September. September is a special month. Through out my whole life, September was always the month which represented the start of something new, be it a new academic year with the same friends, being going to a new country, or, as in this case, moving to a new city and starting off a new adventure. And for that, September has also been exciting, the start off an adventure, new beginnings every time.
However, September also represents a time of goodbyes. I am writing this post as I am walking randomly about the campus of the University of Surrey, where basically I just spent my whole year. And what a year it has been! From Surrey to Berlin, from satellites to card games, well ... we basically did everything. And I have to say that this, being the last day on campus, is the hardest of them all. I cannot put into words how much I am going to miss everything about this place, but most importantly, miss the amazing people that I met here.
Amongst the highlights of the year were a trip to Emerald Isle for St Patrick's Day, the countless nights playing briscola or scopa in our tiny kitchen, a crazy trip to the techno capital of the world, Berlin, randomly fishing in the university lake or doing some out of the blue bee keeping, all those times we cooked and had dinner together, and with each dinner, obviously there came a couple bottles of wine ... the countless hours of laughter we spent together saying the most random things that could ever cross one's head, it was all of this that turned Surrey from just another university, into a second home. The lake, the lawns, the trees and houses are all replaceable, and realistically the location doesn't really matter at all. Its who you're with that counts. And it was all of these special moments, each with their own simplicity, that will always be in my heart.
When I first got to Surrey, I saw this phrase written all over the place: "Wonderful things happen here". And at first I thought it was such a pretentious thing to say, but twelve months later, as heartbroken as I am to leave this place and these friends, I have to say that wonderful things do happen here, and they are as wonderful as they can ever get.
To paraphrase Eduardo Galeano, "[one] never really says goodbye, [one] says, 'See you later.'" And I am quite sure that this is the case here with all of us. September might be the month where we are saying out goodbyes, but all the other months of the year represent the opportunity to say 'Hello' again, and to me, that will be the most important thing of them all.
It was an amazing year, which I am definitely going to cherish forever, but as I also said in the beginning, September is also the month of new beginnings, and with that thought, the story continues ... in Birmingham.
P.S. Song of the day, after Francesca got me addicted to it ... is this:
