School reunion

Last weekend I went back in time, sort of. I headed back to the village I grew up in to participate in a school reunion. Apparently it’s 10 years since I graduated primary school (9th grade). Ten years!! 8O I’m getting old…

The reunion was fun, we had dinner at a local restaurant and then went to a community centre to party and play… the dictionary tells me it’s called “rounders”. It’s kinda like baseball but with simpler rules, a very common game here. Anyway, there were maybe 50 people there. We drank beer and took pictures and just tried to catch up on what had happened with everyone.

One thing I didn’t look forward to was meeting all the old bullies who made my school years less than pleasant. When thinking about meeting them again I didn’t really know how I should deal with it and had some very mixed feelings. But it turned out fine.

The biggest assholes didn’t show up at all, the only one there was this guy I used to really hate, but once I sat there in front of him I realized something that was a great relief for me: I don’t care anymore. I looked into his eyes and felt absolutely nothing – no fear, no insecurity, no anger, no nothing. He had no effect on me whatsoever, why did I ever take detours just to avoid meeting him in the hallway? Whatever happened doesn’t matter anymore, and I liked that feeling.
He on the other hand was being very nice. I’m not sure, but I think he was actually a bit nervous too. Some other classmates told me that he has changed a lot from the school years. “He’s nice now, I know it’s hard to believe, but he has changed” one said. Maybe we all grow up in the end.

I know it’s so shallow and I really shouldn’t say this – but the best part though was seeing everyone’s jaws dropping to the floor when they saw me. 8)
Everyone was all “OMG, I can’t believe how much you’ve changed! You look great!” and a handful of people didn’t recognize me at all, I had to introduce myself to them *lol*
Back then I was… nothing really. I was so insecure and introverted and never talked to anyone if I could at all avoid it. I looked like a bag lady too, and I weighed at least 25 kg more than I do now. Your perfect geek/nerd/dork/whatever, perfect for bullying…
But over the years I’ve managed to gain some self-confidence, humour and at least a base level of social skills. I colour my hair, use make-up and dress like a rock star (or at least I do when going to reunions ;) ). I think I’ve improved a lot, if I may say so. I have no resemblance with who I was then anyway.

It was an almost surreal feeling sitting there with all the old classmates I hadn’t seen in such a long time. 10 years ago these people where my world, the ones I shared every day with. Then we graduated and I never saw them again, until now. Now we’re both old friends but at the same time complete strangers. Even if most of them looked and seemed the same so many things have changed. Back then we were just kids and now we’re suddenly adults, with jobs and kids and cars and all that. It was so weird…

I just regret not bringing a camera, I hope I can get a hold of some photos through Facebook or something.
And I look forward our next reunion, but I don’t even wanna think bout how old I’ll be then…