18 May 2009

The hardest part was letting go, not taking part.

My 'Blessed Union' exam came and went. It went as well as could be expected, aside from a slight moment of panic upon seeing the list of questions and realising that I had no idea as to the first two. Still, I found two questions that I could answer with confidence and left the test at 4:30pm with a right hand that has still not fully recovered from the ordeal. Afterward, Kelly and I met for lunch at Quizno's and then went to see 'Angels & Demons' at the cinema. Oh man. Ewan McGregor in priest's clothing. Epic. He simply gets better with age.

Friday was an absolutely horrible day in terms of weather. It had dropped to about 50 degrees and flooded us with a torrential downpour. It would figure that the weather would be so hideous on the one day that I did not have an exam. As a result, I left Warrender Park Road only to get lunch and go running. On Saturday, I woke up incredibly early to walk with Kelly to her exam and to go to the library. Of course, only after getting to the library did I realize that there was absolutely no need for me to have woken so early. Perhaps such a measure would have been necessary during the first few weeks of exams when seats in the library were a hot commodity. However, now that we have entered the final week and most people are completely finished, there are plenty of spaces to be had. Sunday was actually sunny, so I sat out on the Meadows for a while. That night was Kelly's last in Edinburgh, so Katie, Kelly, and I made chips (French fries) and sat in the flat kitchen for a while. It was quite nice.

Yesterday, Katie and I accompanied Kelly to the airport. It is strange to think that the end has finally come and people are leaving. I remember last semster at Oxford when the first of my friends began to leave. Becky left on the Thursday of 9th week and that is when I realizd that it was all coming to an end. That Friday night, when the everybody was in varying states of sadness and chaos, was one of the most difficult of my life. The pain that I felt...well, I can safetly say that it won't be bad this time around, but still...saying goodbye is difficult. Standing at the airport, waving goodbye, was made even more surreal by the fact that I will be in her position in two weeks time. My flight to London from Edinburgh leaves at (or around) 11:45am. I should be back in the States by 9pm (after a 4pm flight from London). I will admit that I am ready to come home. I am exhausted. I want to see my friends (those who actually took the time and effort to keep in touch, that is. As for those who 'couldn't be bothered' - we will be having words) and parents.

What does my return to the States mean for me? A return to normalcy, perhaps. A return to driving on the right, watching television, going to the mall, riding the Metro. It will be odd after so long a time away. Returning to St. Mary's in August will be even weirder after having attended Oxford and then Edinburgh, both of which are in cities and have student populations near 20,000. Luckily, I will be living with people that I like and taking classes that seem interesting. (They had better be - if I have any hope at all for Cambridge, I have to get a 4.0 both semesters.) In the end, it is only a year of my life and then I will be back in the UK for grad school.

What does all of this mean for this blog? I have not decided yet. Viaggiatory - On the move, given to traveling around: that is the theme of this blog. It was established so that others could join in my experiences as I lived in the UK. I doubt that I will be doing much traveling over this next year. Still, the thought of retiring it completely is a bit sad. Perhaps I shall write in it and record the 'St. Mary's experience'. We shall see.

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