Thursday
night. In the kitchen, Chris gives Tony a haircut. And I’m sitting in the
living room with Tim, both of us staring at our laptops, ignoring the freeze
frame of the Red Green Show on TV. I
am re-reading my last blog draft, written on Saturday:
This is the end of the
spring semester. I don’t even know where
to begin, what to say, how to speak. I have to be careful not
to drift into whiny complaining about the fact that this part of my life is
over. I have had the best time living in Athens and studying at OU. I have met
the nicest people here, friends that I am not willing and not ready to let go.
This, right here and right now, is the downside of making great
once-in-a-lifetime experiences. I should be happy about everything that’s
happened to me over the last months, and I really am, but there is a profound
sadness overshadowing the gratefulness and happiness right now. Saying goodbye
is rarely easy, but it’s especially hard if you have the feeling that you might
never see the people who’ve become your friends ever again.
Today was graduation day at OU. Some
of the people I’ve met here have finished their undergrad studies and are about
to leave town.
And that’s where that draft
stops. For reasons of time, I think. I’m a little less emotional about all of
that today. When I wrote that bit on Saturday night, I did not even have to say
goodbye to everyone yet. I would see my roommates and some friends again on
Sunday. What made Saturday feel so final was the fact that most of my friends
here were graduating that day. The ceremony was held at OU’s Convocation Center.
Since I’d never been to the Convo before, it was pretty overwhelming. A huge circular
structure with more than 13,000 seats, mostly used for basketball games. That
day, most of the seats were filled with the students’ relatives. Flags of all
(or many?) nationalities hanging from the ceiling. In the center, hundreds of black
folding chairs had been placed, and an orchestra was playing. And then, when
all the graduates-to-be (I think around 4,000!) marched in in their black gowns
and caps, the band played that graduation song you have heard in more than one
Hollywood movie. The entire ceremony was pretty touching, it really got much closer to
me than I had expected. After all, my friends’ graduation made me realize once
more that the spring semester was over now. So we heard speeches, the national
anthem, more speeches, and then every single student was called by name. Every
single one. 4,000 students. But it was pretty well organized; two people were
reading the names alternately, in a quite fluent succession. Mildly impressive.
After those two to three hours,
I and Sophia (we had met during the ceremony) searched for Natalie and Geeg and
their families, took some photos with them, and then we all walked home, one
last time to the house we’d lived in for the semester. We had already moved
(most of) our things out that morning, so that now, all that was left was some
furniture, some basic kitchen utensils, some boxes. I was already well aware of
how much I would miss our house. All the good memories connected to it. So we
had one last great feast, and I got to know some more family members of Geeg
and Nat. After all of that was over, Nat and I went to Jackson’s house where we
hung out on the porch talking to this funny guy, and then I joined Jimmy’s
family in the living room for some music, playing the guitar for the first time
in many many weeks. Then, off to the bars until the inevitable hour of 2a.m.
Not yet the final goodbye.
Sam and I met Geeg, Nat,
Kara, Joe, Hannah, and Tom for a farewell brunch at Casa. Had to wait one and a
half hours for a table, but there was no hurry on our very last brunch, anyway.
Having finished our meals, I had to say and hug goodbye to most of the others.
Not cool. However, Tom and I went to Justin’s house, and the three of us walked
around one last time, up Mound Street and down, back to Justin’s. Geeg brought
Natalie over, and that was about the time when I had to bid farewell to Geeg, Nat,
Sophia, and Justin.
I walked around a bit after
that, along strangely empty and quiet streets lined with old furniture and
trash that former residents had just left in front of their houses. Went to
that place high above Athens to enjoy the weather and the view. Didn’t quite succeed
in reading. I then went back to Sam’s place which was my home until yesterday
when I moved to Tim and Tony’s apartment where I’ll stay until next week when I’ll
also leave this town that has become so much of a home to me. So quickly.
