It is now the night before the big day. I'm sitting in my hotel room with my roommate Delhia, who is from Maine. It's funny how they seemed to have placed the two people farthest away from each other, geographically, in the same room.
The events of today have caused a roller coaster of emotion, to say the least.
1) I left Veronica Dr. forever. I must say that I will miss that little house the most out of all the houses I've been in. Many memories have been created; from having every single one of my friends use the water dispenser wrong on our kitchen fridge and watching them clean spilled water with a paper towel, to watching Will and Wyatt take their first steps. I may have made countless moves in my life, but I can say that it wasn't any easier than the last.
2) I said my final goodbye (at least for the next 9 months) with Jackson we spent a few hours at Berkeley together and I got a taste of his lavish lifestyle (hanging out with his roommates in his dorm room and getting ice cream sandwiches and Thai food). Once again, I shed some tears and my heart felt like it was drooping in my chest, but I know that this isn't goodbye forever.
3) I finally met all of my fellow students! Everyone is so friendly and welcoming towards each other, and no one hates me, so that's a plus. Our orientation was interesting, especially listening to our captivating Resident Director, Hilde Becker, give an introduction in perfect Chinese and then switch to German/British sounding English. The information that she and the other speakers gave us assured us all that we are in very good, safe hands. So stop worrying!!! (That was mostly to all the adults that have given me protective hugs while dramatically saying, "be safe"). After the orientation, Amy, one of the students who I had been corresponding with for a few months, and I went to go find some people to have dinner with, and we ended up eating dinner at the hotel with about 5 others. Like I said, everyone is really friendly. We talked about our aspirations and how nervous we are and how apprehensive we are about the food and our host families. Supposedly one of the guys we were with, Tim, said that he knew someone from the program last year who was in a host family where the dad was having an affair and brought his illegitimate two year old son home to live with the family, and Tim thinks that he is going to end up with that family. That'll be an experience.
We leave the hotel at 7:15-8:00 AM tomorrow morning to go to the airport, yet our flight leaves at 11:24 AM. The directors want to leave as early as possible in case anything happens, which makes sense. I wouldn't want to be the one left behind. I'd be the ultimate killjoy. Anyways, I should have time tomorrow to write another short post before I leave the country (!!is this really happening!!). I also should go to bed now just in case I do end up sleeping through my flight.
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