Lasts

This is my last week in Wuerzburg, thus the week of lasts. I’ve taken my last “vacation” (as Amanda calls them), and I begin saying goodbye to people (sad) and the German Bureaucracy (happy). I’ve attended my last classes (happy), taken my exams (also happy), I’m receiving my grades (mostly happy), I’m awkwardly saying farewell to professors for the last time (no comment.) I’ve hopefully washed my last round of dishes (happy – I miss my dishwasher), I’ve washed my last round of clothes (very happy – I hate these washing machines and I miss my dryer.)

On Friday I closed my bank account, so I’m living on a cash-only basis. Except for the deposit I paid on my cafeteria card, all of my European liquid assets are in my wallet (which will be no fun if I’m pickpocketed.) On Monday I will de-register with the city, make my last trip to the grocery store (I ran out of cereal…) and I will go to my last trip to the pub with friends.

My trips with that wretched city bus are numbered, as are my days without air conditioning. Before long, I’ll be in my own car with air conditioning, my own radio and my own route to wherever I want to go, and I won’t look like a pack mule on my way home from wherever I went.

I’ve started cleaning. That means that I’ve basically reorganized my piles of stuff into “throw away,” “take with me,” and “decide if I have enough room” piles. I’ve put all of my winter clothes along with auxiliary items into my checked suitcase, made a pile of clothes that I decided are not worth the transatlantic voyage (even though I decided that my comforter was worth the space it took up in said suitcase – I really do love that thing.) My bookcases (where my piles of junk used to sit) are now empty. I’ll start filling my carry-on suitcase later, perhaps tomorrow.

So now I guess I just wait until I fly away. When I get back, I’ll resume my life where I left off. Now I will go and put off cleaning.