Almost Over

So the presentation is done. We've been working day and night for this for weeks, and now it's all over. Relief is understating it. But another feeling is stronger - sadness.

On the coach back from Canary Wharf, looking at the rolling hills passing by, I was secretly trying to capture it all in my mind. Almost desperately in fact, trying to make mental imprints of these lovely surroundings. Yes, my time here is coming to an end. Tonight we're having a fancy schmancy dinner, where I bet people will be exchanging contact details and business cards, no doubt many are in the same veins as I am.

Tomorrow will just be a debrief session and before you know it, that's it. Of course, not all of us will immediately leave. Some are staying in London for a while longer, while some are traveling to Europe like me. Whatever the plans are, I might not meet the people again. These fun bunch of people who for the past 4 weeks have acted largely not as the straight backed bankers we're supposed to be but rather the fun people they actually are. And for that, I'm glad.

Moving on is never easy. Harder when you're leaving not only the place, but the friendship that you've forged over the days. I'll surely miss playing foosball and pool at night at the bar, hanging out at the lounge while sipping hot chocolate, the pre dinner strolls around the lovely campus etc. It has become a routine, and pretty soon I have to return to the old routine. 40 minute commutes per way to work, long nights alone at home and weekends spent thinking about work. Not exactly an appealing prospect to tell the truth.

But my home is not here. For all the good that being away is offering, I still would not trade it in for my life back home. It might not be as sweet, or as fancy, but it's a comfortable life I've moulded myself, though not always at my own behest. I guess it's true what they say. In the end, I still prefer the hujan batu di bumi sendiri.