Thank you.

So here we are again. I've been thinking about how to write this last post a whole lot lately. Not that it has helped, since I haven't found any way to formulate it what so ever. It's hard. I do realize that the flow of words has been rather lacking over the summer, but today it's just nonexistent. It's the last day. Well, kind of. In Tampa, at least.
I remember Open House-day at Plant at the end of last summer. I remember how tense I was in the car before I got there, and how the tenseness turned into shaking when I actually saw the high school. Meeting all my teachers and hearing their briefs didn't help much when I was hardly able to pay attention. I had enough with trying to hold a grasp of reality, and above everything else - where the heck in this massive building I was. Plant might be a little overcrowded, but going from a school that takes four hundred students and not even that to a school that takes around three thousand, is a rather stressful experience. Halfway through Open House I sat down in a staircase and all I wanted to do was to run out of there and never come back. If I couldn't even find my way around school, how was I supposed to find my way around everything else that was new and rather petrifying?
Somehow, I did find my way the first couple of days. Somehow I avoided getting lost. Somehow I managed to stay on time. Not that I remember how, I was generally too freaked out to think about anything in particular. But in a couple of weeks things got better. I started talking to people, and I got friends. Talking English became easier and easier every day I spoke. Just as any other freshmen kid, also I learned to play the game. There were footballgames, homecoming prom, movienights, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve, Springbreak, Sweet 16, parties, hanging out. Among other places I've been to Key West, Washington, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, and countless of trackmeets. So yeah, this year has been sick. I can't find the words to describe it the right way, although I've written a whole lot already. My plan for this year was "to experience how an American high school works, what it's like to be a part of American culture and practice hard for track. I already have enough friends back home, and I'm just going to stay here a year, so getting attached to people is no point." I guess I failed at that part. I'm going to miss so many people I've met this year. I don't think I realize the impact of this year just yet. I don't even realize it's over.
People will forget me. Eventually, they will. I will forget about them too. It's just the way life is. But some day, out of nowhere, something will make me remember you. Whether it's a smell, sound, thought or words. And then I haven't forgotten about you after all. Hopefully, there will be someone who think about that "blonde, Norwegian track-girl" once in a while too.

So, thank you. To everyone. For challenging me and proving that I can do whatever I want to if I put my mind to it. Thank you for helping me getting a clearer picture of who I am. Thank you for showing me your world, which seemingly is so different from mine. Thank you for being so open. Thank you for making this year the best of my life so far. I'm going to miss it.