Der Anfang der Abschlusskrise

So, in case you don't read German, the title means roughly "the beginning of the end-crisis." Which is the phase that I am going through right now. It's a weird, slow, stressed-out, and sappy phenomenon. Slow because it's been coming for a long time, reminders here and there of my inevitable departure from this fine town. Stressed-out because of both the school things (klausurs, hausarbeits, figuring out my thesis, lolerskates) and general real-human things (taking to my Hausmeister, going to the Bürgeramt to un-become a German resident) that I need to do. And finally sappy because that's how I have been lately. 

The past few days have consisted of trying to study for my klausur (exam) on Tuesday (and not really succeeding), and the reason that I have not really been succeeding is due to my wonderful friends. As you may have noticed (either because you barbecued and lit off a bunch of fireworks or you have a calendar), the fourth of July was on Friday. This, of course, warranted much celebration amongst us crazy Tübingen folks, and not just the Americans. 

A few of my friends and I hosted a day long extravaganza that included an apple pie breakfast, games in the park, grilling, and a bonfire with fireworks in the Französisches Viertel. This was possibly one of my favorites nights here in Tübingen. As you might remember from a post I wrote all the way back in September, I have been to this campsite once before, at the very beginning of my time here with the Tufts kids. Coming back with so many of my friends to grill, hang out, sing songs, and light off fireworks made this whole sappy-things-coming-full-circle-thing kind of go into hyper-drive. That combined with the fact that people are starting to leave early as this week. Yup, that's right, this week, I can't believe it.

But this wasn't the only reason I was feeling sappy and sentimental. This weekend was also the weekend that a bunch of old Deutsch Kompaktlers came back from their disparate parts of Europe. Olav, Olivia, Klara, Anna, and Louise all rejoined for the festivities, and that made this weekend even that much more wonderful. 

Oh, and on top of that, Germany beat France 1-0, and the Neckarbrücke was shut down due to an overwhelming crowd of crazy Fußball fans. Have I mentioned how great it is to be in Europe for these shenanigans? 

But in any case, it is for all these reasons, the crazy wonderful friends that I have here that I am finding this leaving thing so hard. Some of the semester kids say that they are ready to go home. "I'm homesick. I have been away for so long." "I want food with flavor!" "A semester is almost too long for me." When these kids say these things to me, I cannot help but simply give them a blank stare. I cannot imagine not waking up in Tübingen-WG. I cannot imagine leaving and not knowing the next time that I will be back in Tübingen. Or if I will ever be back in Tübingen. 

I'm being overdramatic, I know, but these are the things that keep running through my mind. I have been here 312 days, and they are starting to feel like a dream. A really kick-ass, wonderful, German-filled dream. And if I am being honest, I am not ready to wake up.