Friday, October 8

I’ve been gone so long...

so,
gone so long
But I will come back
I WILL COME BACK!

The Foo Fighter's 'Come Back' plays appropriately as I tap away, one last time as the sun illuminates the Californian noon. I'm used to looking at it now, but the view is still idyllic.

Packing is going okay, it looks like I might pull it off. Arrangements have been made to gate-check my precious guitar, everything else will just have to survive as best it can in the belly of the steel beast. My main thoughts now are whether the move to break up the flight was wise. 10 hours to Fiji, 3 hours in the airport then 5 hours to Melbourne feels like a better option than 15 hours to Sydney and then 1 hour to Melbourne. Plus I can say I've been to Fiji. Hopefully my stuff will make it too, but chasing up luggage is much easier when you're home.

The thought of home right now is positively titillating. This is probably the first time I've really truly missed anything or anyone. Sure there's a little bit of greed and remorse here and there, but at this point in time I just want to go home. I miss video games, I miss my mom.

I'm leaving Chris and Luke my NTSC copy of SSF4, I feel like I got some good use out of it and games here are only about $30 anyway. They are also getting the lion's share of the magic cards. I've transcended the demanding collection aspect of the game but they are both single, so I think they'll have a blast.

Time for one last lag-free game of SC2 with Luke. Wish me luck! He coached me to a crushing victory last night. It was rad-tastic.

Okay we lost a couple of times, but I played pretty well. Particularly in the second game, aside from not pushing at the right moments, it was pretty good.

Before I arrived in America, I just tried not to think about it too carefully. Until the moment I actually sat down in my tiny aeroplane chair it was just something that was going to happen in the future. But the future eventually becomes the present, leaving the present in the past and a sense of loss. This trip and this place has become a part of my personality for the last three months, and now I'm losing that piece of myself. But I'm not slipping back into the life I left, that's all over too. One adventure is ending, but I'm just as nervous as when I first got on the plane; another adventure is just beginning.

I'm coming home, for the first time.

See you all soon.

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