Lasting Friendships

Good Lord I needed that. It was excellent to go out with Joel and Conan again. Ostensibly it was to study, but in the end we took a heck of a lot of breaks just to do some catching up, and it's really cool how though we've got all these new and different experiences between us, we can still pick up where we left off. Alongside the new stuff we were talking about our old antics during CAP last year, and even before that when we were still in the same class. Somehow or other these friendships have found a way to divorce their existence from the existence of the circumstances that had given rise to them.

I shall not analyse it too much. Enough for me that it all seems so solid and so right. Digging deeper might reduce the magic and the substantiality, and even the credibility. Right now I will not question how deeply our friendships go, and I will only say that it is convincing enough for me. No point philosophising about it when the situation's right in front of you. And anyway, nowadays, I've learned to grab on to any constancy you can find.

It's interesting to see how our experiences are still intersecting, too. Joel was talking about his trip to Mongolia, which sounds a lot like Bangkok, except with more guys and juniors. The brand of camaraderie you get under those circumstances is very different from what is available when girls are around, but beyond that, there was also that excitement at exploring an unknown place with only a group of friends and no further supervision. It's surprising for me to discover how many common points we still share, in this and the other bits that we raised. Indeed, he puts some of my notions in better terms, I think.

Once again, my admiration and, well, sheer respect for them is reawakened. Down-to-earth people, not simple by a long shot but frank. People like these, friendships like these, you don't come across everyday. Heck, I can't really express it well, do it enough justice. Maybe it's just as well. It's a sort of feeling of security and general goodwill and trust that I feel is unique only to relationships among boys. Despite allegations of gender equality and all that claptrap, there are certain things that just cannot be directly translated when it comes to girls. And after today, I think it's a good thing. Some things should remain uniquely male.

But yeah...it was a rare pleasure to get together with these old friends again. Looking forward to more such studying sessions in the weeks ahead =P I have a feeling that I'll be needing them to counterbalance the stresses of school. Hmph...and I do hope that our friendships will perpetuate. It will be cool to find ourselves in the same platoon next year, or even the same country for unis.

Those old friendships will remain special. 4N was something that will not happen again, I am convinced now. 1A is nice and familiar, but I expect it will not come up to par with the 4N experience. If I were to look for lasting friends, my old class is where I would look first. As for 1A, I hope there will be long term friendships, but I expect they will not be of the same sort. Though, as I was two years ago, I am still open to being surprised...

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In other news, got the photos in from development from the Bangkok Trip. They turned out much better than I expected, considering I was using film =P The scenery shots are really not bad. Somehow the film held out. Naturally I'll put some of them online, but right now, I just want to enjoy this nice little surprise, this culmination to a very good day.

pondered by phoenican @ 25.6.05