Growing Up...
So I was home this past weekend and had a few nice talks with the parents. You know, when you're at university, you just don't get the time or chance to do that and you realize how little you really see them. It used to be that I'd go home everyday and you'd just know they'd be there or if not right then a little later. But when you're no longer at home, it really puts things into perspective. Taken for granted? For sure I'm shamed to say. It's not until it's taken away from you that you truly realize what you had.
Okeee... moving on. So where was I. Right, talking with the folks. So we were just finishing up dinner Saturday night and were talking about my housing for the next semester. For those of you who don't know (I'm surprised, most of you don't!) I'm going on my first work term this coming semester. So, recently I've been on the lookout for an appropriate place to live. Apparently, it's pretty hard to find a decent place. It's either living in some person's basement for a semester or sharing an apartment with several unknowns. All my friends here got jobs elsewhere or haven't gotten jobs yet. And I can't realistically wait for them to get jobs. Anyways, the point wasn't the housing itself. I realized that I'm well, growing up. There used to be a time when you could easily retreat to the safety of home to lick your wounds. Those days are quickly drawing to a close. In a way, living here at residence is really shielding us to the reality we'll soon have to face. There is still some sense of control and organization enforced onto us by the housing people here. Once we move out, we're really on our own.
This semester has really flown by. In fact, you know what, my whole life has flown past when I really look back on it. I can still picture Michael and I standing at the back of the West Kent playground planning the Millenium Group's eventual conquering of the world. Oh I can still see the maps we made of all our 'armies'. And we went on that grade 6 trip to Cape Breton when a bunch of the other schools were going to like Mill River (the Islanders will get this one =P). And yeah Mike and Alex, remember that trip?! Haha, see those were good times. Then it was junior high and somehow I became amazing friends with Nick. I don't even know how it happened and the last time we talked about that, he couldn't come up with the real progression of our friendship either. I recall our band trip in grade 9 and playing that solo in Shark Bait in that school. Apparently it was really good, but I couldn't really understand why I was so pumped that day.
Then senior high school at the Gray. Those were the best days of my life. Especially grade 12. Grade 10 and 11 weren't all that special. I had a weird obsession with school those days. I really let loose in grade 12 and I don't regret it one bit. Two musicals and four band trips in three years. I will always think back to those days with great fondness. And those were the times when I solidified my friendship with all you special people back home. (Yes, I still think of PEI as home; cute isn't it?) Oh yes friends, that brings me to my next thought...
I was talking to this person here at university about what we left behind. This person has become better friends with the people here at university than they had ever been with the people back in their hometown. Now this isn't some loserish person who never became good friends with the people back home. Quite the opposite. I can tell this person would've been a very popular person who most likely was well-liked.
I thought about this in my context. Am I better friends with the people here than I am with the people who are still back on the Island (or on exchange)? The resounding answer is no. Oh don't get me wrong. The people here I've become friends with are awesome people. They're nice and share so many things in common with me. But that doesn't really seem to matter. The people I've left mean something totally different to me. There's something special with them that I don't think I'll ever find in anyone else. Yes, that's saying a lot, but I've met a lot of people and I just don't see that sort of ... element to them. I'm going to be with many of these people for the next 5 years of my life and I will grow very close to some of them, but it won't be the same. Some people told me when I was leaving PEI that I'd find other friends, other very good friends. I accepted this, but I also accepted the fact that I may never find the friends I had from back home. That's why I'm so excited to be going to visit next summer for a couple weeks. Yeah, it's such a long time away, but I'll be looking forward to it each and every day. I miss you guys and the Island so much that I came the closest to crying this weekend I have in a long time when I was looking at some pictures of my time there. Not even ashamed to say it.
So it's only 12:10AM but I think I'm going to hit the sack and listen to a podcast or something. This is going to be the earliest time I've gone to bed in the past month and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Sorry to all those I haven't written emails to (specifically Michael, Nick, Alex, Sean, Maryse, and... I think that's it. You guys wrote me great emails and I feel terrible for not having written back... in some cases in more than a month). I promise to get some out tomorrow. It's an awfully nice feeling to be finished of assignments in advance of the day they're due.
P.S. This whole post is actually totally off topic to what I orignally intended. It just started flowing so I thought I'd let it go for now. I'm continue my original train of thought in a later post.
Okeee... moving on. So where was I. Right, talking with the folks. So we were just finishing up dinner Saturday night and were talking about my housing for the next semester. For those of you who don't know (I'm surprised, most of you don't!) I'm going on my first work term this coming semester. So, recently I've been on the lookout for an appropriate place to live. Apparently, it's pretty hard to find a decent place. It's either living in some person's basement for a semester or sharing an apartment with several unknowns. All my friends here got jobs elsewhere or haven't gotten jobs yet. And I can't realistically wait for them to get jobs. Anyways, the point wasn't the housing itself. I realized that I'm well, growing up. There used to be a time when you could easily retreat to the safety of home to lick your wounds. Those days are quickly drawing to a close. In a way, living here at residence is really shielding us to the reality we'll soon have to face. There is still some sense of control and organization enforced onto us by the housing people here. Once we move out, we're really on our own.
This semester has really flown by. In fact, you know what, my whole life has flown past when I really look back on it. I can still picture Michael and I standing at the back of the West Kent playground planning the Millenium Group's eventual conquering of the world. Oh I can still see the maps we made of all our 'armies'. And we went on that grade 6 trip to Cape Breton when a bunch of the other schools were going to like Mill River (the Islanders will get this one =P). And yeah Mike and Alex, remember that trip?! Haha, see those were good times. Then it was junior high and somehow I became amazing friends with Nick. I don't even know how it happened and the last time we talked about that, he couldn't come up with the real progression of our friendship either. I recall our band trip in grade 9 and playing that solo in Shark Bait in that school. Apparently it was really good, but I couldn't really understand why I was so pumped that day.
Then senior high school at the Gray. Those were the best days of my life. Especially grade 12. Grade 10 and 11 weren't all that special. I had a weird obsession with school those days. I really let loose in grade 12 and I don't regret it one bit. Two musicals and four band trips in three years. I will always think back to those days with great fondness. And those were the times when I solidified my friendship with all you special people back home. (Yes, I still think of PEI as home; cute isn't it?) Oh yes friends, that brings me to my next thought...
I was talking to this person here at university about what we left behind. This person has become better friends with the people here at university than they had ever been with the people back in their hometown. Now this isn't some loserish person who never became good friends with the people back home. Quite the opposite. I can tell this person would've been a very popular person who most likely was well-liked.
I thought about this in my context. Am I better friends with the people here than I am with the people who are still back on the Island (or on exchange)? The resounding answer is no. Oh don't get me wrong. The people here I've become friends with are awesome people. They're nice and share so many things in common with me. But that doesn't really seem to matter. The people I've left mean something totally different to me. There's something special with them that I don't think I'll ever find in anyone else. Yes, that's saying a lot, but I've met a lot of people and I just don't see that sort of ... element to them. I'm going to be with many of these people for the next 5 years of my life and I will grow very close to some of them, but it won't be the same. Some people told me when I was leaving PEI that I'd find other friends, other very good friends. I accepted this, but I also accepted the fact that I may never find the friends I had from back home. That's why I'm so excited to be going to visit next summer for a couple weeks. Yeah, it's such a long time away, but I'll be looking forward to it each and every day. I miss you guys and the Island so much that I came the closest to crying this weekend I have in a long time when I was looking at some pictures of my time there. Not even ashamed to say it.
So it's only 12:10AM but I think I'm going to hit the sack and listen to a podcast or something. This is going to be the earliest time I've gone to bed in the past month and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Sorry to all those I haven't written emails to (specifically Michael, Nick, Alex, Sean, Maryse, and... I think that's it. You guys wrote me great emails and I feel terrible for not having written back... in some cases in more than a month). I promise to get some out tomorrow. It's an awfully nice feeling to be finished of assignments in advance of the day they're due.
P.S. This whole post is actually totally off topic to what I orignally intended. It just started flowing so I thought I'd let it go for now. I'm continue my original train of thought in a later post.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 11/23/2005 12:13:00 a.m..
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Great post chuck, and all of it is so true! All the people that I hung out with (you know the 'crowd' I'm talking about)are such amazing people. They are the reason that I am who I am and if I do say so myself I don't think I'm doing too badly so far.
I do have to say though that however random and unexpected our friendship was in the beginning it is one that I would not trade for anything in the world. You are a great guy and are going to do great things. I will never forget some of the talks we have had in and out of the context of the three musketeers.
My only wish for the future is that somehow you mike and I find a way to stay connected.
Now look what you made me do...I miss home again! I, too can't wait for this summer, it's gonna be pretty cool to swap war stories and see how everyone has grown up (or down in some cases *cough:)
Peace, don't work too hard,
Nick
Oi, Charlie,
Don't worry about not replying, as long as I don't have to keep pretending to be your father in the shoutbox to get you to post on your blog.
I miss you guys a lot, you know, I realise how lucky I was and just how good I had it to be close to you folks. When are you on the Island? So maybe I can book my flight home before you leave.
What? That was you pretending to be his dad?
Ahhhh, just talking to you people makes me feel all nice. Reese, I'm (more than likely) going back to PEI mid August. I was hoping that everyone would be back by the time anyways.
Man, there's so much snow down here today. There's total whiteout conditions and a lot schools are cancelled. Not us of course. They're saying another 10-15 cm of snow. This is death. I now know what it's like to be a walker in the wintertime. This is gonna suck. =P
I know, today was soo miserable. It was less than -25C with the windchill (70km/h winds) and I definitely wasn't prepared for it. The snow's still falling. You can make snowmen easily now. We gave this girl a snow job today. That was kinda enjoyable. ;-)
Just be glad that rain isn't all coming down as snow. Hehe.
Hey man, I think that this might be my first post on your blog ever. Anyway, I was just surfing www.hackaday.com, which made me think of your computer skills for some reason, so I thought that I'd check in. I have to say that I completely agree with your post. As much as I'm enjoying new, ispiring friends here, things just aren't the same as being back home. I can look back on high school and see my fondest memories there. Memories are eternal, but things will never be quite the same. I'm glad to hear that you're planing to come home for a while this summer. It'll be nice to see you again. We've had a bit of snow here in Mtl, but nothing like 15-20cm. Don't worry about responding to e-mails, I'm sure you're loaded with work. BTW, where are you working for your work term?
Going to sleep now,
Alex
Hey al good to hear from you! Here in Austria there is about a foot of snow in the valley and TONS!! on the mountains. All the ski-hills have been open for 2 or three weeks now. It feels like christmas already and it's only november!:P
Cheers
WHAT THE SNOW?!?!?!
Are you guys actually serious? I feel like it's still July...
It's solidly 30 degrees and beach weather here everyday...
I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to go home...
And Rene, of course it (Charlie's Dad) was me, if it wasn't you (doing it in your sleep), who else would it be?
And I will definitely be home in August, hopefully I'll actually be back by the end of June. It's going to be great to see you.
Wow I miss you guys.
Hey Alex, I haven't talked to you in forever!
Hahaha, I was Charlie's mom. Originally I was just going to be "your mom" but then I figured Charlies mom was a bigger burn.
Here in good ole PEI (am I the only one left here on this blog?) it has been majorly hurricaning, with gale winds and rain, rain and more rain. Good times I tell ya.
Hey Alex! Long time no talk, and yes, I'm going to try to write some emails this weekend. I'm working at a tech startup (sorta, they've got quite a few customer ISPs already who provide their services to millions of people. Hey even Opera uses their technology. Check it out, it's SlipStream Data). They're located kinda near to the university here, founded by two professors based on their research here. Should be interesting for sure!
Reese, it's like the equivalent of July down there. You of all people should know the seasons are reversed! ;) (pokes fun)
I still think we should get a website going. It would be so much easier to post and stuff without having to post comments on random blogs... Maybe I'll pass it by the parents again. Perhaps this Christmas/work term. I'll definitely have a lot more time and plus I'm working for basically a web technologies company. Hrmmm...
Maybe it's just me Charlie, but I can't really see why you can't just set up a seperate blog...
Well, a blog is still a blog. It's not really as easy to start a new topic and stuff like that to get a discussion going. Blogs are really meant for ONE person's views with others forming secondary comments. I kinda want a place where you can just chat about randomness. Just anything. You fell in a river today? Post a short thing on a forum instead of feeling like you need to write a novel. I mean maybe it is just me but when I write anything in my blog, I feel like it has to be substantial.
Iono, you guys may feel differently. I'm thinking of getting a host, nothing too fancy (like a GB of storage and 10GB of transfers/month, should be enough) I'll see if I can convince my parents over the Christmas break. I sure as hell won't have any time before that. =P They seemed a lot more positive towards it when I spoke to them yesterday about that.
Why not just get free hosting from some site like Tripod, or the like? Better yet, you could just set up a community in Livejournal and get everyone to join, and then make posts about falling into the River and whatnot. If you want to learn more about communities, check one out at www.Livejournal.com. The Seinfeld community is a perfect example of how we'd use it, check it out (LJ username: seinfeld), see for yourself. No sense is spending money when there are free alternatives.
Hmmmm... very interesting. Probably could be doable. We'll see I guess. I partly want to get a host for myself so that I can practice a bit of potential newfound skill at this job anyways. I'm gonna be dead bored probably. They say that people who are on their co-op terms get something they call 'free time'... Dunno what that's about yet.
5 bucks says your free time is going to be spent doing school work...
I think I just got owned. Writing an update as we (e-)speak. Dunno if I'll finish it tonight cause I want my sleep.
I've changed my mind. You'll probably spend it looking at pr0n ;)
And if you think school is owning you, take a good look at me. I have a 9 page paper due middle of next week and I still haven't chosen my topic! Plus that same day I have to pass in a journal that I've been "keeping" (if keeping means not writing anything in it then I have). I. Am. So. Dead.
Yes, but in that case, it's owning you cause you've put it off far too long. I'm getting owned cause the work is PWNAGE TO TEH MAXXX0RZ!
=P
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