Winds of change

I went to my 10-year-high school reunion last night. If you'd forgotten that it's been 10 years since you graduated from high school and are saying "Holy shit" right now, I did the same thing just recently. I was really debating whether I should go, but not for the usual "Everyone else is married and has 2.3 children and a high-paying job and has a successful macrame business on the side" jitters (which I had for my 5-year-college reunion last year).

*Drumroll for the big confession*

You see, contrary to my sweet and charitable constitution (ha!), I was a real ass to some people in high school (or shortly thereafter), and I guess I'm still feeling guilty, so I didn't want to risk a confrontation. I supposed that would actually be good since it'd help me process the guilt, but then again, I'm not that big a glutton for punishment.

Luckily, the organizers had sent around a list of attendees beforehand, and I felt pretty safe. I mean, I had moments were I thought that maybe this was a conspiracy and that exactly those people asked to be kept off the list so they could be sure I could be there, but then I realized that I was being crazy.

So I went.

And it was pretty fun. We had this hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant to ourselves and people just talked. No big to-do. At some point, the guy who was my very first boyfriend (who turns out to be very nice -isn't it funny how you have to re-acquaint yourself with people?) asked me what had been the biggest surprise during the reunion, and I realized there had been no surprises. Everyone was pretty much the same, down to their haircuts (more or less), just 10 years later.

Don't get me wrong. There were interesting stories, like the girl whose once-shy-and-skinny little brother studied to be a tax advisor and now runs a go-go dancing school that is famous all over Europe. Some people had kids, many are getting married (a whole blog post onto itself).

But overall, I find the lack of change both amusing and scary. I suppose our crazy mandatory-ancient-languages-cum-privileged-atmosphere school experience had already molded us so unmistakably when we graduated after 9 years together, that our trajectories were set. Then again, you really do wish that in 10 years, people would at least experience the excitement of a new haircut and veer drastically off the career path they had listed in the yearbook when we graduated.

When I told my cousin, who's graduating from the same school this summer, about the reunion, her eyes almost fell out of her head over the fact that it's been 10 years, and she wanted to know all the things that happen in 10 years. I guess a lot, and not very much at all.

CLASSIFIEDS

Congrats to my cousin Kathi who recently had her first public singing try-outs and is now well on her way to becoming a big-time opera singer...but go lightly on the Puccini for now, honey. (NB: Holy crap, I thought out family was as musical as a wheel of Swiss cheese)

Welcome home to Erika and Aaron after their big adventure in Nepal! I can't believe one of us is done with the fieldwork thing -way to go!

Happy housewarming to Sonia in her new apt in the capital of bivalency!

Congrats to Sarah and Ed on choosing a tastefully cute wedding announcement (I'm sure that's an achievement given the choices out there). Can't wait to see the rest of the wedding!