Goodbye...My Friends!!

It's sad to say but our UGRAD journey had finally ENDED. Yeap...9 months had passed by...so quickly!! Seems like it was just not long ago when I first arrived Huntsville...met Anita & all other sponsored students. I can still remember exactly everything that happened on 9 Aug 2008: Sabina arrived a day before me; Melissa arrived on the same day after me & Anita brought us to Jason's Deli for dinner; the others arrived next day and I helped Uyanga & Cristina to check-in their room. I don't know why...but all these are still clear in my mind.

I'm gonna miss all the good times that we've had together!!

Of course, I can't leave out our 'babysitters' who have been taking good care of us & brought us all together for the past 9 months...the Office of International Programs (OIPS)!! Dr. Pottenger, Anita, Kathleen, Sarah, & Sabrina...thank ya'll so much for helping us soooo much here. Without all of you, I'm sure we wouldn't be enjoying our stay here. :p I'm gonna miss riding my bike all the way to the office to 'trouble' Anita...asking her to help settle my documentations & get my stipend check. :(

The souvenirs I received from OIPS: Alabama-US-Malaysia flags, UAH t-shirt, UAH flag & flash drive.

Our final gathering organized by OIPS for all of us...farewell dinner & debriefing at New China Buffet. It was sort of like our 'graduation ceremony' for completing of our exchange program here in UAH. They also brought us to Panoply after that. No words can express my gratitude towards everyone in OIPS...I'm gonna remember all the moments that we've shared. Hope that we'll have the chance to meet again in the future! Keep up the great work...ya'll are really awesome!!

Our last meal together at the cafeteria...I'm gonna miss the bottomless soft drinks, sweet tea & chocolate milk here!

From the day we arrived, all of us sponsored students had spent a lot of time together...eating at the cafeteria, going on trips, community service, Friday night parties, etc... Every single one of them are amazing individuals and I'm really glad that we've built a strong friendship despite all our differences. I guess itz because we all share one thing in common...which is being an international sponsored student in UAH!

Last party with all our friends

All these are gonna be sweet memories that will put a smile on my face when I look back someday.

Sending all my dear friends to the airport. It's hard to see everyone leaving.

I've gotten so used to saying 'CYA'...but it's finally time to say 'GOODBYE'. After this 'goodbye', we'll all proceed to different routes in life...we don't know if the routes we chose are gonna bring us back together in the future. But I hope that no matter how far the distance, we'll still stay in touch and keep each other updated on our lives...I'm looking forward to hearing all your success stories!! :)

Itz never easy to say goodbye...especially knowing that we might never meet each other again.

~2008-2009 UAH Sponsored Students~
1. Sabina - Turkmenistan
2. Aina - Kazakhstan
3. Emil - Krygystan
4. Cristina - Moldova
5. Jose - Guatemala
6. Melisa - Costa Rica
7. Htet - Myanmar
8. Uyanga - Mongolia
9. Khai Shing - Malaysia
10. Don Michael - Filipines
11. VietAnh - Vietnam
12. Angel - Panama
13. Aleksandar - Serbia
14. Dragan - Serbia
15. Ivana - Serbia
16. YiHeng - China
17. Mariel - Dominican Republic