Twenty Two Days

It feels really weird to be having a countdown for coming home. Especially when you consider that I started this blog with a countdown for coming to Taiwan. I only have 22 days left in the country and only 19 days left until I am finished working. The other day I started to get stressed out about all the stuff I have and not being able to fit it into two suitcases, so I did what every other sane person would do. I started packing.

This only made me more stressed out. That one suitcase is half full and that is only souvenirs, some shoes (not even all my shoes), and some random little tidbits. I still have all my clothes, toiletries, medicine, shoes, coats, and all my favourite coffee mugs to pack. I want to scream. For now, I will just obsess about it and send another box of stuff home. But then every time I send a box home, I start to think, what if when I do leave, I have all this extra room because I sent so much home in boxes? What a conundrum.

This week, I've started to tell my students that I am leaving because after teaching this week's class, I will only have two more weeks with them. So far, I have only told one class. Some were confused. 

"Why are you leaving?" 

"Because I have to go home." 

"But you live in Taiwan.."
"But my mom doesn't live in Taiwan."

"She should move to Taiwan."

Or: "So when are you coming back to Taiwan?"

It was actually pretty sad to tell this particular class. I have been their one and only foreign teacher and I've gotten to watch them learn so much. I will really miss them. I'm hoping that it gets easier to tell my classes each time but I'm thinking it will actually be the opposite.