As the last few days come to a close, we all manage to squeeze in some time for goodbye parties.

First was the goodbye party for my dance crew, PRIME. It was a lot of fun. We got to properly say goodbye to all of the friends we’ve made, thank them for their help, their friendship, and all the great times we had over the past couple of months. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had gotten to say goodbye to our dance teacher, but such is life.

To top it all off, the girls had put together little boards with messages on it and a picture of the whole group back in December. I was incredibly touched, and I’m so glad that I took the opportunity to join PRIME. They made my study abroad experience all the more amazing. I can’t wait to see them again, and I can’t wait to come home and teach PSIDE what we learned in Japan!

On another note, all the Nanzan study abroad kids graduated! It was a fairly eventful day. We took class pictures, went through the graduation ceremony (we all went up to the president, bowed, accepted our papers, then bowed again. All very in the Japanese style), then had a long goodbye party that basically gave us a chance to stuff our faces while taking pictures and crying. I had to wipe tears from two girls’ faces, people were getting very emotional.

And I don’t blame them. After dealing with one semester of goodbyes, this one was less of a shock, and as my friend Adam pointed out, it won’t hit until you’re listening to a song or see something you want to show someone, then understand that those people are no longer there and you remember just how horribly you miss them and want to talk to them. Skype and facebook aside, nothing beats hanging out with someone, and that’s something that’s hard to get back. Congratulations on graduating, Nanzan kids.’

We are… Penn State girls!

Location: Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan