Final Finals.

The flight dates for my solo trip to France have been confirmed. I'll be flying to Lyon in mid-June and returning from Paris a month later. It'll be Ramadan at the time and my flight back home is scheduled to be after Eid; while I'll be permitted to not fast while I'm in France on account of being a traveler, I probably will fast anyway to experience fasting in a non-Muslim majority country in the summer. It'll also be good to get a feel of how Eid is celebrated there as well.

I haven't completely mapped out my travel plans yet, and neither do I absolutely have to right now as June is still several months away. I'm also currently having final exams until the 22nd, and that's really the most pressing matter on my mind at the moment.

These final exams are different, however. These are my final final exams before I'll be going for my internship in February, which will then be followed by the completion of my undergraduate studies here in Manipal International University. These are my last two weeks of being a student; it hasn't really hit me yet, but I'm about to step into a completely new world very soon. No more of this academic stuff from now on - unless/until I decide to do my Master's, anyway.

I've been in Nilai for three years now and there are quite a number of goodbyes to be made - some I dread more than others. This has not been a conventional step in my higher education, particularly given my background, but I wouldn't trade my experiences here for any other. The things I've done, the lessons I've learned, the people I've met - I regret none of them. This was a place that helped me open my eyes to a world that I had not been aware of before, and for that I am forever grateful.

In this day and age, though, when is a goodbye really a goodbye? It's so easy to just ring someone up or even just send them a text to say hello. In all the hand-wringing about how technology is moving people apart (which I think is complete nonsense, by the way), it actually really comes in handy in bringing people closer together. I really shouldn't be too upset at leaving some of the people here because, if the bonds we share are really that strong, we'll still keep in touch.

Just gonna end it here before I start rambling for too long; I really should be studying. Until next time.