The Most Special Day in My Life - Part 3

(The content of this post happened on June 12th, 2014 PDT)

(Cover photo) the big family picture.

We entered the house and I took my family around the house to show them where my room as well as other rooms are. We also chatted downstairs, my sister and mom loved the cat Toby, they can’t stop playing with him! My family and the Berryhill family and I were just chatting happily. And my family also gave them the gift they prepared for them, a really beautiful china vase, they loved it and put the vase into their shelves immediately. We then all went upstairs to my room and starting to do some final packing works. My mom helped me to pack which made the packing process a lot faster. No one likes packing, I had so many stuff to pack! At last, there were 4 luggage filled with my stuff, as well as some other bags. Isn't it crazy!

Me, uncle Paul and my dad in front of the house together.

In my host family's house, my sister and their youngest daughter Elisa were playing happily together!

Ethan, Brennan and me!

Elisa!

Here come Elisa and me sister again!

My mom and me - in my room packing. Well in this picture I was choosing what songs to play to my Bluetooth speaker though. Haha

Looking out from my room.

My room.

After we finally finished packing, we all went downstairs to celebrate my birthday. My host family prepared a cake and many gifts for me. They were really heartwarming! We were all just sitting on the couch eating cakes, and I was also opening the gifts happily. They prepared a lot of great gifts for me and I loved them all. Also, during that time, we took a great picture of everybody together. My dad also took a lot of pictures of me opening gifts, please see the pictures below:

My sister, Sandy, holding Toby the cat.

She really loves playing with cats!

My and the really nice birthday cake Karen and Jason prepared for me.

"Ok let's get ready here"

Elisa and Uncle Paul. Haha what was she doing! :D

Me in front of the cake saying Thank You to all the people that made today so wonderful.

It's felt like giving a speech! Haha

Group photo time! What a gorgeous picture!

Say Cheese!!

On the last day staying in the Berryhill family, I also prepared some cards for Berryhill members.

Uncle Paul was reading the card I gave him!

Of course, photos with the kids are also mandatory! Haha - Brennan and me.

Ethan and me.

Elisa and me.

Brennan again!

My host mom, Karen, host dad, Jason, and me.

Yeah, it's gift opening time!

What a gorgeous San Diego harbor photography poster they got me! I loved it!  

A U.S. flag!

And this gift was from my dad, it's a external battery!

Cool! A IN-N-OUT tshirt! Since there's no IN-N-OUT in Taiwan, I'm sure I'll miss this awesome burger shop!!!

This might be the most special gift I have ever received, a really beautiful drawing from Elisa. Isn't it cute! 

Finally, it’s time to leave. Very, very sad. Last night was my, literally, “last night” sleeping in my host family’s house because tonight I am going to sleep in the hotel with my family. We all know that this day would come, and now it’s here. My family and I went upstairs to take my stuff to the car. We had to have everything with us since we were not coming back. And then, it’s time to say good bye. Well, this was not our very last time seeing the Berryhill family though, because we were going to have dinner together few days later before my family and me started heading to L.A. But to me, this “good bye” meant something different. This is my very last time passing through this house’s door, after tonight, I won't be here anymore.

It's 8:00 already, and it's kids' bed time. We were also about to leave the house. It has been a really great day with both of my families, the Berryhill family and the Kuo family.

This was the last time Sandy holding Toby.

Last picture of me in my room, it's really time to say goodbye to my lovely room.

"Happy birthday, Phil" I'm sure I'll miss the kids and Elisa, they were just so cute!

We, including the Berryhill family, uncle Paul, Anna, my family and me, were all standing in front the door saying that it has been a great year and how we should keep in touch forever. My mom also stepped out of her comfort zone and spoke an English sentence to them for the first time ever, “I appreciate….(I can’t remember the whole sentence)” she said. After hundreds times of “Goodbye”, we walked to our car on the road. Just before we drove off to the hotel, my dad took me a picture in front of the house again. That moment was memorable.

Good bye, 4S Ranch neighborhood.

We then arrived our hotel, Holiday Inn Express San Diego N - Rancho Bernardo. It was really near the house, about a 3 minutes drive only. It is actually located in the 4S neighborhood which is the same neighborhood to the house. The reason why we booked a hotel here was because that it is located in the middle of the two places we were planned to go, SeaWorld and Legoland. The hotel was pretty nice, and the room was clean and quiet, they also do offer complimentary breakfasts which is really nice. I will definitely recommend this hotel.

It has been a really busy day, yet absolutely unforgettable. Today was definitely one of those days in life which you would never forgot. Last day of school, last day staying in my host family’s house in San Diego, my birthday, and the first time seeing my parents again after a year not seeing them for a year. Isn't today just magical!

In the hotel room, I looked out from the window and realized that, my exchange year has ended. Officially ended. This year meant a lot to me, and it helped me grown a lot. It’s a year full of excitements and extremely unforgettable experiences, and they were all stored in my memories. All I can do now is to tell others about my magical journey to America. And thanks to this blog, others from around the world, that are whether just about to start their exchange student life or simply wanting to know about a foreign teenager’s life in America, can get some ideas about living in the U.S. as a teenager that doesn't natively speaks English.

Good bye, and thanks for everything you did for me, the Berryhill family! To be continued...

(The last day of my exchange year was truly memorable, there are just way too many things that I want to talk about, so I have to separate this post to two "blog posts". Please read the first and second part of this post by clicking here: The Most Special Day in My Life - Part 1, and The Most Special Day in My Life - Part 2.)