Home Stretch.

Today I presented my research in front of a live audience. Kei, Tanya and I stood in front of our colleagues, friends, and some Embassy staff and talked about what we did during our 9 months here. I was so ridiculously nervous that I had IBS all morning. I did okay, though, or so Page tells me. I'm glad it's over though. Presentations are definitely not my bag, baby.

I'm so glad Page is here. I'm having a tough time with all of these mixed feelings. I'm so excited to come home, but devastated about leaving my friends. It's really quite awful. Bittersweet. Page is helping me through all of this - she's really matured in the past year and has become a great friend for me.

Also, today we got news that one of our favorite high school teachers, Ms. Susan Maasz, passed away this morning. She was young and has a son who will start high school next year. I give her credit for a great deal of my own personal and academic development. I will miss her.

Time to go have chocolate.