Whoa! It's Good to Be Home?

I drove into Bloomington yesterday at around 3pm, and it has been a mind-blowing experience since the first moment. Ben could not come with me because of a very heavy work load, and I find myself really freaking out due to his absence. Needless to say, I plan to come back this summer with him. You see, I finished my doctoral exams more than three years ago, and I’ve been focused on performing, public radio, and baby-making hell since that time (but not necessarily in that order). Looking back, I wanted to put academe on the back-burner, but I never thought that it would be for this long. As we creep closer to the tenth anniversary of us moving to Bloomington, I realized that I needed to finish this thing. So, this is my effort to reacquaint myself with the grad student that I left behind. It’s a bit unusual, but I know myself well enough to know that it’s a frame of mind that I must reestablish.

The hotel of my stay thus far has been the Indiana Memorial Union Hotel, right inside the student union. This gigantic building also houses a bowling alley, gaming room, and much more that I’ve never seen. Once I checked in, I took off for the Jacobs School of Music. After checking out my teacher’s schedule, I headed across the street to the T.I.S. Bookstore. One of my last part-time jobs in Bloomington was working at the T.I.S. Music Store, which was the greatest most of all because I got to work with Phillip, Ben and I’s younger brother. Okay, I also bought a ton of sheet music, and I’m not so sure that I really actually earned money from this job. I think at best I broke even. Anyway, I saw Patricia, and we are going to have lunch tomorrow and catch up. When I returned to the hotel room, I took inventory of my purse and discovered that I had lost my keys. Panic attack ensued as I began calling the various places that I had visited in my first four hours back in Bloomington. After calling some lowly-paid clerk at T.I.S. and running down to the I.U. Bookstore to check if I had left my keys there, I was at my wits end. Then I called my sweetest Ben, who talked me through my day and making sure that I check every place. I then checked the car—no luck, and finally went to the hotel desk, and lo and behold, it was there. A huge sigh of relief later, I retired to the room, and chilled out for the night.

This morning I took off for WFIU at around 11am and began my surreal day. Actually, from the first moment I set foot onto Bloomington soil, it felt like home, except I know that is has not been my home for quite a long time. I keep wishing that Bloomington was a suburb of Atlanta, then, I’d have the best of both worlds. Many of the usual suspects were there, and it was fantastic to talk to them all (some of whom remembered me quite well, and one who thought I ran for city council?). Then I took off for T.I.S. Music before heading, finally, to the library. (I know this near blow-by-blow is a bit tedious, but this way I’ll remember everything) Stephen and Christopher were both there, and so little has changed. After chatting a while and catching up, I had some vittles at Dragon Express. Such fond memories of dumplings and Egg Foo Young (I know it’s an American invention, but they do it so well.) drove me to order an egg roll and pot stickers. As I wiped the grease from my lips I headed to the library. Three hours later and nearly falling asleep twice, I hung at T.I.S. some more and finally headed back to the hotel. Let me tell you that today has been a most unusual day weather-wise. Highs were in the mid-60s, and there has been clouds and occasional sprinkles (this isn’t unusual), all day.

I decided to drive around a bit tonight, and it is a marvel how little things change. Despite new apartments downtown and the addition of Best Buys, most things look and more importantly, feel the same. I kept expecting to see Katie or Phillip around campus, and it was so depressing to realize that that would not be possible. It will be sad to leave this place on Saturday. I never thought I’d say that. I can’t believe the feeling of nostalgia that washed over me. While I’ve not made monumental progress this trip, mentally I feel more attached to this place than I have in a long time. It’s time for me to finish what I’ve started so long ago, and become Dr. Wanda.