That's A Wrap

After ten months and one week, my time in Athens has come to an end. In less than twelve hours, I will be on a plane heading back to the US. It's been a good ten months, and I am sure that I will look back on this year fondly. I was lucky to find a job that was as close to a paid vacation as one can get. I got to travel to ancient sites and relax on beautiful beaches. I got to live with five people who made every day interesting. Of those five, I know that I will remain close to two of them for a very long time. I had the opportunity to try out teaching, and upon realizing that it wasn't what I wanted to do, walk away without any repercussions. I was able to spend a year thinking about what it is I really want to do. That's a blessing that most people don't get. Instead of being thrown straight from college into the working world, I was given a much needed transition period. Really, it's been a good year. I couldn't have asked for more.

But I am not going to leave here reluctantly or full of sadness. I am finished with this year. I did what I came here to do, and I got out of it what I wanted, plus more. I leave fulfilled. I am looking forward to what awaits in the next year and all the years to come after that. I've realized as the year has come to a close and everyone but Kate and I has left, that I'm not the kind of person who tears up over endings. It's not that I'm not going to miss the people I'm leaving or that I don't appreciate the experience I've had. It's just that I'm able to look at it as one adventure set among many. There's so much more waiting for me that I can't get caught up in mourning the end of one thing. I'll carry the memories with me wherever I go. It was a wonderful year, but now it's time to move on. I can't stand in one place too long. There's too much world out there.

I can't wait to see those of you in the US. I've realized that wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, it's always the people I meet and come to love that matter most.