This is possibly the worst week of my life, or at least the worst I can remember. After having spent these last months with so many amazing and amazingly crazy people, the time has finally come for goodbyes..

Last Friday, Akili and the B-Boys had a bye bye Akili party, as he would be the first one to leave. So we had a nice party, a lot of booze (didn’t have that much myself, only 1 bottle of wine) and just having a great time while we still can. Don’t quite remember what time it was I went back upstairs, but somewhere around 3 I guess.

Saturday the people from shared housing had a Christmas party, starting at 4pm. Don’t ask me why they came up with that time, but we left City Campus around 10 past 6, walked to Lidl with about 14 people to do some shopping (still had 100 euros left from the society, bought mainly mulled wine, beer and pizza’s) and finally arrived at their place around 7-ish. It was fairly okay, but nobody was in a real party mood, and most people were kinda blue this evening. Around midnight a few of us decided to go to Costello’s, so it was time for Akili to say the first, and most, goodbyes. We then took taxi’s to the centre, partied, danced and drank some more, until one of us kept falling asleep while standing and another almost passed out. We walked back home which took us 45 minutes instead of the usual 10, and I told Akili I wouldn’t say goodbye to him just yet. The next morning I had my alarm at 8, got up around half 8 and Linda and I went down to the b-pad to say goodbye. So from this moment on I’ve been feeling like an emotional wreck, starting to cry at random moments (like while sitting in Burger King) every time I think about saying goodbye to more people. So this is the official beginning of the end, and it sucks!!

In the evening Magda had her B-day party which was nice, as people had drank enough alcohol to be in a cheerful mood, or well, the Spanish and French people who’re not that close to anyone else anyway.. We decided to kick them out of the apartment around half 2, as we were all really tired, all had headaches from crying all the time. Besides this, Alicja had to get a bus at 7.30 next morning to go to Dublin. Verena, JB and Benita left about an hour later, as Verena and JB had their second home here in our apartment and it took a bit longer to say goodbye. Eventyally the four of us went to bed around 4 in the morning, only to wake up again before 7.. Nice..

So we woke up early in the morning to walk Alicja to the bus station. This was another very difficult goodbye, as she has been such a wonderful roommate and become a really close friend. When we walked off City Campus, Gottfried was just passing, also having to take the bus to Dublin to fly back home to Germany. So the five of us walked to the station and we said goodbye to them. And Alicja was the only one of the four of us not crying, being strong, but about an hour later we got a text that she finally broke down. At that moment Linda and I were sitting with Thomas, and we started, again.

And another hour later, it was time for another goodbye… This time it was Thomas who was leaving us. And although this was one of the most dreaded goodbyes, I know it is only temporarily and there is no doubt whatsoever that I will see him again. The two of us decided this would not be a goodbye, merely a ‘see you later’, but still it was hard to see him go and neither could stop the tears..

After saying goodbye we were feeling so miserable again that we went back to bed, only to have Linda wake me up at 3.15pm, asking me if I wanted to go to the Christmas gathering at school. We took our time, I took a shower and we went some time after 4. Mandie already joined us in the apartment, also needing to adjust to the fact that Thomas is no longer here. The ‘party’ was kind of boring and scary at the same time, as we got in, got a glass of mulled wine pushed into our hands and we were ushered to take a seat. After about 45 minutes we were freaked out, so Mandie, Benita and I left for Fennesey’s to get a pint and relax a bit. Been sitting there talking, and around 6 we left, making a quick stop at Lidl and then going back home.

And now Magda is packing her stuff, as she is leaving for Dublin tomorrow morning to meet Alicja and to fly back to Poland. So another goodbye tomorrow… And at the moment I’m really wondering how the hell Linda and I will get through this week, as we’ll be here to see everyone off, and we’re the last people to leave. Maybe it would have been easier to be the first one to leave and get it over with all at once, but we’ll never find out. This week really is going to be hell.. And at the moment, I really can’t wait to go back home, just to get this all over with. But we’ll deal with it, as we have dealed with every other thing that has come across our path these last months.

Right now, I’m going to continue packing my stuff, see if it’s all going to fit (surely hope it will, though there is some doubt) and clean my room a bit. And then I’ll probably watch a movie with Magda, Verena and Mandie, as I don’t really feel like going to Abby tonight for yet another party.

Even after already having said some goodbyes, I still can’t imagine being back home this time next week, even though I really don’t mind it anymore. It’ll probably hit me with full force when we’re back at Schiphol and we hear people talking Dutch all the time.. But we’ll see next week!