I know I owe updates about Summer.
It's been- what, over a month?, now,- and still the right words won't come.
But I'll try.
Just so- years from now- I can look back on this and smile, and remember, and say, "...yeah, it WAS infinite."
Because bad writing's bad enough; but the worst thing would be to forget.
So I'll write about it. Albeit in little bits, each time; and maybe everything'll come back.
Summer U: V.O little rooms, cold suns, and happy people
Touched down in London Heathrow with two massive bags bigger than I am and a phone that refused to send text messages.
Thank God for IGGY efficiency. Was scouted out and found by Aunty Sam (Senior Mentor!) and hustled into a little dark blue car. For the first fifteen minutes of the carride, I had my eyes wide and nose pressed to the window- everything was so different from what I was used to. The winding roads stretching for miles and miles. The space. The green of it all.
Breathed in the oddly familiar smell of the air gusting through the car ventilator- half like houses that have been loved, a little bit like something wild, and a little bit like warm laundry..and thought "I am breathing British air."
My saucer-eyedness didn't last long, though, because in a while the jetlag kicked in and I was out.
"...do you want to wake her? We're almost there,"
drowsy-eyed behind my sunglasses as we pulled into the Warwick campus and the big man hauled out both my suitcases.
Walked into my room for the first time, and just...dropped everything and stood in the middle of it all.
"I'm here
I'm here
I'm here!"
I hopped onto the bed to unlatch the window and pushed it out as far as it could go. Also realized- with subsequent gust of wind- that I'd come seveeeerely underpacked for British "summer". Summer, ha.
I think I must have pottered around my room for all of three minutes just not doing anything and thinking- "...it's actually happening. I'm actually here. And tomorrow everyone will be, too," and it seemed so unreal and so normal at the same time.
Picked up the phone and dialled. "...this is not 'warm'. This is, like- 10 degrees!!! what were you harping on about 'warm'?!"
I didn't really mind, though. And we both knew that.
That night I went to sleep (or tried to- seeing as how it was about 2pm Singapore time then) burrowed into the blanket and hardly being able to believe that I'd be seeing familiar faces again the next day.
...But come they did.
It was incredible, and I never want to forget- we were in this middle sized field with green, green, green-- and not the horrible swampy kind of grass you sometimes get here, either- this was the kind of grass you could sit on and picnic on and roll around in in sundresses and not worry about your hair.
I was playing the Bumblebee Strategy Game with people who'd been here since the day before. I kept losing, too. :/ but I didn't mind so much because the bumblebees were cute, after all, even if the rules were: the more bees you have, the more you lose; and anyway there are DIFFERENT KINDS OF SMART.
I just happen to be a very special kind.
And then Toni came.
I can't remember how we greeted each other- but I'm sure it must've been somewhere along the lines of a boneshatteringflytackleglomphug.
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIII"
And then Beth came, with her newly dyed red-purple hair, and Keziah, and Kieran, and Christina, and Emma, and ohhhh, so many people- and everyone was just jumping up and down and squealing and hugging and it was BEAUTIFUL. There was so much love.
And then I was elbowed- hard- in the ribs; and I looked over and saw Joe.
He saw me too, I know; but I think the both of us just didn't know what to do. I mean- six months of waiting; and when it all boils down to one moment like that one-- it's kinda hard to just saunter over and say "...oh hey."
Under the tree with his arm on my shoulder and feeling strange because I'm not used to a touch this real. he procures a ziploc bag of what was the product of Operation RPS! --- red and purple skittles. Which're, like, the only ones I ever eat. Except green, because I'm growing to like them; but red + purple skittles pwn ALL.
Thank you, Joe. :) And thank you, Ross.
Also saw the many pictures of Skittles: Total War and Skittles Pacman they took while playing around with the rest of the skittles. (i.e yellow orange green)
...boiz!
We were joined by Toni and Sam, and Toni's got a big ol' farmer hat on, and Sam comes and attacks us from behind and musses up my hair and my fingers're in his and we're all laughing in total disbelief of the moment. Someone gets out a camera, and then two, and then we're all smiling for the flashbulb and I remember thinking I have never felt a love so incredibly bohemian.
[/end Memory #01]