Can you prepare yourself to say goodbye?

[underthewater]

Does "goodbye" mean "bye forever"? When I learned English I thought it meant "see you":<

When I said "goodbye" to my boyfriend at the airport when he left (we haven't visited each other yet) to Hong Kong, he looked pretty relaxed and said "I don't say goodbye, because we'll see eachother soon!" And then after he arrived he emailed me and said he actually teared up at the airport...

Of course "goodbye" is hard to say, I'll experience that soon. Hopefully it's better than last time (I literally sat in the corner of the airport and cried for like 2 minutes, and then I moved to the toilet and cried for another 5 minutes). I think it will be even harder for him because after I leave he'll have to face the empty apartment, etc.

[LadyMarchHare]

Does "goodbye" mean "bye forever"? When I learned English I thought it meant "see you":<

When I said "goodbye" to my boyfriend at the airport when he left (we haven't visited each other yet) to Hong Kong, he looked pretty relaxed and said "I don't say goodbye, because we'll see eachother soon!" And then after he arrived he emailed me and said he actually teared up at the airport...

Of course "goodbye" is hard to say, I'll experience that soon. Hopefully it's better than last time (I literally sat in the corner of the airport and cried for like 2 minutes, and then I moved to the toilet and cried for another 5 minutes). I think it will be even harder for him because after I leave he'll have to face the empty apartment, etc.

"Goodbye" can mean that, but most often it's used as a permanent separation word, such as if you were leaving an ex and tell them goodbye, it means you're never coming back. The English language is tricky, as are many other languages, because one word can hold several different definitions.

[underthewater]

^Oh, thanks! So does the "good" here mean "for good"?

And what about "bye bye"? Now in China young people don't say "Zai jian" ("see you" in chinese) that much but "bye bye"!

[noodle]

Never leave? lol That's my plan x)

[Andy]

I hope you still managed to have an enjoyable last night together, it's hard not to think about the following day but at least try

I have to agree with those that say goodbyes don't get easier, the best advice I can give is talk about the next visit and try to get an idea for some dates if that's possible, find it always helps

[Talent_2]

Just wanted to say thank you to everything for all your advice when i left my SO, i refused to say goodbye and said see you soon instead and although i still bawled my eyes out and was heart broken when i left, i did feel a bit better, normally i get home and feel real empty and numb, but this time i didnt feel quite as bad once the tears subsided i just thought that 7 weeks isnt so long and that seeing him again and having him in my life is worth the pain i have to go through.

Had a great time btw!! Beautiful weather and lots of amazing memories and mementoes to add to my collection

Thanx again

[Dauntedpoet]

So glad you had a wonderful time, Hugs!!

[Talent_2]

So glad you had a wonderful time, Hugs!!

aw thanx Hope all is well in your LDR

[Andy]

Great to hear you had a good time

I hope you'll be sharing some pics with us