Balance

Well, my time in the US of A is practically up. Went to my final seminar this morning, with Gayatri Spivak - who is brilliant and rather terrifying. All that awaits me now is a panel session later this afternoon, followed by the final banquet (and drinks afterwards, no doubt). Time to balance the books, I reckon.

Things I will not miss:

• Going into town down the hill and, especially, having to trudge back up the same. If you find this silly, come and walk that stretch yourself - then we'll talk again.
• My dorm bed which is so squeaky that it wakes me up, and so generally crappy that the only way to get a proper night's sleep is to put the mattress on the floor and sleep there.
• Pubs that stop serving drinks at one a.m. and, in the same league, the law that says it is illegal to drink outside - yep, that's right; imagine Gentse Feesten indoor...
• Collegetown food options. Bored of them.
  
• Having only one adapter, and sockets only under the bed - I must look like an utter twerp when I unplug my laptop in order to recharge my phone.
• A small minority of people who find themselves so smart and important that they monopolise discussions by spouting jargon-laden fountains of drivel.

Things I will miss:

• Burgers. Yummie.
• Conversation with people from very divers backgrounds, with an intelligent interest in divers things - it's a very pleasant way of picking up fresh knowledge.
• Spontaneous parties developing in the courtyard.
• Gorges. Especially one beautiful specimen that has a smallish waterfall at one end and runs into a smallish lake - it's deep, it's (usually) void of unwanted people, and it's probably the best spot I have ever swum in.
• The Cornell campus (and library) - surprisingly pretty to a non-campus person like myself.
• Above all: a good deal of new and wonderful friends, whom I am not likely to see again very soon. Long live the Internet and the globalisation of data as a wonderful side-effect of capitalism.

For Auld Lang Syne.