watched 4 episodes of Big Bang Theory and 3 movies (Brave, Total Recall and Curse of the Golden Flower). The movies were ok; they helped time pass by quickly. I slept for a while too. Melissa said she was surprised by how I just passed out on the plane. The service on the plane sucked. We had turned on the call flight attendant light because we were thirsty and wanted drinks and they never responded. I think I might complain about that. I hate bad service. Sleeping definitely made the flight go faster. I woke up and we were already over the north pole. Before I knew it, the plane landed in Newark and it was time for me to go home. My parents were waiting for me outside the terminal.

And thus brings an end to my study abroad experience in China. I can't believe the semester went by so fast. It seems like just yesterday I was getting off the plane in Beijing and wondering what I had gotten myself into. I really wish I had the opportunity to stay longer but I guess that means I'll just have to go back soon! This is definitely an experience that I will never forget and I look forward to the next time I can return to China. It's nice to know that I have friends there, eagerly awaiting for my return. I'm so thankful that I was able to have this experience as part of my college career. Thank you to all of you for your support from America. I'm so happy people were interested in following my blog and keeping up with what I did; it really means a lot to me. I definitely have a lot of stories and pictures to share (not everything made it into the blog!) I hope you all enjoyed reading about my adventures as much as I enjoyed having them. Until the next adventure! Love Janell