Venturing back to Hamilton this weekend after being away for 9 months provided an interesting contrast with the urban life I have been leading these past two semesters. I was a little nervous going back - what if my world on the hill had suddenly changed? Would Commons have a different setup? Would the diner have a different menu? What would it be like staying in a dorm?
Driving up the hill, I felt my stomach drop a bit, reminding me of my first day of freshman orientation. Except this time I didn't have my parents repeatedly asking me if I was nervous or an overstuffed car that contained everything I had ever owned. I guess I have made progress.
As soon as I could see the school, however, I felt reassured. Just as I remembered it - everything was in the right place and everyone still looked the same. Over the course of the weekend, I was constantly amazed how easy it was to fall back in to the Hamilton rhythm. Aside from minor layout changes in Commons that caused me some trouble finding a fork and some new freshman faces, I still felt like I belonged on campus.
The one thing I did forget about was the massive amount of snow Central New York attracts and how quiet the campus seems. There were no people clad in black rushing to catch a taxi, the subway or a bus. There were no sirens, no honking horns, and no crowded stores. And, unbelievably refreshing was that my cell phone actually got service around campus and in the dorms, something it seems to have trouble doing in my New York City apartment unless my head is pressed against the window.
Arriving back into New York City late Sunday night, I hailed a cab and for the first time realized how easily I could tell the driver where I lived. I no longer had the feeling that the blind were leading the blind; rather, the sites were familiar, the streets in their right places, and I realized how easy it to have a place feel like home.
