Day 139.5 - The Back of Beyond

Today was a strange day. I've never had a day quite like it. The closest thing I could compare it to is the day before I left San Jose to move to Norman, Oklahoma. But even that was different, because (relatively speaking) it wasn't so far away and I knew I'd be returning to visit often.

Today I said goodbye to everyone at my main church. It was very sad. I really felt like part of a family there. I will miss them a lot. In an hour I'll be going to my evening church to say goodbye to them. Though I wasn't as involved with that church, I will miss it as well.

After that I'll be going to the "Back of Beyond" pub (and the Purple Turtle) in the town centre for a "going away" get-together with the meteorology people (mostly MSc friends). I know that also will be sad, because it may be the last time I see most of them.

Tomorrow will be much different. I plan to spend the day in London, mostly with a friend from Windsor Hall. She's from Hoogerheide, the only town in the Netherlands that I've been to. Maybe spending the last day with a non-Brit will help me forget how much I'll miss British people.

It might've been more fitting to spend my last day in Wales or Birmingham, but London isn't far behind those two. I'll be sure to take one more walk along/across the Thames at night (an awesome experience that I'll definitely miss).

By the way, if any of you are wondering, I wasn't very close to the big explosion in Hemel Hempstead, but some people from my church did hear and felt it and said their windows shook. It might've been what woke me up early this morning, but I doubt it. I definitely could see the smoke from it. It covered much of the sky in Reading today. Very eerie.

posted by Matt @ 5:10 PM