I didn’t update last night because I was simply too exhausted and having to log into this VPN site and then write out an update was simply too much.

Everything went smoothly yesterday. I stayed up really late the night before packing and getting everything ready to go. I did a going away dinner of sorts with J and LE the night before and then ended up going to a cafe afterwards and staying out much longer than I’d anticipated. It was a little stressful at times, but I managed to get my apartment at least a little cleaned and everything packed. The welfare officer from the school came by in the morning and helped me get everything sorted. It was basically a day of people handing me money. I was handed my final month’s pay, I got my security deposit back (yay!) and then went to the bank of closed my account and took everything out. I sent all the money home with western union and am super grateful that I had as much as I did. It’s nice to have some saved up which will give me some freedom as soon as I get to Istanbul.

I made it to Shanghai last night. I’m excited for a few days here. I’ve got to get rid of some of the stuff I’d anticipated taking to Istanbul. I simply have too much stuff and it’s a pain to travel with. I don’t need to take books and things that I haven’t read, and probably won’t read, any further. It’s certainly time to divest myself of those things.

Woohoo! Only a few more days and I’ll be living in a new city and on a new continent. Yay!