In a matter of hours I’ll be boarding the plane taking me home to China. I feel unexpectedly sentimental as I write this. It’s not that I don’t miss home – I can’t wait to see my family and friends. The thing is, I’m so used to everything here, and now it’s going to be sad to leave the surroundings that I’ve finally become familiar with. I’ll definitely miss my classmates, professors, and — especially — my host family.

It’s been an eventful semester, and so many things happened over the past few months.  In retrospect, I’m full of gratitude. What can I say? I took JO 721, which was a very challenging course, especially for those whose first language is not English. I survived. Every classmate I met was so smart, kind and ready to offer help. The professors were nice and patient — sometimes demanding, but I surely needed a healthy push. The family I lived with was extraordinarily generous and interesting. They introduced a lot of American culture to me and took me to see many Boston sites. The city is so rich in culture and history that I took great pleasure in exploring it after school.

I have taken five courses this semester, one of which was a special studies course that was not graded. It was a special course designed to help international students to overcome the difficulties met in other courses. For example, if we had problems in media law class, we could bring them into this special study class. The professor, Chris Daly, together with other international students, would offer some hints. During the last meet-up, we changed the regular venue to Z-Square, which is a restaurant located in the graduate students’ dormitory. Chris treated us with a fabulous brunch, and we talked about what we learned this semester. Everyone agreed that it’s been an eye-opening experience, but it was also a very exhausting semester. The master’s program in Journalism ranges from a year to a year-and-a-half. It’s quite intensive compared to programs that are two years or longer. After came here, I picked up the habit of drinking coffee, which I seldom drank before. Now I’m almost addicted.

On the day that I finished my last class, my host family gave me a pleasant surprise — which drove me to tears. The parents came home from work late at night, and it was such a nice thing for them to think about me after a whole day of work. They prepared several gifts, including a book for me to read on the plane, a box of chocolate, fancy lemonade (since I don’t drink alcohol, lemonade has become my favorite beverage), and other stuff. I was so surprised when the little son, in his pajamas, was singing with his mother, holding all those gifts and walking toward me. 

Yes, it’s over. Bittersweet. It marked an important part of my life. Looking back, I don’t know how to express my gratefulness for everything I have experienced. Perhaps not finding the right words is the best proof that the right words have already been said. So I’ll just stop here, go back and enjoy my holiday at home, take a lot of pictures and see you next year!