going home.

I’m into my last two weeks here in Toledo, before returning home for the summer. To be perfectly honest, I had not expected these last two weeks to be as challenging as it is. Final preparations for the finals next week are underway, which could only mean one thing – lots of memorizing to be done. Amidst the chaos of studying, I cannot help but take a break and reflect on my first semester in college, away from home, away from all things familiar.

In retrospect, I could have been more outgoing in almost every aspect. I surrendered to my fear of the unfamiliar and kept to myself, unaccustomed to the gregarious personalities all around me. Brought up in a fairly conservative culture, I found it a refreshing change but still, it frightened me a little. Smiles were thrown around every chance people had and it really brightened up a moody day for me. Back home, if you smiled at a stranger, you were thought of as either one of two things – insane, or insane. If there’s anything that I will miss here, it’s that.

Another thing that I will miss this summer is the wonderful weather. I can bear with the rain and the snow, as long as I can stay cool all day. I am dreading returning home to when the weather is always in the range of 32-34°C. And the humidity!

I realise that home has been all I've been talking about lately. But hey! Can you blame me??