Maria -- CP 6

Last CP blog! For our last conversation, Lu and I went out for lunch. She had taken the TOEFL two days earlier. During lunch she tells me that she almost did not go to the test, as she thought she would not do well. She will know the results in a couple of weeks so, for now, she is simply happy for it to be over with. She is looking forward to her coming trip to Universal Studios in Orlando and soon after that she'll travel back to China. Lu was very homesick about a month ago, but now that it is almost time to go home she is reluctant. She has really enjoyed living for the first time away from home as an independent adult. She's learned to cook for herself, do the laundry, shop for food. She's proved to herself that she can do it. She also tells me how happy she's been to be outside of her mother's range and she goes on to explain the role of the mother in Chinese society. From what I hear, when it comes to moms, cultural differences become a moot point (la mamma è sempre la mamma! as they say in Italian).

All in all, Lu has had a great experience in the US and can't wait to come back for her continued studies. I hope she does!