Graduation week-end

It was last week-end and it was one of the most wonderful times of my life. It was so good to see everybody again. We spent saturday on the coast as one of my advisors invited us to his place for a BBQ. Seeing the Pacific again was great. There is definitely something between me and this ocean... We walked the beach, enjoyed a few drinks, listened to Beattles' songs... And we ended the day on a wooden deck, in front of a fire, drinking Bourbon, stargazing, and laughing.


Sunday was graduation day. It started with a brunch at the College of Forestry and it was great to see Dave and the girls there. At 1pm we rushed to the line-up for the Commencement ceremony. I succeeded in having Max attending the ceremony and I'm pretty proud of myself on that one! The keynote speaker was actually really bad but I didn't really care. In substance his message was: "The planet is screwed, this is your parents' fault and there is nothing you can do about it. Go hang yourself" Not quite the message of hope and optimism you expect to hear during such a ceremony ;) Other than that, they screwed on the diploma piles, which was pretty funny. We got the diplomas of the people sitting on the other side of the aisle. So for 15 minutes I was a graduate with a Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies... Really scary! Then we met sunday evening at McMenamins for some more good time and beer.


I spent monday emptying my storage unit (thanx Max!) and packing. It was hard to see all my pieces of furniture going away... But I took the most treasured things and memories with me and I'll have them with me wherever I go. It's anchored deep inside of me. There are wonderful people on this planet and I found some of them in Oregon. I was home, surrounded by friends and it was a tremendous feeling. I really feel like I have a family there. My only regret was not to have my Mom and Dad with me on that week-end but they both promised they'll be attending my next Commencement ceremony in 4 years (if I make it!)... So it was really tough to leave Oregon again but I know I'll come back. I left pieces of me there...

The pics are here.