Leaves

London's changing in the last days that I have here. Walking down the street yesterday, I noticed that John Street and Doughty Street had a different feel to them than they have all year. Looking up, I saw that the leaves were starting to come out on the trees, changing from the bare skeletons that they've been the entire time that I've been here. It's a nice change.

A friend of mine, Prediep, from Paris came to visit, and he came at a good time. The leaves were coming out, and it was sunny for most of the weekend, while I took him around to all the major sites in London. We caught up on what we've been up to since this past summer at camp. It was good to have a new person to talk to.

We visited a number of parks and walk ways along the Thames. With the sun and leaves starting to come out, it was a nice feel to the city, especially in Covent Garden and Leister Square.

Prediep's visit served another purpose, something that I didn't come across until after I saw him off on his train earlier today - It was a chance for me to say goodbye to the city. During my tour, I showed him the major sites of London: The London Eye, Parliment, Big Ben's tower, Wesminster Abbey, King's Cross, South Bank, St. Paul's and a number of others. I showed him some of the pubs, the back streets, all the while talking about the meaning of being a tourist and fitting in, among other things. During this long walkabout, I saw a number of the things in London, probably for the last time in a while, ending today with something that I hadn't made the time before to see, Abbey Road.

There will be a lot of goodbyes in the next days, as I begin closing out and packing. Goodbye to friends that I've made and the places that I've come to call home.

nostalgia

It hit me as I was on the train this morning. In a week, from that moment, I'll be on an airplane, going back home. Everything that I've known and been forced to get used to will be gone. The money will change, my friends will seperate and go their own ways and in the end, all we'll have is just the memories.
It's a bit sobering, at just how fast everything has gone past. I remember coming in very clearly. My own nervousness and self doubt even a day or so in, hoping to hell that I had made the right choice, coming out here.
So far, I have few regrets about making the trip. Now, I'm torn over returning. Now that I've lived here for four months, I'm reluctant to leave the confines of my squeaky flat, my own cooking, the city and the people around me that I've come to know and enjoy being around. In a week, that'll all be gone, and I'll be back home with familiar people and surroundings.
On the other hand, I'm eager to leave. To see my friends and family back home, to share my experiences, pictures and stories that I've slowly accumulated over the past 104 days that I've been here. To see my two dogs, my sister, my room and my own computer, and to be away from my roommate and for the near future, work in general.
Most of all, I'm aprehensive about what's coming up, I think. Living here has been a dream. I'm surrounded by things that are fantastic and different, and that'll be gone soon, and in the next year, I'll be coming up to my last year of school, and spat into the real world, something that I'm nervous about and not sure if I'm ready.
I don't have a plan, an idea or a clue about what to do next.