Here And There

This evening is the first time this Autumn that I feel like I'm freezing, and I'm in the shoebox, not out on the streets. It's 15C, not an inordinately low temperature, but somehow the chill has suddenly descended. I pull on flannels over a t-shirt and bed socks are on even though I am not in bed. Even a warm dinner with a big mug of steaming tea was a temporary stop-gap measure. My feet still feel like ice.

I struggle with the last essay of my Masters course, I need to throw in Orientalism, feminism, and other philosophical concepts into the body of the essay. I am not quite succeeding. I stop to think how fast this 1.5 year course has gone by. And this is the last 2.5 weeks. I just can't figure out how time can slip by so, so quickly.

I stop to think how I can measure the last 1.5 years I've been here in Sydney. By the number of friends I've made? The number of apartments I've lived in? The times I've shed tears when I've felt all alone and lonely? Or by the number of essays/assignments I've completed? The amount of tuition fees I've paid? The number of rainbows and double rainbows I've seen?

I guess it's all of the above and more. And I am here because I am not somewhere else.