Trip to Ohio & Kenyon
The post-college world is very strange and weird. I’ve only said it half a million times since I’ve graduated, and I’ll probably say it for the rest of my life. However, after my most recent trip to Kenyon & Ohio this past weekend I feel as if I’m entering a different stage in my post-college life phase.
The last time I was at Kenyon was in mid-August en route to Chicago for a final round job interview for SCORE! I didn’t get the position in Chicago, returned to Kenyon to see Suz, managed to upset her, left Kenyon for New York unemployed and single. It’s the same story I’ve told for months now…Wow, it’s been months. So I was somewhat anxious in my return to “the hill.” I felt this awkwardness of returning to my past life. For the first time in a very long time I felt as if I was going against the grain, I felt as if I was moving backwards in life instead of forwards. I was returning to my past - Ohio, Kenyon and everything that’s associated with it. I was excited to see my old friends and professors, but was not excited about the thought of “moving backwards.” Ohio, Kenyon and everything associated with it, including Suz, was my past, and even though I thoroughly enjoyed my past, it wasn’t my life any longer. I was extremely anxious about what was going to happen.
I had an early morning flight to Cleveland and packed the night before for my trip. I decided to pack light because my trip was only a few days, and was leaving the apartment for JFK when I had the sudden realization that my flight wasn’t out of JFK, but Laguardia. There wasn’t a train or subway to Laguardia so I ended up taking a cab to the airport for a ridiculous $30. I got my ticket and made my way to the gate. I don’t remember being as anxious, nor excited on any other trip in a very long time, perhaps my trips to see Suz during the summer were equally as emotionally charging, but my NY road trips and trip to Puerto Rico were fun, but I wasn’t this anxious/excited about any of them. There was a ton of uncertainty going into the trip, and a lot of unanswered questions I wanted resolved and I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
I finished “The Journals of Lewis And Clark,” which was an OK book, but was glad to be done with it, and started Bill Bryson’s “In A Sunburned Country,” on my flight out to Cleveland. When I arrived in Cleveland I kept on thinking how weird it was for me to be back in Ohio, and how I had no idea what I was supposed to be feeling. I called Chris and set up a place to meet him after I got my bag.
I hadn’t seen Chris since my road trip to Chicago in August and was extremely excited to see him. I can’t explain the reaction I had when I saw Chris hop out of his car other than extremely shocked. If I was a cartoon character my jaw would’ve literally hit the ground when I saw Chris wearing a tan/brown leather coat, red button down shirt and one of those “old men New York city hats” which I actually own. I was totally shocked, and wondered what the heck was going on. Was Chris trying to shock me with this attire, or was he serious? We laughed, and hugged and left the airport in high spirits.
I wanted to get my shoes shined because they were extremely dirty and I liked how my brown shoes looked after they were shined last week, so Chris and I went to a mall. We walked around for a few minutes before stumbling upon a bookstore, which was somewhat out of the ordinary. Chris knows I love to read, and I know Chris also enjoys to read, however we don’t usually stop by bookstores. After a few seconds I wondered if his father, who manages Borders bookstores had any connection with this store, and a few seconds later I saw Chris’ father. Chris and his family have treated me so incredibly well and have accepted me into their family in so many wonderful ways over the past five years that I’m always thrilled to see any of Chris’ relatives. I gave him a big hug and chatted briefly before Chris and I continued our stroll through the mall.
We eventually made our way to Kohl’s where Chris showed off his knowledge of the store and of its clothing after working there for a few summers. After we found a size that fit me, Chris found a bunch of different looking jeans and kept handing me pairs while I changed and got the thumbs up or down from him. I walked out of Kohl’s with the jeans instead of my sweatpants feeling more like a regular person and no longer a slob.
The rest of the day consisted of a nap and some reading before dinner made by Chris’ mom which was excellent and then heading to Chris’ school to watch a high school basketball game. I felt more like shooting hoops then watching a basketball game once we got to the gym and was impressed with the height of some of the high school players. During halftime we walked around the high school’s hallways and Chris showed me his office where I checked my email and saw that I had a ton of work to do for Scholastic but that I wasn’t going to concern myself with it too much before returning to New York. I was on vacation and wanted to relax for a few days.
We watched the last quarter of the game before hopping into Chris’ car and drove around downtown Cleveland looking for a hoppin’ bar. We decided that it was more fun to drive around downtown exploring different parts of the city instead of drinking, so Chris drove us around for an hour or so. It was actually a really enjoyable drive and experience, especially since I was so anxious about the upcoming day. To end our evening, we stopped by an ice cream joint called O’Malley’s, where I got a root beer float and Chris got ice cream. I hadn’t had a root beer float since I was in Chicago during my summer road trip, or that was the last time I remember drinking one, and I laughed thinking about how much my life had changed since that road trip during the summer. Anyways, the root beer float was good and Chris and I made our way back to his house before our drive the next morning to Kenyon.
I was feeling very anxious, and somewhat stupid for wanting to return to my alma mater. I didn’t know how going back to Kenyon and my past was helping me move into the future, and become a better person, but I felt that the trip would leave a lasting impact on my life in some way. I just didn’t have any idea what that way was going to be…
Tags: Ohio, Travel
