The Day I Left the Hut by Chang Le

It was destined to me a calm day (in my mind) because I didn't have much to do and I had already sent home a ton of stuff. So throwing the last little bit of my things in a few bags should be a breeze. Well, as always I was mistaken and I was way too optimistic with my time. I also thought that because I was leaving on an afternoon flight instead of the ridiculously early 7am flight, that I would be less rushed and therefore have a stress free departure.
So I start my day off at 8am with breakfast at the swank hotel we go to when we want to eat a somewhat western breakfast. That went well and it was great to spend time with some dear sisters. Then I needed to meet another friend who had decided to finally take the big "dip" for dad on that day. We were to meet at her grandma's house later in the morning. So we get there and of course get behind schedule because we have to wait on other people to arrive. It was totally a sweet time of worship and obedience watching this sister dedicate the rest of her life to our Father. So after that I had two hours left before we were set to leave for the airport. I felt like even though there was a lot to do back at my apartment, two hours was enough time to do it in. I got home and people met me there, the entourage that would see me off to the airport. As I began "finishing up" on my packing, I realized that I was totally not prepared to leave. The fridge and freezer was still full of food, I needed to take lots of trash out and my closets weren't empty. What had I been doing for the past four weeks? "Hangin Out," would be the answer to that question. So I begin to delegate tasks out to the growing crowd of friends that kept showing up. It was great to have my buddies come love on me for the last few moments like that but I was in such a frenzy I couldn't really enjoy it.
We finally get everything as together as it's gonna get and we've got to leave now for the airport because the van is waiting outside. Then I can't find my passport anywhere. Everyone is already downstairs and all my stuff is downstairs but my passport is no where in sight. So I have to half unpack everything and I'm digging and digging, then I go back to my apartment to look through the drawers and still, nothing. Finally I go through my luggage one more time and realize I had stuffed my passport down into my scrapbook envelope. So now we can load the van and go to the airport. I begin to exhale a bit.
We get in line at the airport and then K begins to cry, then my buddy T starts crying. At this point I'm still alright and my composure is in tact. I get in line to check in and then strike up a conversation with a man behind me and it turns out that he can speak English so we chat briefly then I get to the counter. The lady begins to bug me about how many bags I have and reminds me of the limits and stuff. So this guy that is behind me volunteers to check one of my huge bags in as one of his so that I will be within weight and baggage number limits. How Great!!!

We finally get upstairs to the security check-in area and we all sit there (in a solemn daze) for a while and kind of postpone the inevitable. Some had not held back but most of us had, up to this point. It was really crazy trying to spread myself out over 16 people who were there just for me in the final 30 minutes we had together. It was pretty sobering at this point to realize that this could be the last time I ever see these people. So I go around and have a few semi-private last words with a few people then the "last boarding" call comes over the intercom. So as I finish giving my favorite little sister and tutor our last tearful embrace, I lean over to K and begin to fall apart. Like I didn't know I would lose it like that. All of a sudden I was heaving like a 4 year old had just shut his hand in a car door. K finally is able to let a few words limp out of her throat and she says, "you gotta go." I get it together a little bit and hug a couple more friends. Then, I get over to one of my singer friends and my shoulders start to jumpin again as there is more heaving. I was able to recover pretty quickly from that one but once I got over to T who has been crying for the past hour almost now, the flood gates just kind of opened up. As I hugged T, I just lost all control and didn't even care anymore. It was a good cry that had been ready to come out for a long probably. The people from the gate were yelling at me to come on as I was the only passenger they were waiting on. Imagine how much the people over there stared at me for two years and then me putting on a show like that for them at the airport. I didn't notice the stares that day but I can bet they were ready to sell tickets. So then I let go of T and rushed through security while all of my friends are watching me and I would stop and wave every few seconds then I got all my stuff together and told them all that I loved them and sprinted off toward the plane. It was a great goodbye that I'll never forget. Once the plane got above the clouds and I couldn’t see my great little city anymore, I fell asleep just like that four year old would after he calmed down from shutting his hand in the car door. I always wanted my departure from the Hut to be like that, with lots of friends and tears. However, I didn't know most of the tears would be from me. It was really cool to see some pretty deep emotion come out of a few friends that I didn't realize cared as much about me as they did. It was a fantastic two years!!!!!!!!!!!!!