Slow Saturday at Shaw
There’s a certain fear of going to a new place where you know not of who lives there, who your neighbors will be, or how living there is going to affect you and the way you live your life.
I got the chance to actually go somewhere where every single corner of that place is something I’ve never seen nor imagined ever seeing in this lifetime. I wanted to explore every single bit of it over the course of four months before I come back home and figure out how or when I can come back here to relive everything I saw at MSU.
There are parts of Michigan and the routine it forced into me that I’m 100% sure I can never come back to once I go back home. Like waiting for the 31 Brody via Grand River bus at the Shaw Ramp, it’s a trivial thing to do day-to-day but I’ve memorized the route, I’ve memorized when to press stop in order to make my walk to Riv’s shorter, I’ve memorized the walking route back to my dorm if I come back from a party after two, I’ve gotten familiar with the 1 bus that’ll take me to Plato’s and the Asian market, I’ve figured out where in the hell Okemos is, I developed a certain hate over the color blue and maize and somewhat associated it with University of Michigan at the same time I started to buy more green colored clothing to blend in with the place I’m currently in, I even started to hoard ramen and candies from Sparty’s because I know that Shaw’s dining halls closes at 7 and don’t open on weekends.
So many trivial things leave so many memories as it becomes my routine for this entire semester. Living in the dorms also made me interact with more freshman and sophomore students just beginning their journey in university. Sometimes I can hear the music blasting from their car windows as they come home late one Friday night, or the laughter and giggling from my next-door neighbor who just got asked out on a date by her crush, or the panic of leaving their fake ID because they plan to go to Dublin or Harper’s that night, even the long lines in front of Cottage Inn when it’s 30º outside. So many faces eager to know what they’re going to be doing for the next four years of their lives, I watch in awe as I start to remember what it was like for me during those years. My friends, my campus life, my routines back home, everything seems so far away and now I’m one year away from graduating and I can’t seem to find the button to request my stop.
Get Ké’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
When my Father told me to enroll for this scholarship, I didn’t want to. I thought that living abroad and leaving my friends back home was pointless and I didn’t want to get away from the comfort of my home. But looking back now, I’m glad I did. I made friends I’m sure I’ll keep even after I go back home, I discovered new places that I’ve fallen in love with, and I got to live in Michigan out of all places. I never, ever, thought that I’d ever want to live in Michigan, especially East Lansing. But I’m glad I did. I’m glad I took the chance, I’m glad I forced my university to let me take the semester here, I’m glad I convinced my Mom that sooner or later she’d have to get used to not seeing me at home, I’m glad I convinced myself that friends are everywhere so why not take the chance to make more, I’m glad I left my room and my home to stay at a place that I now consider, home.
If I read this piece again sometime in the future, I want myself to remember the scene where I’m writing in right now.
It’s a slow sunny Saturday morning-ish, I’m sitting at my loft bed with my roommate across from me watching a Trixie Mattel video on her laptop as she folds her clothes, our beds still a little messy because we’re still trying to clean up our desks, we’re also trying to think of what clothes we’re gonna bring when we stay over at our friend’s place for Thanksgiving. We sit in silence doing our own thing but aware of the 30-day countdown to our flight back to where home is. Despite both of us going back to Indonesia, the distance between Bali and Jakarta made us both realize it’s going to be long before we can finally sleep in the same room or even be in the same room again. So we agreed to make the most out of our time here together, we’re going out tonight, we’re getting drinks, and we’re celebrating every single day counting down to the day we leave.
If I’m back home and I come back to this writing, I want me to remember that signing up for IISMA was one of the best decision I made in this life and I would never trade it for anything in this world.
Go Green!
