Although I would love to go to New York or Boston over the Thanksgiving break, it’s not that bad staying with some friends on campus. I never had time to go explore much of campus, so there are things to do, i.e., see the bird sanctuary, visit friends that lived off campus, walk on the trails, see a squirrel get killed by a hawk less than ten feet away…yeah, nature at its finest. For food, get some friends together, pool some money and go make a delicious dinner together! Then take the leftovers home and BAM! There you go, food for later. I have found that Tupperware is my new best friend. And for epic-ness, pretend you’re readying yourself for the zombie apocalypse. I go to almost every campus event and hoard food (Sorry, campus staff).
But still, while I do stuff my face and am enjoying my time with my college friends, I miss home and my other friends. I wonder if my youngest brother has grown taller yet, and whether or not I’ll kill myself trying to give him his promised piggyback ride. I wonder if my cousin will be making her hamburger mac and cheese. And I wonder if my friends back home miss the sleepover we always have before we camp out at Best Buy on Black Friday.
And sad to say, it’s been really difficult to hold on to friendships over long distances. You either don’t know what to say or how to say it, or you misunderstand each other. Sometimes, your friend just needs someone to be there, and they reach out and find only a cell phone with unlimited texting, which is still not the same. You can call, but there are obstacles, one, in my case, being time zones. It really limits the time you have talk or Skype. And planned Skype dates just aren’t the same, you know? What if I had something really important to say or I thought something was really funny at that moment, in that context, and couldn’t share it until our next planned video chat? It’s depressing. But at the same time, I think it’s the ultimate test. If your friendship/relationship is able to overcome the distance and still stand strong, I say fight for it; what you have precious.
Everybody stay warm and safe over the holidays! You can party hard, but safely please! Someone I know has a chipped tooth from a blackout.