the AM escapades of an Insomniac
Maybe it was the sweaty sock smell in the Rigoberta Menchu hall
Maybe it was the sight of relieved people selling their books ASAP after their last exam
Maybe it was the IEEC newspaper that was shockingly empty for the first time
Maybe it was the depressing 24hr study-for-finals opening times at campus
Maybe it was the last bite of a lovely meatball at the salad bar (they should have those all week, bastards)
But whatever it was (probably all of the above) the shocking truth stroke me: my one and only, way too short, semester at San Francisco State is, officially, coming. to. an. end.
And maybe it was the unusual shitty weather of the last couple days
Maybe it was the thought that I might not even get to say a proper goodbye to some of my lovely new friends & acquaintances
Maybe it was the craving for chocolate at 11PM when all nearby stores were closed
But whatever depressed fucker it was, it triggered me to write this little sad story about the end of spring semester 2011.
For the sake of spreading the word, this time I’ll write the Finale in English. That is really nice of me, because this time I choose quantity over quality time with my dutch natives (sorry grandpops, this time y’ cant read it, I promise I will tell y’all when I’m back)
Because the inspiration flows firmly through my veins and because of lack of challenging finals (I choose my courses wisely) I have stated that I will make my own final essay. About some interesting and maybe not so interesting encounters and whatevermore will pop up in my mind. Blame the boogie.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl from a little town near the beach (currently living in Amsterdam for the past 2 yrs, don’t forget to mention that, the beachtown thing fitted better for the sake of the sentence) in the Lowlands, the country of neverending flatness. This little girl went on an adventure to the not so flat vibrant city life of hipstergaycapital San Francisco.
And what an adventure it was… I would like to state that studying abroad takes going abroad to a whole new level. Don’t get me wrong, the sweet taste of backpacking/ travelling and all that is wonderful but studying abroad makes you swallow and digest a new country, city, culture, people and adventures. It’s a challenge and whoever takes the chance with both hands, is most likely bound to experience the rollercoaster ride of your life. Don’t hesitate to let loose, get those hands high up in the sky during the ride because a city like San Francisco will hold your lovely bum tightly in the seat. Whoever visits this city will no doubt fall in love and sucked in to the adventurous life it has to offer.
I would like to make a comparison: living and trying to study in San Francisco is like the twin peaks.
For the ignorant among us: twin peaks are the two hills that offer an amazing 360 view on the city and the bay.There are (quite logically) two really big high peaks, but also a few downers.
The first stage is the well known exciting but really annoying and time consuming pre-departure stage. Common symptoms are: the feeling that every force on earth seems to hinder, sabotage or even prevent you from going abroad. Including too much and ineffective paperwork, scary visits to USA embassies and looking for money funds in every corner and couch.
The second stage can be defined as the arriving and settle down stage. Commonly known for establishing new friendships, a new home and getting accustomed to the new environment. There’s a irrefutable need for adventure, combined with high levels of adrenaline, testosterone and sexual arousal.
The third stage was the one that made my brains finally get working during a class about happiness.
Mr. Prof-to-be-but-still-no-PhD was talking about Hedonic Adaptation, a remarkable phenomenon in human beings. We are adept at becoming rapidly accustomed to sensory or physiologic changes. When you walk in from the bitter cold, the warmth of the crackling fire feels heavenly at first but you quickly get used to it and may even become overheated. The same phenomenon occurs with hedonic changes in life experiences, a new change can give you a big adrenaline-exciting-happiness boost in the beginning but there will be a moment where you become adapted to this new life situation.
And this is where the dip in twin peaks finally makes sense. Those moments after the second stage where you had great parties with your new BFF’s, adventured the best adventures and had great sex. Those are most likely the moments where you think:
Shit, what kind of exciting new stuff have I been doing lately?
Besides drinking, partying and having horrible hangovers? I can do that at home too..
Should I feel guilty I still haven’t seen Alcatraz? Haven’t biked the GG bridge? Alamo square? Baker Beach? Cliff House? Modern Art museums? Any freakin museum in general?
Damn, and then I felt guilty that I always miss my 8-inthemorning sexuality class. And that I missed 2 finals because of laziness and hangovers. And that I lied to my teachers that I was stuck on Houston Airport.
Horrible thought nr. 4 stroke: So apparently I’m messing up the first and foremost goal of this whole trip: study AND besides that I’m a shitty lousy lazy tourist.
At this moment, I recall the day like it was yesterday, it was 5.55PM 12th of april 2011.
To push away this horrible thought, I looked for comfort in the addiction called facebook. Bad call, Bad call. All I saw was the one awesome status update-photo-comment after the other. Luckily I did some research and Facebook takes the blame for this social comparison torture because they secretly changed the News Feed Settings to only show post of people you interact with most. For real, why would they do that? Making people feel bad who think their social lives are ruined? Indeed, it’s a vicious circle. So break it: click news feed, most recent, edit options, show post from > all your friends.
RELIEF! don’t worry, they are all still alive. Facebook is just mindfucking you like big brother.
This veer round made my day, because I finally saw all the boring updates of back-home. I should probably feel bad, but I laughed like a little devil when I realized I had so much more exciting, new, awesome adventures and events coming up. I just had to put a little more ass into it, take some hardcore action to fully enjoy my last months in SF.
On that 12th April, I set myself a new goal in life: Fight the Hedonic Adaptation! Every once in a while you should count your blessings, express gratitude for every little thing you are grateful of and you should always keep in mind what a lucky bastard you are. Try to enjoy the smallest things in life, optimism will open doors you never could imagine. Put those rose-coloured glasses on, they will fit you perfectly. Do something crazy, step out of your comfort zone. Set challenges, enjoy, share. Expand your horizon and interest. Open up your heart for new friends and get as much out of it as possible.For real: Did you really just fly 10000000 miles overseas only to cling on your fellow studybudds from back home? Hell no! Did you sit on your sorry ass buttocks for 13 hours next to a smelly man, only to hang out with other international students? Let’s hope not because San Francisco has a lot to offer.
Go big, live large, eat that triple hamburger, say HELLA on the wrong moment, go to a giants game, smoke pot on hippie hill, eat burrito’s in the mission, go to Q-bar in Castro (Monday $1 drinks!), survive the night bus, dress crazy for the weirdest festivals, walk around in your birthday suit at Bay2Breakers, drink bottomless mimosa’s at Lime brunch, chill out on baker beach, go roller-skating in GG park, curse on Muni, post that on facebook, buy a sandwich for a hobo and best of all: make sure you are single because your American date will probably be the best and cheapest tour guide in town. Luckily San Francisco has a lot of great and goodlooking people wandering around, so get your swagga on.
A Short Note On This One: dont fall head over heels on the well-known hipster with his beard, curled&groomed moustache, sexy bike + helmet, vegan stickers on the helmet, beanie hat, a shoulderbag for the beanie hat, sarcastic T-shirt and skinny jeans. The first one you'll see can be quite intriguing and maybe sweep you of your feet, but don't be fooled: they are all fake copycats.
Back to the game because I have a pretty trustworthy gut feeling that Stage 4 had arrived in my twin-peaks theory and I am excited to pop this last month like it’s hot. I am well aware that according to my own theory I should experience very high levels of adrenaline kicking excitement. And I do, looking back at all the crazy things I did I can state that I kicked some adrenaline butt. Spring break Jamaica, snowboarding Lake Tahoe, Skydiving, Hiking in Yosemite, St. Patricksday, Bay 2 Breakers, Roadtrips, House party’s, NBA game, dress-up party’s and a fare share of great clubnights, pubcrawls and concerts. And the party is still not over, because there is a whole month coming up with 21st b’day, Viva Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, L.A., Miami and New York. And we will have the Grande Finale in San Francisco with the best Gay Pride evah (25th of june, be there!)But I'm forgetting one little thing, actually a really big thing because without it my time here would be meaningless. Because this would never been as adrenalinebuttkickingass if it wasn’t for the amazing people I’ve met to join me on this sick 6 months holiday!
I have met the most interesting, open-minded, caring, mentally ill, adventurous, crazy, positive, mindblowing, smashed up people in my life and I wish I could take all of you back in my little suitcase to sweet ass Amsterdam in little Dutchieland. The people you’re surrounded with will deeply affect your actions and thoughts and in this case it turned out pretty good. A big thanks to all the wonderfull people I’ve met, you rocked my world!
And they all lived happily ever after and they were always more than welcome to crash my place in Amsterdam.
Cheers to that and now let’s get HELLA rowdy and enjoy this last week like you will never see daylight before!!!!!
P.S. for the alert people out there, I forgot on purpose to mention stage 5 in the theory. Just because that'll probably be the most depressing stage and I refuse, again REFUSE to think about what the hell Im gonna do back home.
Love 'n kisses,
Lian
