Well, this is it. It 's almost all over. Time really does fly when you're having fun! Today is my last day of teaching. I'll be teaching my favourite class for the last time... I get really emotional just thinking about it. I've had such a wonderful time that I never wanna leave. But all good things come to an end... Faith taught me a Chinese idiom the other day- it roughly translates as "short pain is better than long pain" and ultimately that's what I've decided. Although I had a job offer here, it would have kept me tied down to this small town until August, and really, I want to be home before then. So, I'm making enquiries about going to university in Kunming (the provincial capital, about 7 hours north) for two months, to study Chinese. Its exciting, but really scary. Moving to the big city!! Hopefully I'll be able to find some private teaching there too.

So me and Romy leave our wonderful home in China on Monday. Planning our trip and packing our stuff has been a nightmare, but I finally feel on top of it (even if it's not fully done yet!) We'll be going up to Kunming and Dali first, and then flying to Shanghai on the 22nd. I want to go check out the enormity of the east coast... it should really make me appreciate the life (and the air) that I've had here.

Goodbye for now.... Who knows when I'll be home, but I know it'll come up sooner than I expect. xxx