I can now count my days left in Amsterdam on two hands. This is easily the worst part of living abroad: knowing from the beginning that it comes to an end and suddenly having the end thrust upon you. Now comes the question: how do I say goodbye to the people, places and things that changed me so much?

Last week we got to skip grammar lessons for a day and had Chinese class with a Kung Fu instructor! He taught us how to get out of all sorts of holds, how to deflect attacks, and even how to do some taiqi.  We learned that Taiqi and Kung fu are closely related in their movements, and that the coolest form of Kung fu was developed by a Chinese nun.  And yes, he did actually reference Kung Fu Panda.  Then we even got to practice on each other! Here’s how that went down:

If I’ve learned anything from this crazy, beautiful, heartbreaking experience of studying abroad, it’s that I can’t possibly predict who I’ll be because of it. What will I do with my life after graduation? Where will I live? Will I even be in the U.S.?  But last weekend I was reminded that it’s ok to not know the answer to every life question. Life is a wild ride and these twenty-something years are just the starting blocks.

As my first semester at IES Beijing comes to a close, my friends and I have just about mastered the art of staying in touch. With technology enabling all kinds of interaction across the world, I guess I really just don’t even understand how people used to stay in touch before the internet.

On my last full weekend in Quito, two friends, my host dad, and I took our last paseo, a camping and hiking adventure to Laguna Quilotoa, the largest (or highest, I cant remember) crater lake in Ecuador. Distinguished by its turquoise waters, the site put on quite a show for us, as we enjoyed 70 degree weather and sun, and hiked a section around the rim, more difficult than it looks for the dry, loose sand that makes up the terrain in this environment.