Last Day: Xiamen University/Host Families

Today is our last day. Our last day in Xiamen, China. Our last day with our host family. Our last day with of college mentors and our teachers. We have a goodbye party in which I and my fellow NSLIY students display our greatest talents. We sing, we dance, and we act for our Chinese family and friends.

My portions of the show consisted of modern Chinese dance and a group performance with my class. The dance piece was quite complex and involved elaborate fans. This is my first choreographed dance. The other three dancers are seasoned dancers. Although we finished learning the routine yesterday, we still did really well on tonight's performance. During my 30 second solo (*see clips on social media*), I dance completely freestyle. It is almost like my mind blacks out and my body takes over. The movements aren't calculated or pre-choreographed. All the movements are what I feel in my heart. The movements are real, emotional, and genuine. In the moment, I feel nothing but pure happiness.

As I have packed up all of my things ready to move on to the next city (Beijing), I know that I can do anything put my mind to. I can speak foreign languages;I can dance well just as I am (no formal training); I can choose to be happy; I can accomplish anything. I came to China to study other people-the language, the culture, the history-only to discover something new about myself.