where the heart is

As the old saying goes, home is where the heart is.

I think being a college student puts you in a strange in-between place. You're transitioning from a child to a full grown adult (I call it "Operation Grown Up") and it's hard on yourself and your parents at the same time. They want you to pay all your bills yourself, but they also want to impose a curfew on you which causes you grumble in the back of your mind, at college I go to bed at four in the morning and no one can stop me. It might not be the wisest of choices, but it's yours to make.

When I'm at school, I think of my parents and my sisters and this creamish-pink house in the middle of Suburbia of my hometown to be home. I long for my parents' delicious cooking, the quietness of the neighborhood, and the little Ithacan things like hanging out at the Commons and delicious tofu quesadillas at Viva's.

I'm back in Ithaca and the novelty of being home has been starting to wear off. I starts off slow - I miss my friends. I miss How I Met Your Mother marathons, and not being asked where I am/what I'm doing all the time. I duck my head every time I spot someone I know who I don't want to talk to (and this happens a lot) because it's too easy to bump into people in this town. It's like being home highlights the difference between who I was in high school and who I am now.

Hong Kong is the next stop in the journey. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I'll have a enriching experience.