decompression

Sitting at home...it's very quiet here, aside from the low hum of the atomic power lab a few blocks away. But Williamstown, too, is probably quite sleepy at this point. Reunions haven't started yet, most of the grads have cleared out, summer workers mostly start on the 15th.

Today was a day of appointments. My orthodontist and dentist disagree about whether my wisdom teeth should come out, so I think I'll keep them.

None of my possessions remain in Williamstown. Even though finals ended a few weeks ago, I feel as though I couldn't truly unwind until now that everything, including myself, is home. Only for a few days.

I'd like to pack lightly for Russia. I've never really packed lightly before. Going to school, I can just toss everything I think I'll need in the car and drive over. It will be important and perhaps refreshing to separate myself from my possessions without which I can, in fact, survive for eight weeks.

I've decided to bring my violin. For a while, I was thinking that I wouldn't. It would be bizarre and wonderful to be known, at least for a little while, as something other than Leo the Violinist. Also, I don't know how much time I will have to play. As Noah pointed out, I don't want to spend the whole trip feeling guilty about not practicing enough.

For this reason, I won't be taking lessons. I want to be able to spend time with my homestay family, the other students on the trip, and anyone else I meet. I don't want to bend the experience of the trip to be more like my normal life.

So I guess I haven't said why I'm taking it. My thought is that if there is some street band or something that would have me, I'd kick myself hard if I didn't bring Steve (my violin). Though I probably won't bring Steve, he's a rather finicky traveler. Having a violin teacher for a mom, there is no shortage of instruments lying around the house that I could lift for a few weeks, instruments with their share of bumps and bruises.

I'm really glad I stayed for graduation. I think I'll stay next year. There's something about playing ridiculous band music that seems so fitting, a final salute to the grads. Williams is going to be pretty different by the time I get back, eight months from now.