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Last Day of Classes in Japan

Millie Koong
December 16, 2016

Today was my very last final exam. I have to admit that I stayed up too late playing Neopets (feel free to add me but neomail me first - my username is bishadow!) so I didn't very much, and wanted to just DIE the whole exam as a result, but I still never wanted to finish that test because I didn't want my semester to be over. But it is!

Yesterday was my last actual academic class. It was "Political and Social Issues of Japan," which is a seminar I take with actual Japanese students. The professor was sweet enough to use the class period as a mini farewell party for us, and we got these cards and cookies from our classmates!

Really, it was enough to make one cry. Since they did all this for us yesterday, I thought that was our last good bye, but we had our CJS (that's the office for foreign students, AKA us) farewell party today, and they all came to see us again! It was especially touching because most of them were skipping class to see us. ;_____; I really am going to miss them all so much!

It hasn't really hit me yet that the semester is over and that I'm leaving in two days. There were a few times that I just couldn't wait to go home - some examples are when I found out that there is just NO decent cheese in Japan, when I missed driving, and when I missed being able to read actual books - but now that I'm about to do so I find myself willing to do literally anything other than go home. The absolute worst thing is that so many of my classmates are staying for the next semester and I'm one of the only ones who isn't. To top that off, most of my friends at my home institution (what a funny thing to say!) are studying abroad when I return, so I'm losing friends all around. 

I haven't cried once yet, but we've planned a group dinner for our very last day in Japan, and... Well, we'll see. I don't even want to think about it, to be honest.

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Millie Koong

<p>Hi, I&#39;m Millie! I&#39;m a Southern California native currently studying Critical Social Thought and Asian Pacific American Studies at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. I love film, art history, and the Food Network - join me as I eat my way across Japan (and hopefully learn some things along the way).</p>

Destination:
Term:
2016 Fall
Home University:
Mount Holyoke College
Major:
Asian Studies
Sociology
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