I can still remember the rainy September of 2005. I was home alone, watching Everwood on the TV and preparing for the new era that was going to begin. Five yours ago a new chapter of my life began, when i left the city i lived in for 19 years and went to university 336 kms away from home. I can still remember the first days of the October of that year, when everything was so new for me: new people, new place, new house that became my second home, and a whole new life. That era has reached its end now…
The first year was the weirdest, as that year held the biggest changes. I had to get used to the city, to handle on my own, to live without my parents being around (although we spoke every day), to meet the people i was supposed to see each day for the next 3 years. I can still remember the first snow that year, and almost everything. I guess the summer of 2006 was the last whole summer i spent at home. I sometimes miss those days: when i woke up and had nothing to do, when i slept till i was sleepy no more…
The second year caught me at another place, as i went to Germany for a semester. Here i met, again, new people, people who also had a big influence on me and my life. Here i had to start over everything, with the difference that i was in a foreign country. The second semester got me in Kolozsvar again, as i was preparing for the summer, which i spent in the U.S. That was a great summer, since then i want to live near the beach. I still want to go back, life is much more different there than in Europe.
The third year brought a change that is still in my life (my bf), and i’m grateful for that. My life changed a bit again, as i had someone i can trust, love and lean on, someone who stood by me since (which, i know, is not that easy). From the summer of 2008 i started working in the domain i learned at the uni. Again, new people, but now in a different context: team mates, work ‘friends’. That is when my trips to Vienna and Budapest started.
The fourth year was another first one, but as a master student. Again, new people, new teachers etc. I love the fall of 2008: not a grown up yet but not a fresh student neither. I will never forget the good times i had at work, the little talks, chats with colleagues, and how close we got in the meantime. We all knew what was going on with the others life, what were the problems, if anyone had a diet:) etc.
The fifth year got the biggest changes since the first one: i bought a house that became my home, changed the old workplace and finished university. That is why i get sometimes a bit melancholic. Many people entered and went through my life in those five years, but the important ones remained.
Did you ever think that a city has memories? Sometimes, when i walk in a usual place in the town, i think of the first time when i was there. What was in my mind, what was my biggest problem at that time, who i was with etc. Sitting in the same place in the park, but after five years…interesting how a few years mark your life. Could it have happened different? What if i went to another university? Or what if i went to another city? I guess we will never know the answers to these what ifs.
And now what? What will happen next? I came to study here, now that it is over, am i willing to stay? The truth is, i have no clue what will happen next, but i have faith in destiny, as so far, it got me to the right places. So, wait and see…and maybe i will have more memories with that bench in the park.
