It is with a heavy heart that I left my student house in Cheltenham for the final time this afternoon.
[Sidenote: This, I hope, is the last of my “emotional” blogs about uni – as on Tuesday I fly out to Greece, and my blogs will all be about my adventures there.]
Waking up this morning was like waking up on the final day of a holiday. That feeling where you’re not quite sure if you’re hungry or not. You’re looking forward to going home and getting on with the rest of your life, while at the same time you are very aware that once you leave you won’t be coming back. There’s packing to do, people to say goodbye to, and a long journey ahead (but in this case that journey is life, not the journey home).
This morning I wrote – in Greek followed by in English – my farewell speech to Dan and Zoe, and read it to them when Dan left this morning. I made the most of my final few hours at 66, sitting in the garden (falling asleep in the process), and baking a cake for my parents.
I ate none of the cake myself – I was not hungry at all. I managed a mouthful of honey cake at lunch time…not even that, I wasn’t even hungry. I was too upset that the time had come to leave 66. The people I’ve lived and worked with over the last 3 years mean too much to me.
What I hated was having to pull down from the wall all my Greek postcards and Greek maps (having removed my Brussels ones last night). The Greek stuff went up within an hour of me moving in; they were pulled down within an hour of me moving out.
What I hated even more was my ‘final goodbye’ to Zoe as I left. I delayed our departure because I didn’t want to go without saying anything. But feeling myself beginning to cry, I couldn’t manage to speak in words of more than 1 syllable. To speak for too long would have resulted in me going completely – which I did not want to do in front of both my parents and hers. I am slightly annoyed with myself that I couldn’t have said anything more.
I saved the actual crying for the car – while I was staring out the window as we made our way back from Cirencester – and then once we got home I shut myself in my room for a bit.
Not having the keys on my keyring any more feels strange – that house has been my home for the last year. I will miss it. I will miss all the radio lot at uni – particularly those I’ve lived with over the last year (Dan, Jack and Zoe), and the ones I’ve worked with since day 1 of 1st year (Johnny and Jelmer).
Still… On Tuesday I fly to Greece. I’ll spend 6 weeks touring the country. That’s exciting. A chance to recharge my batteries. A chance to reflect on the events of the last 3 years.
Maybe when I get back, I should aim to speak to them all on the phone; once we’ve all settled in to life outside uni. I think I’ll be happier about leaving uni by this stage.
I don’t want to just turn my back on the last 3 years, so I make it my aim to see at least one of the UoG radio lot once a month once I return from Greece. There’s a few of them, so that’ll keep me going for a few months at least!
Having not eaten anything all day, I am now starving. Lamb on the way for dinner.
Packing tomorrow! Hooray!
Bye for now.
FH.
