Transience

I feel very peculiar writing this. It's about ten pm Pacific Time. I've handed in all my final papers, my parents have come, fleetingly, and gone. I have climbed up to the big C to watch the sun set over Berkeley with my friends and I'm now sitting, in my gutted student bedroom, for my last night in International House. On the other side of the world The Graduate is in a car headed for the airport, and tomorrow I will see him for the first time since January, ending, for the time being, my long-distance relationship.

I'm still here but everything feels very fragile. I've passed too quickly from being a student into being a tourist, I've had to start saying goodbye to some wonderful people, and I feel almost cheated by time for passing away so quickly. I haven't had a moment of closure, particularly, except for a few hysterical tears on the handing in of my final paper. Berkeley looks to continue indefinitely, but I only have about forty-eight hours left. So, yes. Transience. Not a student, not entirely a tourist, not at all sure how to feel about the fact that this year is coming to an end. I wanted to write before The Graduate lands, because tomorrow is going to be a disgustingly happy day for me and my emotions will be trampolined up into the stratosphere. I've had adrenaline running through me all week. But it's also the end of student life at Berkeley.

I'm hoping to blog a lot in my last four weeks. The Graduate and I are heading first to Lake Tahoe with my family, then back to San Francisco for a few days before turning our sights south. Los Angeles to San Diego to Las Vegas, before flying back North, and after that is anyone's guess. Perhaps Yosemite, somewhere with some Redwoods.

So stay tuned, there should be some fun stories. And from Berkeley, thanks very much for reading. Berkeley Girl has had well over eight thousand hits- let's get it to ten before I fly back to the UK!

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