DANIEL HOUGEY
Heidelberg Columnist
In Heidelberg, you know it’s going to be a sad week when you eat pizza after Convocation. This privilege is reserved for the last week of each semester.
Last time it rolled around, we were going to be apart for winter break, and some students were going back to Malibu for the spring semester. That was sad enough.
Now, we are simultaneously studying for finals, packing our bags, throwing things away, cleaning our rooms and trying to stuff as much fun as possible into what time we have left.
But although so much is happening that’s foreshadowing the end of this semester — such as the post-Convo pizza extravaganza — it is hard to comprehend that it is really coming to an end. Or perhaps because so much is happening, our minds are having trouble processing it.
As expected, there is a mixture of emotions. The most common sentiment ex-pressed by my peers was “excited, but sad.”
For example, sophomore Sheena Bald said she’s “excited to go home and see my family and friends, but sad to leave Heidelberg.”
In turn, some were more excited than sad to return home.
“[My roommate has] had a countdown going for like four months,” sophomore Jessica Martinson said.
Not everyone has mixed feelings.
Caitlin Johnson said, “Herr D [program director Daniel Daugherty] keeps on talking about how we have to pack up and leave, but I’m just going to live here forever.”
Students are also left with different impressions of how quickly the school year has passed.
“I feel like it went really fast. I can’t believe it’s over and I’m not ready yet,” sophomore Courtney Schreiber said. Sophomore Brianne McElhiney, however, said she feels “four years older and exhausted.”
In one way, leaving here feels the same as leaving Malibu after freshman year felt — taking exams, moving out, leaving friends — but this time we are leaving an entire country and culture behind. And last year did not end with a banquet, two talent shows or a rush to enjoy as many schnitzels and kebaps as possible. But my peers and I are looking forward to traditional American cuisine.
“I’ll be back in a drive-thru line getting In-N-Out burgers,” Johnson said.
Adjusting to life back in the States will probably not be terribly easy.
“I’m going to have reverse culture shock,” said sophomore Richard Andrews. “I’ll go into a restaurant, they’ll ask if I want a menu, and I’ll say ‘Ja, bitte’ [which means, ‘yes, please’].”
Ariana Long said, “I’m going to miss the routine of Heidelberg.”
Indeed, it will not be a difficult routine to miss — fresh rolls delivered in the morning, quiet time at a castle, and class only four days a week.
A well-satirized word our director commonly uses to describe situations is “complicated.” This time, however, it truly fits.
Summarizing the feelings that most of us hold sophomore Erin Shitama said, “I’m kind of sad because I’m going to miss my roommates, but I’m ready to go home. I mean, I don’t want to go home, but I do. You know what I mean?”
I know what you mean, Erin.
04-13-2006
