about missing things and people

Ok, it's not that I am completely out of conversation topics, but let's talk about the weather, for a change. Chicago today is cloudy, grey, rainy. Chicago is not very cold at the moment, maybe a little windy but nothing that will blow even me away. There is no snow at all anymore, not even the half-melted dark dirty-ish heaps on the side of the road. There is no sun anymore either, unlike what I've seen on the majority of even the most wintry days. There is only mud and wetness, a lot of wetness. Yes, Chicago is preparing me for something I haven't been missing at all but am gonna get anyway from next week on.

Believe it or not, one of the things I am gonna be missing is the Chicagoan weather. Seeing that I've only experienced winter, you might think I've gone insane. But maybe I am just a fan of extremes. At least now I know what it feels like when your legs are freezing off. Or maybe I just like sun beams on my face for most of January and February. Yes, I like sunshine, no matter what the temperature (in Celsius or Fahrenheit). Of course, I, too, prefer it above freezing so I'll enjoy summer even more.

Another thing I am going to miss is the ice cream. I am a huge sucker for everything ice creamy and the US of A has every taste you can imagine (including the ones you didn't want to imagine, but let's not go there). Mmmmmmm...

But the aspect I'll miss most of all is probably just Chicago. Downtown, Hyde Park, campus, everything is so pretty. Every time I walk back home I catch myself thinking 'I feel at home here, I can imagine myself living here'. Against all odds.

One thing about home I did not find here, though: stars. When you look up at the sky at night, there are no stars. Or, let me rephrase that: there are stars but you can actually count them. There's like 4. Sometimes 6, when you're lucky and keep gazing long enough. Back home, especially in my backyard (meaning the graveyard behind my house), the black and blue sky is filled with them. They're drawing pictures in the sky and I can't even count the times I've seen one of them fall. I miss wishing on a star.

Don't think I'm heartless for only talking about things I'd miss or am missing. I will miss the people here terribly, just as I miss my friends and family back home. But that's only obvious. For both: This is not goodbye, it's 'catch you later'!