Edinburgh

I left Edinburgh early on Thursday morning. My last few weeks here were divided between frantically rehearsing two woefully underprepared shows and trying to make the most of my time in Edinburgh: taking walks (including to some places I'd never been before), supping at my favourite establishments and seeing the people who made my time there so brilliant. This culminated in leaving drinks at Paradise Palms, formerly Bristo Bar, with some of my nearest and dearest, which lead to this delightfully sleazy picture:

Callum definitely looks to be under some sort of coercion in this picture.

It feels odd to be gone. I definitely think of this as the end of my studenthood, even though that actually occured in May- it just didn't sink in until I actually departed the place where the majority of my studenting took place. I feel like now, at last, I am moving onto the stage of my life known as 'adulthood' and that it's time to put away childish things: you may remember that I said the same when I graduated and how long that lasted.

There's a description in One Day by David Nicholls of which I am very fond:

"Living in her university town felt like staying on at a party that everyone else had left."

Although Edinburgh never quite got to that level for me, I could definitely see it happening had I stayed much longer, or indeed had I not known that I was leaving at the end of the summer. There are still many wonderful people I care very deeply about there (eagle-eyed readers may even spot a recently-returned Esmond in the picture above), but I've lived there for three years and it was only going to get less fun what with having to work and everything- I think it better to just cut things off now, before my life there begins to stagnate.
I feel a lot less emotional this time than when I left to go to Melbourne, even though that time I had a definite return point- I guess now I know I can keep friendships up over a long distance and that, ultimately, life keeps going no matter where you are. I didn't feel the need to be emotional: I had done all this before and it worked out ok (this sentiment may come back to bite me- only time will tell). And, besides, I imagine I will return to the city: enough of my friends still live there to merit popping in now and then. Maybe, as they move on or die out, I'll stop returning, but Henriette's there for the next two years and that alone makes it a very favourite place of mine.

In other news, I didn't complete any items on my bucket list. I didn't do a Ghost Tour or go to Glasgow or GHQ or even visit the beach. I am strangely OK with this- in the end, those activities weren't necessary for me to enjoy the end of my residency in Edinburgh, and it's not like I can't ever do them in the future (whereas, it's much more difficult to get back to Melbourne).
I have very few regrets about my time in Edinburgh overall and even fewer about my leaving: I made a move then kept on moving, and proved the points that I needed proving. Someone should write a song about that.