Time flies and I do, too

Even though it feels like I just started building up a life here, I just realized that more than half of my time in Hong Kong is already over. Next week will be busy with exams, afterwards I get visitors and then I will be more or less back in the Netherlands.

On the one hand I am looking forward to being back, finishing my thesis and starting a new adventure. At the same time, I feel like I just arrived and started a life here. Since many other students do not live on campus and only have a couple of classes with me every week, it took more time than expected to really get to know them, advancing from small talk about the weather and exams to real conversations.

Please do not misunderstand me…

Now, that I feel that I found people that I really can talk to and want to spend time with, I am already forced to say farewell again (more or less). The (luxurious) problem of my life: meeting great people, but moving on. Having awesome teenager times with my friends at home: school is done. Getting used to living in India, building up intense friendships there: going back to Europe. Moving to Tilburg, living in an amazing flat with great people: the Bachelor is almost over.

And now the same thing happens in Hong Kong. Maybe this could be acceptable if I planned to settle down from now on. But something urges me to continue travelling, starting internships and doing my Master in a new town.

Please do not misunderstand me: I am very much looking forward to continuing experiencing new things. But at the same time it gets more and more difficult to stay in touch with all the friends I made on the way, being able to hold up the closeness with them while still being open to new people.

Is it even possible to live up to my own expectations in that respect? I think it is normal to lose some people on the way that once seemed impossible to ever forfeit, even though this process can hurt badly sometimes. At the same time new people add up and enrich me. Now, I am trying to find the balance between old and new to find the happy medium in-between.