Final Thoughts

Well, they might not be entirely final. But there's an ending to be marked here, so I intend to mark it.

I'm heading home for the foreseeable, as my visa runs out soon, my flat contract runs out tomorrow, and my degree is done. It's super official now--I've not only sent off some giant boxes to journey overseas at a leisurely pace until they get to the States, but I've also been informed that my thesis corrections have been accepted, so I can now for-real call myself 'Doctor'. So now, I'm on the road to the next thing.

What that thing is remains unknown at the moment. I guess we'll see.

Studying in Britain has been amazing for me. I can't really stress it enough. Anglophilia aside, I've just met some excellent people here, and been to some amazing places. Out of necessity, I've gotten better at being a real person. And the old, difficult, self-conscious personality of this country has suited me in ways I can't fully articulate, but which make me feel at home, and have made me comfortable even at the earliest stages of being here. But really, what matters is that I am going to miss the friends I've made here the most, and I'm going to miss them terribly. The internet will keep us close, but it won't be the same.

Academia-wise, I still have a long way to go. I can't claim to be a great scholar, but I've learned a lot. I've got a lot of motivation to learn more. And hell, I've written 200-ish pages of stuff. And it might not even be terrible stuff! I guess that's worth noting.

The coming months are going to be strange and hard and filled with bragging about myself for the benefit of various job applications, but no matter what, I've a feeling that I'll be thinking about cool weather and dark pubs, trudging up steep cobblestoned hills, of taking trains to everywhere, and out the window seeing brick rows of flats circling round Durham Cathedral and lining the bridges over the Tyne and the Wear.

Damn, I'm going to miss this place so much.