“It’s been a pleasure working with you all for the past 7 years. I’m glad that I was able to meet such talented, inspiring, kind-hearted people here at Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School. I’ve also made many good friends, and encountered many exceptional teachers whom I will never forget. Thank you all for teaching me, for helping me become who I am today. Thank you, and goodbye.”

As I looked up from my place at the front of the room, I was met with a sea of eyes. These were the classmates I had grown up with, the friends I loved, the family I would never forget. These were the people I knew best in the world, and the people that knew me best. These were the people I would leave, possibly never to see again.

As I looked up again, it dawned on me. How could I possibly leave? How could I say goodbye to so many people I loved and cherished? How could I do this to myself, and to my friends? One single week was not enough time to abandon the memories of twelve whole years. But, as my mother had told me, in the words of Albert Einstein, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving [on].”
***

It all happened the morning of May 25th, 2010; I remember this day clearly, as it was the day before my grandpa’s 70th birthday. Everything seemed to be normal; I attended my usual classes, hung out with my friends after school, and arrived home at approximately 6:30 in in the evening. Usually, I’m the first one home, so I have to unlock the door and open the windows to let fresh air into the house. (My parents believed that it was essential to open the windows in order to cleanse the house of any bad spirits.) However, when I got home that day, the door was unlocked and the windows were already open. My first thought was that someone had burglarized our house, and I panicked. However, relief dawned on me as I saw my parents’ work shoes outside the front door. They must have gotten off work early and come home to surprise me.

When I walked into the house, the first thing I noticed were the cardboard boxes that littered the hallway. Most of them were empty, but a few of them contained books, clothing and appliances from around the house. One particular box stood out to me, containing various books in a familiar, yet foreign language. (Later, I found out that these were the books I would need to prepare for school in America.) At first, I was confused; were my parents renovating the house? Did they finally decide to paint over the revolting yellow pattern that colored our walls? It simply did not occur to me that there was a possibility that our family would be moving. I was sure that my parents would have informed me of such an immense change beforehand.

However, when I walked into my room, it became clear that we were going to move. My clothes had all been taken out of the closet and laid out on my bed. My posters had been taken off the walls, now rolled into tubes. My desk had been taken apart and placed in a cardboard box. Essentially, my whole room had been taken apart. The two suitcases standing in the middle of the room finalized the situation. When I saw them, I collapsed onto my bed, unable to accept the suddenness of what had befallen.

At this moment, my mother walked in.

“Xiao Meng,” she said softly, “are you ok?” She seemed to be hesitant to approach me.

“I’m fine.” I mumbled, slowly sitting up. “But why didn’t you tell me about all of this?” I gestured to the room. “Why didn’t you tell me that we’re going to move?”

“I was going to tell you this morning, but I thought it’d be better to wait until everything was settled. Your father got a promotion last week, and we’re going to move closer to his new workplace. However, I think you’ll like the location of our new home.”

“Really?” I exclaimed. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I had imagined. If my father had gotten a promotion, we might be moving to the city centre, where a lot of my friends lived. “Are we moving to the Xuhui area?”

“Of course not, we’re traveling farther; we’re leaving the continent! Your father has been assigned to his company’s branch in Los Angeles. We’ll be leaving Shanghai in one week. ”

Los Angeles? At first, I wasn’t able to recall where this was located. All I could register was the fact that we were leaving the continent; we were leaving the place I had lived for all my life. Then, I realized; Los Angeles was a city in California, which was in the United States. We were moving to another country, a country that was over 14 hours away by plane, a country that was separated from China by an entire ocean. I was shocked. How could my parents do this? How could they expect me to survive in a country that was so vastly different from the country where I had grown up? How could they expect me to essentially start my life over again?

From that day on, I refused to face my parents. I was unable to accept the fact that I had to abandon everything I had in a mere week. I was unable and unwilling to face reality. To tell the truth, it wasn’t easy for me to make friends. I have always been what one would call a shy, timid, introverted individual, so it had taken me a decent amount of time in order to make friends at school. However, now that I finally felt like I belonged, my parents were simply going to force me away to a different continent. I was extremely infuriated and upset.

Nevertheless, as the 2 weeks progressed, I began to slowly accept the reality that we were going to leave Shanghai, the only place where I felt at home. I was only a child, and thus, it would not possible for me to change the course of events. After all, ever since I was young, I had been taught the importance of respecting each and every one of my elder’s decisions. Even though I was upset, it would be disobedient of me to rebel against my parents, my family. I could not disappoint them. Thus, 3 days before we were scheduled to leave, I decided that I would be a good daughter, and accept our move to America. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.
***

However, looking around the classroom yet again, I began to realize truly how much I was leaving behind. I was leaving behind Xiao Lu, my neighbor, and my best friend. He was the one that peeled my shrimp for me when I refused to eat in pre-school. He was the one that held my hand during the first day of 1st grade. He was the one who would protect me from all the older bullies. He was the one I talked to whenever I was depressed. He was the best friend I could ever ask for. In addition to Xiao Lu, I was also leaving behind Qian Qian, my other best friend. She was the smart one, always helping me with academics whenever I was struggling. She was the one that sang and danced with me throughout the middle of night. Without Xiao Lu and Qian Qian, I would be alone; I would be losing two of the most important people in my life.

And then, there were also the classmates and teachers that had accompanied me for the past 7 years. After such a long time together, they had become like family. The jokes my classmates played on each other always brought a smile to my face. The dedication of the teachers deserved an immense amount of respect. These people had become an essential, necessary, expected part of my life. Without them, I would falter; I would lose the stable lifestyle I had strived to acquire. But now, I was leaving. There’s a possibility that I would never see them again. In the future, we would never be able to complete our daily morning exercise routines, or go on our yearly excursions. It would never be the same again.

As I left the classroom, glancing back at Xiao Lu, at Qian Qian, at everyone I had grown to love one last time, I realized how much they had all given me. They were the reason for my happiness and my tears; they were the ones who had slowly transformed me into who I am today. They were my friends, my family, my childhood, and they would forever remain in my heart.
***

The taxi ride to the airport was a peaceful one. As I looked out the taxi window, I could see my childhood flashing before my eyes. I saw the small, cozy restaurant where I bought my breakfast every morning. I saw the old man standing at the ice cream stand I stopped by every day during the summer. I saw the bus I rode to school. I saw my favorite place in the world, Nanjing Road, where I could find all the best food and entertainment. I saw my favorite karaoke, my favorite bowling alley, my favorite department store, and my favorite supermarket. I saw the house I lived in when I was first born. I saw everything that I would be leaving behind.

At the airport, my parents deposited our luggage and led me to Gate 6, where we would await our flight to Los Angeles. I was surrounded by enthusiastic children, all excited to go to the United States for the first time. However, I was different. I was not merely going on vacation; it was possible that I would stay in America for the rest of my life, creating my own family. Occasionally, I would be able to visit China, visit Xiao Lu, Qian Qian and all my family and friends. Yet, America would be my new home.

As the airplane took flight, I looked out the window onto the city that I had grown to love. To me, Shanghai represented times of happiness and laughter, as well as times of sadness and tears. To me, Shanghai would always be my eternal home. However, it was time to move on. Before we moved into the clouds, I was able to glimpse the city for the last time. Goodbye Shanghai. Goodbye, my home.
***

Los Angeles was truly a different place. When I first arrived in America, I was shocked at the number of trees that lined the roads. Back in Shanghai, the number of trees was limited, as the streets were littered with stores and skyscrapers. The air in America was also cleaner, the skies brighter. I was astounded by the lack on traffic on the highways. In China, the traffic during rush hour was horrendous; the cars could barely move for ten minutes. Overall, the differences I perceived between Los Angeles and Shanghai were immense, but not unwelcome; it was refreshing to experience a new city lifestyle. As I drove through the streets of Los Angeles, I realized that maybe, I had overestimated the time it would take for me to adapt to this new city, my new home.
***

School was what I dreaded most; I was terrified that I would be looked upon as inferior because of my poor English. On the airplane ride to Los Angeles, me and my parents had picked an English name for me: Molly. I thought it would help me assimilate into the school population if I were to have a “normal” name. Although my English was not the most exceptional, I could still carry out simple conversation as I had taken an English class back in Shanghai. However, I was still afraid that my fellow students wouldn’t be able to accept me, the new exchange student, when they each had their own group of friends.

On the first day of school, my mother sent me to school early, so she could go talk to the administrator about any paperwork that had to be completed. I sat by myself outside of the main office, waiting for my mother to come out. Just then, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

“Hi, are you new?” questioned a girl with pigtails that looked around my age.

I stared up at her, unable to comprehend what she was saying due to my shock.

She repeated the question in Chinese. “Are you new?”

“Yes, I just arrived in America a few months ago from Shanghai.” I replied.

“That’s so cool! I’m Krystal. What’s your name?”

“I’m Molly, or you could call me Xiao Meng. That’s what everyone called me back in China.” I gave her a weak smile. Just then the bell rang, and I jumped up, surprised at the
sound.

“Well, it was nice to meet you. I’ll see you around!” And with that, Krystal skipped off to her 1st period class, leaving me standing there. However, that brief conversation had made me recognize that I would be able to fit in. The people at the school seemed to be extremely open and extroverted; it would be easy to make friends. Thus, with newfound hope and excitement, I walked to my 1st period class. Opening the door to the classroom, I peered in at my new classmates, the people with whom I would spend my next five years of education.

The first person I saw when I walked into the classroom was Krystal. She smiled and waved at me from the back of the room. At that moment, I realized that life in America would not be extremely difficult. Even though I had left many friends and memories back in Shanghai, I would be able to make new friends and create new memories here in America. I would be able to experience the lifestyle of two entirely different sides of the world. Ultimately, I had the sole power to control how my life would play out; I had the ability to live life to the fullest. Thus, I walked to the front of the room and faced the rest of my class with confidence.

“Hi, my name is Molly. I just moved here a few months ago from China. I may be a little lacking in English, but I hope that we can all get along well. Thank you, and I look forward to the new school year as well as the many years to come!”