Norfolk Terrace, Norwich, Day 105. ‘Friendship
Groups’ Revisited
My fifth day abroad was the day I met Vinnie (my roommate Vinnie), Joe (New Zealand Joseph), Mo (longer than to say ‘hi’ at
registration), Anna (who was my
fellow sheep when Mo was ‘lil Mo peep’ during the annoyingly long scavenger
hunt on Day 6), Michael (UEA Choir guy),
and Briar (at the time thought she
was siblings or something with Michael). The seventh day I met my flatmates: Dan the Man, Garlic Jen (her nickname), Alvin (A-dog), Charlie (Chaz), Gemma (Jim-Jam,
a nickname from her past), Marie (Mai’, the nickname everyone but flatmates call her), Irish Laura, Lithuanian Laura
(LOW-ra), Wilson (Gum Gum), Stephen, Matt, Ryan, and our honorary
flatmate Steff (Jen’s boyfriend). The
thirteenth day I met friends of Dodo (the UEA student at UC Berkeley this year;
I met him at Jill Buch’s Berkeley luncheon): Kate and Stef (who conveniently
turned out to be in my Romanticism and Nineteenth Century modules). I’d meet
their housemates Helen and Liam later on. On the Suffolk Castles
trip, I bonded with Marika, Morgana, and
Rebecca. Then there was the
last-minute trip to London with Marika, Morgana, and Alex. During Mrs. Buch’s luncheon on Day 39, I discussed next year
academics with my fellow Berkeley-ian abroad Sierra. Meanwhile, I met Kat
at Cambridge and on the Dublin trip, Caitlin
and Vito in planning for and traveling
through our European adventure, and Devon
in Milan.
I
mention all this because today felt like a sort of summation of the friends I’ve
made here. I know I’ve probably left out quite a few names, but it’s hard to
summarize the connections one has made in four months in one entry. The purpose
of this entry is to express the general joy I have in knowing the people I know
here and wherever I am, even if I’m 5000 miles from what I once called
exclusively ‘home’.
But
beyond just making this an entry about friendships (or rather, ‘friendship
groups’, as the joke was back in day five), I really felt them today. I went to
the library to pay off Caitlin for the ferry from Naples and Palermo, but I
also went for a break from my quiet room. I ran into Stef on the staircase,
taking a break from studying, and then found Caitlin on the top floor of the
overcrowded library. It was good to see her, however briefly. She told me where
Joe, Vito, and Liam (from the Amsterdam portion of the Europe trip) were and I
went to visit them, stopping to see Stef and Helen and Kate studying (well,
Stef had a book definitely not academic on her desk and Helen surely had a
facebook tab opened on her laptop, but hey, who’s looking). One good
side-effect of the end of a semester is that more people are in one place, the
library, and the stressful experience of studying is lightened by knowing others
are feeling it too.
In
the evening, the flat got together to celebrate Stephen’s birthday—well,
unfortunately, it was a fragmented celebration between two flats, but
nevertheless, he was still as happy and buzzing as a bee. The rest of us were
buzzing too, and we decided to head over to the LCR, maybe the last time together
until the examinations are over (or ever??? No, too dramatic).
In
the interlude between planning to go and going, I finally found out what LCR
stands for: Lower Common Room. After all this time, THAT’s what it means? I was
disappointed. I like the Harry Potter-British feel of the phrase ‘Common Room’,
but ‘lower’ is just an awful, awful modifier. It should be ‘Legit Common Room’,
if I were to name it.
I
barely made it outside the door of the flat when I heard my name yelled as if
it was a war cry or something. ‘SPENCER!’
Before
I knew it, I was in the midst of a whirlpool of hugs and friends. The core of
my international travel friends were there (except Vinnie still in Madeira). Kat,
Joe, Mo, Anna, Briar, Devon, Caitlin, Vito. It was great to see them all there at
once. I saw them and instantly remembered parts of my travels with them. Kat
and the Guinness factory; Mo, Anna, and Briar and the frenzy of green we wore
before our first Dublin excursion; Joe, Devon, Caitlin, and Vito and the Sicilian
beach, the night overlooking all of Florence and seeing the magnificent Duomo
di Firenze from afar, and the bike ride through Amsterdam. So many good travel
memories rushed through me all at once.
Once
at the LCR with them, I remember doing dramatic spins at one point (possibly in
a friendly dance-off with Kat) and if it weren’t for Mo catching me and then
Joe catching me (while spinning), I might’ve been clumsier. Needless to say, I
was in high spirits dancing that night. There was one part of the night that
particularly made me feel a part of UEA: I was leading this guy Nathan to Joe when
every other minute I found friends behind me or in front of me. I saw Michael
and we did a dramatic ‘heyyy!’ almost synchronized, and then resumed what we
were doing before. I went on the dance floor and turned around to see Marika,
Rebecca, Alex, and Morgana. Later I ran into Dan, Jen, Marie, Stephen, Matt,
Charlie, and Alvin. I danced in a group with Devon and her friends, then saw Mo
and Caitlin too. At some point, Nathan turned to me, as all this was happening,
and said, ‘Wow, Spencer, you’re really feeling the love tonight, huh?’ I
laughed at this but in a way it was true. In the next few minutes Nathan went
off and the next thing I knew someone was pulling me around and there was
Charlie and Alvin.
From
the library to the LCR today, I felt really connected to the friends I’ve met
at UEA. I don’t mean to say this in a good-bye, good-to-know-ya way, but just in
a grateful sense. It’s a simple but powerful feeling to feel part of people’s
lives and have them feel part of your life, however small or large a part it
is.
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