(So coincidentally, a little bit after I was thinking about what I wanted to say in this post, I got a PSIADA-related email about other business where my friend Ben remarked that we'll "be back before we know it.")
I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden I have barely a month left in Freiburg. Okay, maybe a little more time before I leave Europe... But this adventure does feel like it's almost over. Next weekend is Fourth of July, which I normally consider the halfway point for the summer, and then it's the the Freiburg Weinfest -- an event I have anticipated for quite a while (but again, now that it's here it's hard to believe because that was one of the events at "the end of my trip")... And then Alice is here, and then I'll be starting my last week in Freiburg. Wow. Writing this all out does not make it seem like it's going any slower. I'm saying bye to Brad tomorrow -- another one bites the dust. Even though it's basically less than a normal summer break length of time until I see him again at school, I'll still be sad to see him go. With another one of my friends leaving the continent, there just seems such a finality to this adventure. Also it seems weird that Brad and I might never be in Freiburg together again -- chilling on his terrace in Vauban, meeting up at cheers, buying Döner and listening to the worst DJ ever at stusie... and of course, spending far too many hours talking about PSIADA... I mean, not that we aren't going to see each other a ton next year. This past semester/not-semester/almost two semesters? Has been really interesting for me, because I felt like I've gotten to know a bunch of people really well on an individual level. And while I'm sad a lot of my friends and I couldn't spend the time together -- and haven't all been together since before our winter finals week ended, this was also a valuable experience. For those of you who are familiar with Avatar the Last Airbender, there's a part in the last series where, after Prince Zuko joins the squad, he goes on solo adventures with each person -- and that's kinda been my year so far. Carver and Quill and I had plenty of adventures this past spring -- the time Carver, Quill, and I played broom hockey all alone on the Pegula rink, or walking home through the snow, or carrying each other home in different conglomerations, or all waking up on Valentine's Day together... Or there were the several days Carver and I spent the whole afternoon in the HUB doing work (or in my case, PUNC stuff), or seeing who could roll farther on our chairs in the Heads of Committee meetings, or the time we went to the career center together cause our parents were both like "go!" and then had literally no idea what to tell them cause they wanted us to do like ten steps of career counseling... Or the weekend that just Quill and I hung out and he cheered me up after I walked the whole length of freezing College Ave after a crappy tea club party, or let me grumpily pass out on his shoulder while we were waiting for committee to finish, or any time he walked me partially home while everyone else was moving as. Slowly. As. Possible.... I also felt like I got to know more people in PSIADA better. Like the time William and I watched crappy high school videos on YouTube and nuggeted Carver's backpack before UNCA. Or the time that Pat and I went hiking at 6am on a perilous Uber journey through a snow storm to Whipple dam, and the Uber driver was all "do you kids have a flashlight" and we were all "...of course we do!" But yeah no. Totally did not. Or when he stayed with me in the HUB until like 3am and tried to read German while I coded my lab work. I got to (almost haha) enjoy swimming again with Ben (/also just talk about politics... and then feel judged by the lifeguards... because on the flipside, I totally would have been the judgey lifeguard) and go on seemingly uncomplicated car trips around State College for PSIADA, or have nerf gun wars and compare spring breaks.... Or get to know Julia better (like when we took our own laps in the HUB or rolled our eyes at the boys at West dinners), and Jordan (I've already shared with you in your toasts video), and Tom, and Joey, and all of my wonderful, amazing crisis staffers... And then I was also fortunate to explore the world with some of my best friends. I went sliding down cliffs in Scotland with Rose, and swimming In Loch Ness, and got to lie under the stillest, starriest spread of nighttime on the isle of Skye in a moment I was pretty sure might never end. And I sampled chocolate and watched football and watched the sunset over the Rhine with Alice. I got to bid Cara "bon voyage!" in Paris after lounging in parks and pain au chocolat and jumping pics by Notre Dame. And I got to go to Stuttgart -- maybe the worst city in Germany (i jest, I jest) and judge drunk Germans at summer fest, and befriend historically inaccurate Aussies, and battle bloodthirsty REWE kids, and defend Penn State's honor in perhaps our second most popular sport with Brad. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it's been a good year thus far. I have lots of amazing memories with people from both back at home in State College and all across Europe, and frankly I treasure them equally because it's the people in them that make them more so then the places. I feel incredibly blessed that I've been able to share these experiences with people over course of this year, and I'm looking forward to the moment that we will finally all be back together again though, making mentors together. *Also, to all my homies from State High/townie life, it goes without saying that I miss you, fam. (It's just at this point -- half a decade, or, in some cases, over a decade deep in friendship, I feel like we miiiiiight be past the "getting to know each other" phase). *also, if you were wondering about the title for the post, it's a Hamilton reference. Are you surprised?
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June 2016
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