The Long Goodbye

I hate goodbyes. I hate it with a burning passion of ten thousand suns. I hate it even more when I am the one who is being left behind. I hate having people around me the day before or an hour before and then suddenly having... no one.

Two of my friends from back home left G-town today. We only know each other for a couple of months, but it felt like I was saying goodbye to two of my very dear friends. There's something about living in a foreign country that makes you even more attached to the things or people from back home. We come from the same culture, we have similar sense of humor, and that made us bond quickly.

We took some pictures, had talk over coffee at the airport, and then we said our long goodbyes at the security check point. It was sad, but I couldn't cry so instead I joked around and pulled my typical crying-ala-Miss-Universe-gag. Funny thing was, since it is a small regional airport, we could still see each other through the huge glass partition. It is soundproof though, so we had to use our phones to talk while looking at each other through the glass which in a way felt a little bit like talking through the glass during prison visiting hours. Then... we said our final goodbyes as they were lining to board the plane.

So yeah here I am again being alone for Christmas. The plan to go camping in Smoky Mountain has been shelved because everyone can't make it and now I have absolutely no plan for Christmas (except maybe go to church and sleep all day). And to make things worse, as I'm typing this entry, I hear I'll Be Home for Christmas and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas playing in the background. I'm sure Starbucks have made it their mission to make me weep in front of my gingerbread latte judging from their song selections these last few days. They will definitely achieve their mission if they're playing Blue Christmas next...

Yes! I chose an upbeat version even though the line through the years we'll always be together still get me...