Friends that Leave

Prite and Ju are graduating this semester, which means that when I leave on Friday, the chances are overwhelming that I won't see them hardly at all afterwards. There is a microscopic chance that they'll get some sort of job in Columbia, or very close. They might also come and visit Columbia once in a blue moon. I only met them last fall, after Thanksgiving really, and it's strange to think that we've already made so many memories and that we're seperating on Friday.

A lot of people I've met this year are leaving, of course, since I lived in Pangaea. In another time, I might try to get the addresses of one or two of them, send them a Christmas card or something next year and then never really think of them again. The internet really had made things easier, though. Now I can keep in reasonable touch with whomever I like. And Facebook has REALLY changed things. There are many International Students I wouldn't even try to keep in touch with actively, but we'll remain lightly linked to each other's lives through Facebook, for better or for worse. I'll see random status updates and laugh at old memories. More than likely, I'll see their wedding pictures and the pictures of their children. And, of course, it keeps alive the possibility that if I'm ever stopping by their hometown we can go out and get coffee. It's nice.

But this is a secondary... no, tertiary type of relationship. The primary kind is ending. Now. Some of the International Students are leaving as early as Wednesday.

Of course, our time with anyone isn't infinite. And memories remain, and...

Take Fangbai. I went to her party last night with Ju and Prite. They are leaving but she isn't, and she's great, and we'll probably hang out next year.

Take Thailand. If I ever go there, and knowing me I very well might, I have two people who have promised to show me around. :)

There's no use, really, making calculations about the value of friendships. They are not carefully considered investments to be made. I've found that it's best to just spend time with good people - the rest will fall into place. ^^

But it's still sad. :(