Okay, so maybe you can go home again.
On my last night in Bordeaux, I did some hurried packing and cleaning and I went down to Dick Turpin's for my last open mic night with some friends. I stayed until a little after closing time, and went upstairs to try to catch a bit of sleep before I had to wake up at 4 a.m. to catch a taxi. I had fitful dreams and I woke up every hour, panicked that I'd missed my flight. I didn't miss my flight. I had four hours of layover in Paris and then the transatlantic to New Jersey. From the moment I got off the plane, everything was shiny and efficient. I had a Dr. Pepper, and some cheap Chinese food. Life was grand, if a little strange. People were wearing t-shirts and tennis shoes and there were entirely too many people who had bleached their hair blond.
And then I got stuck in Newark because Continental purposefully overbooked their flight to Tulsa. They put me up in a hotel room and I spent the night and entire next day watching the Discovery channel and hanging around in the airport. My flight finally got home at 10:30 p.m., where I ran into several acquaintances at the airport and was reminded how small Tulsa is. My friends and family were waiting for me.
A lot of things have happened since then. In the first two weeks, I moved my stuff to Norman, drove back and forth between Norman, Tulsa, and the cabin, and we took a trip to Wisconsin to visit my brother's family. I've seen people, eaten an unreasonable amount of Mexican and Thai food, and bought a car. I've been to two Pride celebrations and have been using my iPhone and XBox perhaps overmuch. I reactivated my Netflix account and have been reveling in movie-streaming and listening to the records I left behind when I went to Bordeaux. And I turned 21.
Everything is bigger and faster than seems reasonable. Everything is way different than it was, this past year. Sometimes that's great, like how the Internet is a bajillion times faster than what I was used to on Rue du Loup, or living by an actual campus, and having a university pool and gym to go to. And sometimes it's terrible, like the ridiculous number of pickups and SUVs, lack of public transportation, and sometimes astounding ignorance of people in Oklahoma.
In general, though, I think it's good to be back among friends and familiar sights, and particularly in college. If there's one thing France taught me, it's the value I place on my American education.
For now, the job search continues. I'm trying to take advantage of the things summer has to offer, and soon I'll be going back to volunteer at the museum, at the very least. I'm starting to miss people on the other side. Starting to get nostalgic, though maybe it's because I heard my "Songs People Used to Play at Open Mic Nights" playlist last night in the car.
For keeping in touch, I guess there's always the internet.
I'm not sure what the fate of this blog is, though. We'll have to see what happens next.
And then I got stuck in Newark because Continental purposefully overbooked their flight to Tulsa. They put me up in a hotel room and I spent the night and entire next day watching the Discovery channel and hanging around in the airport. My flight finally got home at 10:30 p.m., where I ran into several acquaintances at the airport and was reminded how small Tulsa is. My friends and family were waiting for me.
A lot of things have happened since then. In the first two weeks, I moved my stuff to Norman, drove back and forth between Norman, Tulsa, and the cabin, and we took a trip to Wisconsin to visit my brother's family. I've seen people, eaten an unreasonable amount of Mexican and Thai food, and bought a car. I've been to two Pride celebrations and have been using my iPhone and XBox perhaps overmuch. I reactivated my Netflix account and have been reveling in movie-streaming and listening to the records I left behind when I went to Bordeaux. And I turned 21.
Everything is bigger and faster than seems reasonable. Everything is way different than it was, this past year. Sometimes that's great, like how the Internet is a bajillion times faster than what I was used to on Rue du Loup, or living by an actual campus, and having a university pool and gym to go to. And sometimes it's terrible, like the ridiculous number of pickups and SUVs, lack of public transportation, and sometimes astounding ignorance of people in Oklahoma.
In general, though, I think it's good to be back among friends and familiar sights, and particularly in college. If there's one thing France taught me, it's the value I place on my American education.
For now, the job search continues. I'm trying to take advantage of the things summer has to offer, and soon I'll be going back to volunteer at the museum, at the very least. I'm starting to miss people on the other side. Starting to get nostalgic, though maybe it's because I heard my "Songs People Used to Play at Open Mic Nights" playlist last night in the car.
For keeping in touch, I guess there's always the internet.
I'm not sure what the fate of this blog is, though. We'll have to see what happens next.
Comments
Post a Comment