Saying goodbye.

Yesterday the Japanese girls threw a party for us to send us off. They'll stay another semester at Queens while we will be taking off, leaving on a jet plane, not knowing when we'll be back together again. They prepared the most awesome Japanese meal and they had the sweetest sweetest sweetest (no number of repetitions can fully describe the extent...) surprise presentation in a room FULL of balloons. All 939 of them (which Chikako had bought in Chicago while shopping with us).

But oh, why does it always take so long to sink in. I never cry at such occasions. Sweet emotional girls like Eve do. Hehe. But all that happens is my heart pounds harder, more painful pumps with every breath I take. My legs tremble at the thought of saying goodbye. My lips tremble. The tears threaten to come. But they never do. Call me emotionless. Or emotionally awkward. But when I sit alone in my room and recall it all over again, I just might cry.

Goodbye Chikako. Spending 4 months with you and growing so close, I wonder what it'll be like to not see that smile that brightens my day. I wonder what it'll be like to not hear your endearing Japanese-English accent. I wonder what it'll be like to not feel the warmth of your hug.

They say all good things have to come to an end. They also say not to be sad about these things coming to an end, but to rejoice that they have happened. Indeed, I thank God that Kingston has happened (despite all my initial protests). But yet, an air of melancholy lingers.