Day 147, 2 June: The Final Day, Part I: UEA Good-Byes

Norfolk Terrace, UEA, Norwich, England, Day 147. The Final Day, Part I: UEA Good-Byes

Charity Event in the Square: Pimp My Wheelbarrow

On my last day at the University of East Anglia, it began with the first of the good-byes. I saw Jen crying in the corridor, her room being emptied, and a large group of the flat hovering around the activity, not wanting to miss her leaving. Steff arrived, helping to carry Jen’s stuff to the van with Jen’s dad. The three of them were finished by ten, and through it all, our small flat group remained in the corridor. Gemma, Alvin, Charlie, Vinnie, Marie, Dan, and I. We were there to hug and say good-bye to Jen—and Steff, who also left that morning for Wales too. Once outside the flat, we waved at the back of the van carrying Jen, her dad, and Steff. Charlie asked, ‘Is there going to be a cheeky wave out the window?’ A final wave? I hoped for it, but the more feet the van drove I was sure I had to be satisfied without it. Then in an instant, Jen’s head slightly leaned out the window and her hand waved back at us. I was glad. We all waved back.

      For the next few hours, I let myself work out, doing abs and running off last night’s fun, and take on the final stages of packing. At the risk of sounding paranoid, I already had done a prep run of packing all my clothes away. That worked all right with my parents-bought-this-for-me-in-London messenger bag and the huge green bag that both Charlie and Marie—and Charlie’s mom—told me at different times was bigger than me. I hadn’t anticipated closet coats. As far as my Jansport backpack went, all my appliances, laptop and books/papers fit, but overall some things I left behind. Adaptors, a pair of Converse shoes, a pair of jeans, orange rain coat, pens, loads of cheap Primark white shirts, etc. I moved onto my kitchen supplies and eventually put all my unwanted items either into my kitchen cupboard or in a charity bag. After my last shower in the flat, I heard Irish Laura in the hallway and ran out (yes, clothed) to say bye.

Joe and I

      Amid all this packing and flat activity, I stopped at the Square on UEA’s main part of campus for a special annual charity event: Pimp My Wheelbarrow. I found my flatmates perched up near the Travel Store, overlooking the costumed groups upon groups arriving into the Square. Every group centred around one theme and one wheelbarrow. From Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Machine to Willy Wonka to Lord of the Rings, so many costumes and cardboard-enhanced wheelbarrows animated the square with colourful confetti. One orange-faced, green-wigged Oompa Loompa approached me—Joe! I got a picture with him and said a first good-bye—I saw him later by his group’s wheelbarrow, with Vinnie dressed as the fat kid in Willy Wonka and Sean (Day 7) as Mr. Willy Wonka himself. Joe, apart from his unique accent (as I hear it), is also one of the funniest guys I travelled with and knew abroad—his take-no-bull attitude mixes in with a light-hearted love of life that does him well. I will miss him.

Vinnie and Sean

      I saw Vinnie too and realized that this was good-bye. He had been a good roommate, his quiet entrances into the room after I was asleep to his polite questions of whether he could listen to music without headphones. If he reads this, I want him to know that I wish him the best back at school and best of luck in the future.

The Fellowship

      I stopped by the Lord of the Rings wheelbarrow as well, seeing my friends Helen as Legolas, Liam as Aragon, Sophie as the Elf Queen, Kate as Frodo…and when I pointed out that the Ring looked very much like a bracelet, Stef said, ‘Yeah, it looks a lot like my bracelet…wait!’ Laughter ensued, as I sadly realized this was the last time I’d be seeing them. I said farewell to them and Helen exclaimed, ‘No, Spencer! What are you doing? Leaving us!? THIS is the breaking of the Fellowship!’ Thus the good-byes were amid costumed fun and laughter. And that was one of the things that helped make the good-byes more about the fun that was than the loss.

My Empty Side of the Room

      I said good-bye to Marika and Alex above the Square. It had been nice to hang out with them this past week seeing as others were departing left and right before I knew it. They both had another week, or half, left in Norwich.

      I headed back to the flat to finish cleaning and placed all my leftover cutlery and food and items in my kitchen cupboard with a post-it note: ‘Formerly Spencer’s—FREE STUFF!’ Finally Charlie came for my stuff—I was leaving for London with Charlie and his mom—and I headed out to his mom’s car, meeting his mom and successfully fitting my stuff into the car. Remaining in my hand was the Rubik’s Snake/Twist, which Alvin asked to complete one last time. Early in the semester (Day 20), he had set the flat record for it at 33.34 seconds. Months later, he completed the Twist (from line to ball) in 5 seconds. I watched it with my own eyes, incredulous until it was done.

Alvin, Dan, Gemma, Marie, Matt

      The flat good-bye was fast but memorable: I saw them there, giving up part of their afternoons to see Charlie and me off, and I felt a surge of good-will, of the close-knit community that our flat had, through and through. There was Alvin, always game to play, party, and talk in-between his intense study hours as a medic; there was Dan, nicknamed ‘Mother Hen’ for his protective nature of us during nights out, but also generous in letting me borrow his acoustic guitar so often that I felt like I had my own guitar in England and a constant presence in the kitchen, him and Jen; there was Gemma, company in the kitchen and like Alvin, balancing social with study life; there was Marie, always excited to see me and hug me and animate the kitchen with her fun, happy self; there was Matt, always starting conversation in the kitchen from recent news to his trials and enthusiasm in his medic studies. And then there were me and Charlie, waving good-bye to them from the car and so glad to have known them. In the moment I took the picture (shown here), I realized as I had when I looked at the last flat dinner picture that I’ve really loved being  here with these friends, with a flat that got along with each other. Friendships can happen anywhere at any time, and I’m very glad they happened here, at UEA, in Norwich, in England.