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Had one final hurrah tonight with some friends at my favorite afternoon tea spot in the city. After filling our bellies with warm scones and hot tea, we strode out into the windy, balmy night, lingering in conversation. 

“Oh, I love this breeze!” my friend exclaimed suddenly.

I never thought I’d last through the hot, sticky summer. 

Alas, autumn has arrived.

I drafted this blog post a few hours before saying my last farewells to Taipei and making the long trek back home. If it isn’t painfully obvious already, words did not come easily to me in those final moments; perhaps I was too overwhelmed trying make sense of everything myself to even transcribe my experiences and thoughts into comprehensible language.

In retrospect, though, I think it makes perfect sense that my last blog entry abroad would be unfinished, scattered, and sparse: it mirrors perfectly the same abiding sense of bewilderment and unpreparedness that encompasses nearly every goodbye I’ve ever had to utter.

I doubt I’ll ever master the art of saying goodbye to the things I’ve grown to know and love.

I hope I never do.