This is it. . . . I am currently sitting in my dorm room in Québec City. It's 6:55 in the morning. The taxi arrives at 8 A.M. to take Lauren and me to the airport. We'll fly to New York at 11 and eventually arrive in St. Louis at around 5 P.M. We'll have dinner with Lauren's parents and drive back to Hannibal. On Sunday, we'll see our best friend, Kat, (for me, it will have been about seven weeks since I've seen her), and on Monday morning I'll go up to Kirksville to move into the dorm at Truman while Lauren stays behind in Hannibal to spend some time with her family. Life will resume as it always does and in some ways I feel like the past five weeks here will have never happened.
But they did. My habit/obsession of taking countless photos has really come in handy over the past month. I'm glad I've captured so many memories, both from before the session at the university started and during the session. I've made friends, I've met new people, I've learned so much about this culture that I already loved but now love even more. People asked me "Why Québec?" Even people in Québec asked me why I chose to come here and not France. Some people thought that I was just settling for Québec in lieu of going to France. But that's not the case. I love Québec. I love everything about it. I love its culture, its people, its food, its art, its streets, its buildings, its cities. One only needs to look at the photos I've taken over the past week to know "Why Québec". I don't need to go to France. Sure, I'd like to go one day, but this is my ultimate goal. People didn't understand that I'm not in some limbo stage before the French major's mecca. This is it for me. I did it. I came to Québec, I lived here for five weeks, and I loved every minute of it.
There's not one moment that I regret. I wish I could stay. I wish I could stay here and bring my loved ones up so we wouldn't be separated. I know there's no way I can wait another four years before I come back. I can't stay away. While I'm so looking forward to seeing my loved ones, leaving Québec now is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I am so very blessed and fortunate to be here, and immensely grateful to everyone who has helped me and been with me through this whole experience. My uncle; David and Deb; my mom, aunt, and sister; Lauren and Kat; François; Madeleine; Ekaterina; Sarah and Gloria; Gabrielle; Bruno. I don't want to leave. Yet part of me knows that it's time.
Please excuse me while I go cry. Sniff sniff.
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