The Gold Year

Wish I could say I wrote this but I didnt, Got sent it from my exchange student mate. It pretty much sums up everythin.

"A year has past and now we stand on the brink of returning to a
world where we are surrounded by the paradox of everything and yet
nothing being the same. In one month we will reluctantly give our
hugs and, fighting the tears, say goodbye to people who were once just
names on a sheet of paper to return to people that we hugged and fought tears to say goodbye to before we ever left.

We will leave our best friends to return to our best friends. We will go back to the places we came from and go back to the same things we did last
summer and every summer before. We will come into town on that
same familiar road, and even though it has been months, it will
seem like only yesterday. As you walk into your old bedroom,
every emotion will pass through you as you reflect on the way your
life has changed and the person you have become.

You suddenly realize that the things that were most important to you a year ago
don't seem to matter so much anymore, and the things you hold
highest now, no one at home will completely understand. Who will
you call first? What will you do your first weekend home with your
friends? Where are you going to work? Who will be at the party
Saturday night? What has everyone been up to in the past few
months? Who from school will you keep in touch with? How long
before you actually start missing people barging in without
calling or knocking?

Then you start to realize how much things
have changed, and you realize the hardest part of being an exchange
student is balancing the two completely different worlds you now
live in, trying desperately to hold on to everything all the while
trying to figure out what you have to leave behind.

We now know the meaning of true friendship. We know who we have kept in touch
with over the past year and who we hold dearest to our hearts.
We've left our worlds to deal with the real world. We've had our
hearts broken, we've fell in love, we've helped our best friends
overcome eating disorders, depression, stress, and death. We've
lit candles at the grotto and we've stayed up all night on the
phone just to talk to a friend in need. There have been times
when we've felt so helpless being hours away from home when we
know our families or friends needed us the most, and there are
times when we know we have made a difference.

One month from now we will leave. One month from now we take down our pictures, and pack up our clothes. No more going next door to do nothing for
hours on end. We will leave our friends whose random e-mails and
phone calls will bring us to laughter and tears this summer, and
hopefully years to come. We will take our memories and dreams and
put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world.

One month from now we will arrive. One month from now we will
unpack our bags and have dinner with our families. We will drive
over to our best friend's house and do nothing for hours on end.
We will return to the same friends whose random emails and phone
calls have brought us to laughter and tears over the year. We
will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away for
the past year.

In One month we will dig deep inside to find the
strength and conviction to adjust to change and still keep each
other close. And somehow, in some way, we will find our place
between these two worlds.

In One month. Are you ready?"