que pasa

Davy and I met up for dinner the other day. It has been almost half a year since we last caught up with each other. When he came by to pick me up, I tapped on the seemingly plastic spoiler on his car, got in, and said, "Yeeks, it's so cheap!" He was on the phone, so he could not retort. But he smiled, punched me in the shoulder and we drove off. Needless to say, we had a great time catching up and all, and I think I was wrong about that spoiler.

It was only the next day when it occured to me that there might be some awkwardness from not having seen each other for so long. Regardless of the fact that we are good friends, there is always that short silent moment when you first meet, and how you deal with it determines how long it will take for things to return back to the way they were when you last met.

But it is nice, the comfortable feeling of being in the presence of an old and/or good friend. The exchanging of stories and advice, catching up, laughter, understanding. Sometimes you have the knowing looks (oh-my-word-it's-such-an-awful-shirt), coded language, similar thoughts too. Unless you are really tight with your folks, I think you feel more at home with your friends than with your family.

I think of the times I return to the States - I usually stay with my friends and/or their family. !, mug-mug, lut-lut, Mr. Microsoft - just to name a few. It is so hard to meet up with them - especially with half the world between us - so I look forward to every opportunity available. Especially since I am so bad with email, sometimes I wonder if things would have changed since we last met. But when we see each other, the years melt away and it feels like we are back in college. The listserve emails, the craziness, the snow, the crazy April heat, the walks to chinatown, Thanksgiving and Christmas home visits... Boy oh boy!

I have often contemplated returning to do an MBA, and im2loko has been encouraging me to go for it. But I have come to realize that the real reason why I want to go back is because I miss my college days. I miss my friends, the Bookstore, Locust Walk, the professors and their passion for their research. I know that graduate school will be different from college, and college days will never come by again, so I leave my MBA plans alone for a while.

Afterall, the next time I go back, I'm sure my friends will want to know that Phil has finally completed Mark study... and well, erm, we are not there yet. Oops. We are getting there though... chapter 12, baby!