It’s been a
while since I last wrote, my apologies, but the past few months have simply flown by in the blink of an eye for me. Term time was a
blur of hilarities with friends, and exciting new experiences (like going to a
Canucks game [and seeing Koivu play on the opposing team]) in the midst of
course work and exams. Then before we knew it finals were upon us, then done with, and it was time to move out of the little pods of comfort we had made for ourselves into the concrete blocks we had come to call home during the last two terms.
Perhaps then, for a nostalgic like myself anyway, it was fortunate move out day was so chaotic and stress-filled that it didn’t allow for too much grieving of the “end of an era”. As we all stumbled over our belongings, frantically squeezing with them into the seemingly shrunken elevators now filled to the brim with people (most of whom, by the way, I swear didn’t live there all year) and luggage to try meet the ludicrous deadline of being moved out by noon, the last thing on my mind was “aw, isn't it sad that we’re all moving out”. The hassle didn’t end there, of course, because now we all had our stupendously overfilled bags on us, having to find places to allocate them for the remainder of our stay here which for some would be longer than for others. I, however, was extremely lucky that one of my friends allowed me to seek refuge with all my belongings at her house leading up to my departure from Canada- it has been so helpful and I am incredibly grateful for this!
At this stage though, we were only in town a couple nights before I left with a group of friends to Tofino onVancouver Island for a surf vacation. I’d never surfed
before (or driven a mini van; I felt like a soccer mom with a bunch of rowdy kids
in the back driving that thing), not unlike many of my pals with me, but discovered that I loved
it, exhausting though it was! We saw some beautiful sunsets, shooting stars,
more gorgeous BC nature on walks through forests, and had some truly wonderful
meals sharing lots of laughs together on that trip. When it was time to leave, I wished we could have stayed another week.
Thankfully, shortly after I headed inland to visit some friends’ hometowns, one of which was mainly lost to me due to a mysterious food poisoning both myself and the only other driver on our road trip managed to catch from some dodgy donuts. Luckily both of us recovered quite quickly and we were able to continue our trip to the Rockies from there. So as not to drone on, I'll only say this about the Rockies; I saw some of the most stunning views of my life during that roadtrip and everywhere we visited along the way was absolutely breath-takingly beautiful- well worth the dodgy night in a hostel with no running water and minimal electricity.
Since all this travelling, I’ve been back in Vancouver for a week and a half. I've biked around Stanley park, attended a graduation ceremony, been on some hikes, and caught up with and said good bye to amazing people and friends over dinners and teas. The last of those has most certainly been the hardest, and this slow trickle of farewells has been the thing that has made the end of this experience most real to me.
But as Frank Herbert says, “There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” I like that. My story with all the things I’ve learned here in Canada, with all the incredible people I’ve met and friends I’ve made does not end today when I board that plane heading back to Europe. It just changes its format, setting and continues on anew. And all those memories I’ve accumulated throughout this unbelievable experience, all the late night movies, adventures in and around Vancouver, cards against humanity games, hikes, pot-lucks, ski-times, tea-times, laughter and tears with all the various people I was lucky enough to cross paths with this year, I will cherish them all close to my heart as I move along to new adventures seeing where this crazy life will take me next.
And so as I find myself coming back full circle, sitting in the midst of my haphazardly (un)packed suitcases and things strewn about in neat (or not so neat) piles all around me, I feel sad to be closing this chapter in my life, but also hopeful that all that this year has given me (the friends, lessons learned, memories) will stay with me far into the future. Moreover I look back on my first post and recall the anxious girl writing that and trying to envision the months ahead, worrying that it would not live up to the hype it had been built up to and it makes me smirk.
Perhaps then, for a nostalgic like myself anyway, it was fortunate move out day was so chaotic and stress-filled that it didn’t allow for too much grieving of the “end of an era”. As we all stumbled over our belongings, frantically squeezing with them into the seemingly shrunken elevators now filled to the brim with people (most of whom, by the way, I swear didn’t live there all year) and luggage to try meet the ludicrous deadline of being moved out by noon, the last thing on my mind was “aw, isn't it sad that we’re all moving out”. The hassle didn’t end there, of course, because now we all had our stupendously overfilled bags on us, having to find places to allocate them for the remainder of our stay here which for some would be longer than for others. I, however, was extremely lucky that one of my friends allowed me to seek refuge with all my belongings at her house leading up to my departure from Canada- it has been so helpful and I am incredibly grateful for this!
At this stage though, we were only in town a couple nights before I left with a group of friends to Tofino on
Seal friend
Thankfully, shortly after I headed inland to visit some friends’ hometowns, one of which was mainly lost to me due to a mysterious food poisoning both myself and the only other driver on our road trip managed to catch from some dodgy donuts. Luckily both of us recovered quite quickly and we were able to continue our trip to the Rockies from there. So as not to drone on, I'll only say this about the Rockies; I saw some of the most stunning views of my life during that roadtrip and everywhere we visited along the way was absolutely breath-takingly beautiful- well worth the dodgy night in a hostel with no running water and minimal electricity.
Since all this travelling, I’ve been back in Vancouver for a week and a half. I've biked around Stanley park, attended a graduation ceremony, been on some hikes, and caught up with and said good bye to amazing people and friends over dinners and teas. The last of those has most certainly been the hardest, and this slow trickle of farewells has been the thing that has made the end of this experience most real to me.
But as Frank Herbert says, “There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” I like that. My story with all the things I’ve learned here in Canada, with all the incredible people I’ve met and friends I’ve made does not end today when I board that plane heading back to Europe. It just changes its format, setting and continues on anew. And all those memories I’ve accumulated throughout this unbelievable experience, all the late night movies, adventures in and around Vancouver, cards against humanity games, hikes, pot-lucks, ski-times, tea-times, laughter and tears with all the various people I was lucky enough to cross paths with this year, I will cherish them all close to my heart as I move along to new adventures seeing where this crazy life will take me next.
And so as I find myself coming back full circle, sitting in the midst of my haphazardly (un)packed suitcases and things strewn about in neat (or not so neat) piles all around me, I feel sad to be closing this chapter in my life, but also hopeful that all that this year has given me (the friends, lessons learned, memories) will stay with me far into the future. Moreover I look back on my first post and recall the anxious girl writing that and trying to envision the months ahead, worrying that it would not live up to the hype it had been built up to and it makes me smirk.
Thank you Canada
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