My Short Summer
Dear Constant Readers,
After having completed two weeks or so of having been home, I decided that it was time to write another blog entry.
My summer, though short, has not been idle. Since coming home, I've traveled to Colorado for a few days with my family to see Estes Park, a place in the Rockie Mountains that is known for its natural beauty. Granted, the town is a touristy spot, but even so, the scenery up there is well worth the trip.
Another trip to Colorado occurred last Sunday, as my family on my mom's side met for our annual family picnic. Most of my family is from Colorado, and a vast majority of them still live there, somewheres.
It was funny, though. Even at the family reunion, I felt strangely distant from the people there. Of course, there is this bond between us (although my mom's side is so large I can't keep track which cousin is the son/daughter of whom, or how someone more distant relatives are related through marriage or whatever) but at the same time, I haven't kept in touch with many of them. That probably isn't a huge surprise, since even as kids we met only for major holidays and the like. We made it to the graduations and weddings and funerals, and usually have at least an inkling of what's going on with the closer cousins and aunts.
But when it comes to the major happenings in my personal *personal* life, it's not my family I usually turn to. Usually I've talked to my mom about a lot of what has ailed me, but by and large, it has been the friends I've made who have been my consolers and soundboards and allies and supports.
So far I have seen two of my friends since coming home, although the ones who have been the dearest to me in my American uni are still hundreds of miles away. A few I have spoken with, but despite my plans to go to Lincoln this week(which I didn't pursue with the tenacity I perhaps should have had I really wanted to see it through) will not occur, because I am now working for a few days at my aunt and uncle's furniture warehouse.
This doesn't really bother me much, as I still want to spend a bit more time with my family, and also I need to earn a bit more money for this coming school year. But once one gets their wings, it is hard to stay in the nest. It's funny; I used to be quite the homebody, but as children, maybe most of us were. My first major trip abroad was when I went to France: I turned 16 there. And I was homesick for part of time; I didn't adjust to the point of feeling at home, although I was only there for a month, so that also is not surprising.
When I went to Mexico, when I was just turned 17, I also didn't adjust to feeling at home there, despite being there a year. Germany was different: I adjusted to the culture and really, at times, felt at home there, at least as much as I ever have.
Most times in my life I've not really felt like I have a home. I do in the sense that I have a place where I grew up, and have roots at and all that, but a place where I can really say with all my heart, "Not only is this the place where I am supposed to be at this moment, this is also the place where I belong," I have yet to find this place. Indeed, I am only 22. What's the rush? There is none, to me it is an adventure, partly why I am interested in searching the globe, not only to see the world, but also to find a place where I am content.
However, where I am content will almost surely depend more on myself than on wherever I end up. And maybe that's the answer right there: even if I trekked over every Kingdom this side of Eden seven times, I sill wouldn't find a place to rest, simply because at this point in my life I am still to restless and wanting some other adventure, trek, experience, call it what you want. I have an interest in joining the Peace Corps, for example. Although I want to help people, a sense of all this I mentioned is also a big part of it as well. I think it would have to be for such a situation as well. I'm from the richest country in the history of the world, but that's a pretty slim section of the world: I also want to see about the part of the world that the vast majority of our fellow men, women, and children inhabit. Earth is my home, after all, why not get to known it better?
This isn't the message that I wanted to write when I started writing, but I didn't have a structure in mind, either. Usually I don't have one, but tonight it's proving more difficult to put down what I want to say.
I spoke with Dylon the other night on the phone, and yesterday I got some messages from Iona, finally. She had not written me in what felt like half an eternity, and I was starting to wonder if all my Polish jokes had sunk in. :-P But finally she got back to me, and honestly, Iona, that made my day. :-) Dzienkuje! I can't express how important my close friends were to me in Germany, the ones that I really found were there for me when I needed them, so I won't here. It's me between me and each of them, an experience that is commonly unique for everyone.
The last two years of my life, by far, have been the best for me.
Hope all is well!
Sincerely, Tristan
After having completed two weeks or so of having been home, I decided that it was time to write another blog entry.
My summer, though short, has not been idle. Since coming home, I've traveled to Colorado for a few days with my family to see Estes Park, a place in the Rockie Mountains that is known for its natural beauty. Granted, the town is a touristy spot, but even so, the scenery up there is well worth the trip.
Another trip to Colorado occurred last Sunday, as my family on my mom's side met for our annual family picnic. Most of my family is from Colorado, and a vast majority of them still live there, somewheres.
It was funny, though. Even at the family reunion, I felt strangely distant from the people there. Of course, there is this bond between us (although my mom's side is so large I can't keep track which cousin is the son/daughter of whom, or how someone more distant relatives are related through marriage or whatever) but at the same time, I haven't kept in touch with many of them. That probably isn't a huge surprise, since even as kids we met only for major holidays and the like. We made it to the graduations and weddings and funerals, and usually have at least an inkling of what's going on with the closer cousins and aunts.
But when it comes to the major happenings in my personal *personal* life, it's not my family I usually turn to. Usually I've talked to my mom about a lot of what has ailed me, but by and large, it has been the friends I've made who have been my consolers and soundboards and allies and supports.
So far I have seen two of my friends since coming home, although the ones who have been the dearest to me in my American uni are still hundreds of miles away. A few I have spoken with, but despite my plans to go to Lincoln this week(which I didn't pursue with the tenacity I perhaps should have had I really wanted to see it through) will not occur, because I am now working for a few days at my aunt and uncle's furniture warehouse.
This doesn't really bother me much, as I still want to spend a bit more time with my family, and also I need to earn a bit more money for this coming school year. But once one gets their wings, it is hard to stay in the nest. It's funny; I used to be quite the homebody, but as children, maybe most of us were. My first major trip abroad was when I went to France: I turned 16 there. And I was homesick for part of time; I didn't adjust to the point of feeling at home, although I was only there for a month, so that also is not surprising.
When I went to Mexico, when I was just turned 17, I also didn't adjust to feeling at home there, despite being there a year. Germany was different: I adjusted to the culture and really, at times, felt at home there, at least as much as I ever have.
Most times in my life I've not really felt like I have a home. I do in the sense that I have a place where I grew up, and have roots at and all that, but a place where I can really say with all my heart, "Not only is this the place where I am supposed to be at this moment, this is also the place where I belong," I have yet to find this place. Indeed, I am only 22. What's the rush? There is none, to me it is an adventure, partly why I am interested in searching the globe, not only to see the world, but also to find a place where I am content.
However, where I am content will almost surely depend more on myself than on wherever I end up. And maybe that's the answer right there: even if I trekked over every Kingdom this side of Eden seven times, I sill wouldn't find a place to rest, simply because at this point in my life I am still to restless and wanting some other adventure, trek, experience, call it what you want. I have an interest in joining the Peace Corps, for example. Although I want to help people, a sense of all this I mentioned is also a big part of it as well. I think it would have to be for such a situation as well. I'm from the richest country in the history of the world, but that's a pretty slim section of the world: I also want to see about the part of the world that the vast majority of our fellow men, women, and children inhabit. Earth is my home, after all, why not get to known it better?
This isn't the message that I wanted to write when I started writing, but I didn't have a structure in mind, either. Usually I don't have one, but tonight it's proving more difficult to put down what I want to say.
I spoke with Dylon the other night on the phone, and yesterday I got some messages from Iona, finally. She had not written me in what felt like half an eternity, and I was starting to wonder if all my Polish jokes had sunk in. :-P But finally she got back to me, and honestly, Iona, that made my day. :-) Dzienkuje! I can't express how important my close friends were to me in Germany, the ones that I really found were there for me when I needed them, so I won't here. It's me between me and each of them, an experience that is commonly unique for everyone.
The last two years of my life, by far, have been the best for me.
Hope all is well!
Sincerely, Tristan
posted by Tristan | 9:54 PM
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