saying goodbyes

saying goodbyes have turned out to be harder than i imagined.
especially a few of those who really made a huge impact on my life and made my time here in china absolutely unforgettable.


one, being my mandarin tutor jack. he was so much fun and put up with the antics of amanda, mac and i, and then once mac left, just amanda and i. we got sidetracked so easily and got him laughing so hard he would cry.

he was patient with us and when we wouldn't study (which was often in the end) he worked with us over and over again on the same material.
we taught him jokes. he taught us cuss words.
we talked about america. he talked about china.
he compared us to the show FRIENDS. we talked about kung fu panda.

on our last tutoring night he brought us a bag of chinese snacks, a nice set of chopsticks for me and a paper cut of the chinese zodiac for amanda.
we also made a music video to "xi shua shua", our favorite chinese song. he taught us the lyrics! a blast!
when he left i said "jack i promise i will try and keep up with my chinese and not forget it" and he said "no matter what, i am proud of you. i just don't want you to forget me"
jack, i will NEVER forget you.

 then, there is Ai. my little Japanese girl who started mid year. she has been sick for a few days and missed the end of school. her mom asked me if i would come over to their apartment because they got me a small gift. it was a beautiful japanese purse. i really loved it. she told me how much she appreciated my love for Ai. she is such a kind person and it made me feel really good about myself and my teaching.  Ai is such a sweetie, and one of my favorites, or... really, my favorite student. one and only. haha i love her.
she had to explain to Ai that i was going back to america and not coming back... Ai was sad and shy when i saw her. she was also sick, but it made me so sad!! tears definitely came when i was walking away. i had to put my sunglasses on so no one saw...

she told me I was "Ai's Superhero" which made my heart melt.