So many things to miss, too much to remember and always the constant fear of forgetting...

I am going to Slovakia to teach English in just over 2 weeks. The whole time, knowing this, my head has been somewhere else. To keep myself on track, I thought I would make a list of all the things I am going to miss. This will probably help me when I am homesick. It will also help me remember where I come from. And when all is said and done, it may also add to my appreciation of where I will be.

1. My Friends

This pretty much goes without saying. But I said it. When something goes without saying it is important to say it so it has been said... understand? I don't think I will ever know people who are more tolerant of my idiocy and craziness than the ones I know here. I could train a whole slew of new people to know what I was talking about when I wave my hands and shoute "Nihilism! Nihilism!" but quite frankly, I don't want to.

2. ...And their blogs

Oh sure, the blogs will still be there, but I won't be in the know, so they may not mean as much to me anymore. Although this could increase the amount of fun exponentially, since I may spend more time wondering what the fuck it is they are talking about.

3. Zaphod's

German techno music is funny. Or at least it is to me. In Europe, it seems like a way of life. I have been searching far and low for a Slovak bar that offers something as cool as the content as Zaphod's of Ottawa, but so far have found nothing but nightclubs that play German techno till everyone goes home or passes out.

4. Nihlism! Nihilism!

There are whole groups of people in Europe who believe that Nihilism makes sense and have dedicated their lives to it. Knowing this, this joke isn't funny anymore.

5. Baseball

Not that many people here are fans of it already, but in Europe, no one is a fan of it. Baseball is to Europe what Nihilism is to North Americans, fucking stupid. Maybe I can get in the habit of waving my arms and shouting "Baseball! Baseball!".

6. Jokes about Communism

When you are living in a part of the world which has been repressed under the yoke of an autocratic system implemented by a communist state for almost 50 years, jokes about communism are no longer appropriate or funny. Instead of being some form of laughable menace from the cold war, they are now known as the "guys who put a statue of Lenin next to my mothers house". Now my blog and e-mail address "discoisforcommies" is no longer humourous, but instead merely confusing.

7. Bigness

Nothing in North America is really all that small. Whereas it would take me an hour to walk accross the downtown area of Ottawa, the same distance would take me through 5 different and distinct towns in Europe. The fact that I can cross Slovakia three times at its longest point in the same amount of time it takes me to get to my grandmother's from Ottawa is simply mindboggling.

8. Not being a spectacle

Although where I'm going, the population will almost certainly be homogenously white, I am certain the second I do something I consider "normal" such as putting on a baseball cap, I will become a strange oddity. Appearances aren't always the bulk of it either, since I will be clearly foreign the second I try and say something. Ich bin ein auslander.

9. Foreign beers

Said foreign beers that make me seem cultured will no longer be foreign. Drinking Molson Canadian (if it is even possible) will probably just make me look stupid. And it tastes like ass.

10. Maple Syrup

I'll be living in a nation of pancake eaters (so my travel guides tell me) and I find anything but this gooey tree product as a topping to be an atrocity. Oh I'll be bringing some with me, but it will run out.

Re-reading this makes me feel most of this list is pretty stupid. I should think of some better items.

Fuck it.