I've been feeling very tired recently, particularly over the past week or so. In an attempt to describe (to my self) how I was feeling the phrase "socially exhausted" immediately came to my mind. I don't wish to take credit for the creation of this phrase, I'm sure someone before me has thought of it at some point though it's not one I've ever heard before. It just seems so brilliant at describing what I'm feeling.
On Monday (the 17th of September) I "celebrated" my two year anniversary of starting my flying training here in Spain. Two years. It's a long time! And well I guess it's only natural that I look back to what has happened and what I've achieved in those two years. I think it's safe to say "A LOT!". But whilst I feel I've described my flying progress and achievements in this blog and elsewhere, I want to talk about social achievements.
This is meant to be a 14 month intensive course, working five to six days a week for 60 weeks. So it's only natural that people come and go very quickly here, and with a new course arriving pretty much every month, that's a lot of people! So when I arrived here two years ago, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, my first task was to get to know everyone (or as many as I could). And I did.
The courses that were just on their way out, with a couple of months left or less were in general not interested in the newbies. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel and were sprinting out of the blue gates here as fast as they could. But I got to know people that were about nine or so courses ahead of me. By the next month we were no longer the newbies as new people rolled in. Not long after the few friends I'd made in the upper courses began to leave and more and more courses arrived. With each departure of a friend came the task of keeping in touch, something aided by facebook but never the less a rather futile endeavour. And with each new arrival came the task of making new friends.
I think it would be reasonable to assume that the friends that left would be replaced by the new ones that arrived. And I guess in many ways they are. But the fact of the matter is that the memories of the older ones remain, and you create new memories and relationships with the new ones without fully getting rid of the old ones. This is where I risk going off my rocker and rambling incoherently so I'll stop. In summary I'm tired of meeting new people. So many new people come through here so regularly that I just can't keep up. I'm maxed out!
This has resulted in me being reluctant to go to the bar because I just don't have the energy for it any more. I'm mentally and physically exhausted. And when I do go, I just drink myself silly because it's easier to drink than to socialise properly. This could be a temporary feeling as I volunteered to look after the new course as their student mentor and that's a very taxing affair. I hope it passes. But I just wanted to write this.
