# Paying Homage to your Past



## Asriel (Oct 6, 2015)

I've had the fortune to have not lived in the same place my whole life, nor gone to the same school (or system) either. I've met many new people and have fallen out of touch with countless more... but recently I came back for a visit.

I met my old 4th-6th grade teacher, who's now the principle of the school I used to go to. She remembered me for my addiction to LEGO products and gave me a tour of the enhanced school grounds, as well as caught me up with one of my old school counselors.

That very same day I stopped by an old day care I used to go to, one that was run out of a house. The elder woman who ran it was still kicking and still very lively and healthy, she looked exactly the same as she used to back when I used to go their after and before school.

These people I regard as widely responsible for a lot of my personal and individual growth in adolescence, where I met many friends and celebrated many seasons and festivities. It had been over a decade since I'd seem them last and, to say the least, my visit was both a mix of nostalgia and catharsis; it was refreshing to relive -even for a moment- some of that glistening childhood memory.

So tell me Country Club: have any of you gone on these types of homages or pilgrimages of your youth? Whether it be places or people, have you taken the time to visit them and see how they're doing or even if they remember you? And would you consider it an important crossroad or journey to eventually partake in your own life?


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## baconbits (Oct 6, 2015)

I sometimes go to my old neighborhood but every time I do that I have the weirdest dreams.


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## Roman (Oct 6, 2015)

It would be nice if I had the capacity tbh. I may be able to visit my boarding school in France, but what I'd really like is to revisit Jeddah as it was the place where I experienced the most drastic changes in my youth. As of now, tho, that's impossible for what I believe are obvious reasons. As far as my childhood goes, I do visit my hometown very often. Being a small town, I see the old school I used to go to (or what's left of it) and sometimes pass by the kindergarten/elementary school I went to. Sadly, all the teachers I knew there are gone either because they moved to another school/church or outright passed away.


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## Catamount (Oct 6, 2015)

I hate the district where I lived. I was not bullied, nothing like that, but I have my reasons. Please no more. I've been there some time ago and... Nothing. Changed. At all. Die fuckers, no more of that shit.

I once tried to visit my school, but failed lol

I really really don't care for graduates meetings. At all.


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## kire (Oct 6, 2015)

I grew up in a small town and left as soon as I graduated..but I go back every week to visit my parents.  I have seen online that my old art teacher from 15 years ago is still teaching.  I would like to go and see her, but I know the question of, "So what have you done all this time?" will come up and I dread that question..cause the answer is not a damn thing.

Its funny, but when I go back home, and it will always be home, I don't recognize anyone.  Which is kinda a good thing.  Its now a fast growing town and traffic can be a nightmare, but when I am at my parent's house, and the neighborhood church bells ring at the top of the hour, I know I'm home.


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## mechaBD (Oct 6, 2015)

I actually live in the same town I grew up in so I get to see it change daily. I have not gone back to my old schools or anything but I'm active in my community and I see old friends, teachers and co workers everywhere I go.  

I love my town but I have always thought of moving somewhere else. I need a change but I also love the community where I live in now. Sometimes I feel like I am missing out because I hardly ever travel.


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## Asriel (Oct 6, 2015)

mechaBD said:


> Sometimes I feel like I am missing out because I hardly ever travel.


I can assure you that travel isn't all it's chalked up to be. That said, there _are_ places worth visiting, but they're few and far between. Definitely no place a normal household could sustain a living at least. 

Being in an unrecognizable atmosphere with new culture by yourself can be a pretty tough experience. Most of the time you'll be too busy figuring out your life (or what to do) than to sit down and enjoy anything, so take pride in having a familiar face or scene to pass by; sometimes it's the small things that we treasure more than we realize that are taken for granted.


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## Roman (Oct 6, 2015)

mechaBD said:


> Sometimes I feel like I am missing out because I hardly ever travel.



Eh, as someone who's been around the world throughout his childhood, I can assure you there are pros and cons to both lifestyles. I can assure you, there are reasons to consider it better to grow up in a single place, namely the fact that you can establish more lasting relationships and friendships with other people. Moving around all over the place actually set me back in being socially aware and able to establish strong relationships. As a result, I can literally count the number of real friends I have with one finger. That is changing somewhat now, but at 28 years old, you'd expect more. That's a big pro in favor of living in one place for most of your life imo.


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## Asriel (Oct 6, 2015)

baconbits said:


> I sometimes go to my old neighborhood but every time I do that I have the weirdest dreams.


Heh, I get dreams like that too. I think it's because I'm focusing too strongly on my feelings of nostalgia or anxiety over approaching it.

On a somewhat related note, it almost felt like I was in a dream when I walked around the halls of my old school. Almost to the point where I felt dizzy, it was strange.


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## Kikyo (Oct 6, 2015)

My primary school buried a time capsule when I was in first grade to be opened in 2000. I went back for that. It was fun. Got to see a bunch of old classmates and spent the day hanging out at the school and elsewhere. it was fun. 

My high school is doing it's 150th anniversary this year. If I could have afforded it (plane fare is too much $$$ for my budget now), I would have gone in a sec.


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## heartsutra (Oct 7, 2015)

Yup, I enjoy nostalgia trips.

My parents still live in the same city where I went to high school. Whenever I visit them, I'd take a walk through the city, just to check out the places I liked to frequent when I lived there. The changes are very noticeable. Considering I've been gone for barely 4 years, it feels like a ton has changed. My art teacher in high school is someone who influenced me greatly. About one year after I graduated, she contacted me and invited me to go visit an art fair with her. I think of her once in a while and wonder if she's doing well. We haven't talked in years.

A while ago I visited my birth town. It's very, very nostalgic to walk down streets and pass by places you used to play or spend time at with family, friends or schoolmates. Unfortunately this place is half a ghost town now. My elementary school performed a fusion dance with another elementary school and moved to a different place, I think. The streets are the same but different people inhabit the houses, new stores superseded the ones I know from childhood. We used to have a lot of family friends living there but they've all moved away.


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## aiyanah (Oct 7, 2015)

i go to the places but i never go inside 
it's too scary 
why would they remember me anyway lol


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## Asriel (Oct 7, 2015)

aiyanah said:


> i go to the places but i never go inside
> it's too scary
> why would they remember me anyway lol


That's how I felt too honestly. Too afraid to go inside on _many_ occasions. And I told myself that they wouldn't remember me either. I mean, thousands of individuals must've passed through those school doors since I left, what makes me so special? 

Ironically, they did. And I was pleasantly surprised. Can't vouch that it will always be that way, or for everyone, but when it hits home it really feels welcoming and I'm happy I took the opportunity.


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## Roman (Oct 8, 2015)

Some people I knew in my middle school can still recognize me to this day. What's hilarious isn't that they can recognize me. It's that some of them are those who're directly responsible for the school building to fall into disuse and even hazardous after they blew up the central heating system


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## Pineapples (Oct 11, 2015)

I visited my high school two times since graduating. The first time was within a year of graduation. The experience was very enjoyable. I met my teachers and underclassmen (who were now juniors and seniors). A few were particularly interested in advice concerning college applications. Some had already been accepted to college while others were frantically sending in their applications. Then I remembered my own relief when I had gotten past that process. I'm still friends with a couple of those guys, and its really intriguing to see them start their own careers.

The second time was three years after graduation. That was an eerie experience. The teachers were still there and lively as ever. But by that time, all the students I knew had already graduated. The halls felt so different without familiar faces. That was when I realized that the halls and classrooms had lost that a bit of their warmth. I probably won't visit again unless there is a class reunion happening at or near the school.


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## Yak (Oct 13, 2015)

I had a class meeting last year since its been close to 15 years since I finished school. Before we hung out at a restaurant and talked we were visiting the old school building. It's officially shut down, some independed organizations and clubs have rented individual rooms for meetings and stuff but overall the school building itself is sorta abandoned. Part of its large basement is used like a warehouse, too. 

It was very strange visiting it. So many memories, they even kept the wall with the school's students' achievements and records in sports and other subjects (I have one, too). Very nostalgic but also in a way incredibly creepy atmosphere. Sadly none of our old teachers could come, would've been cool.


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## EJ (Oct 13, 2015)

There's no way I really can.

I haven't really grown up with any real friends through out the years due to moving around a lot, and I don't really keep in contact with a lot of members with my family. It's dysfunctional on both sides and it's just a negative history to an extent, although most of them can speak with each other no issues.

I can visit certain households I used to live in as a kid, but the neighborhoods have changed, friends moved from those areas, and yeah..

I could contact my best friend in middle school. I heard he was getting into some trouble when we talked on the phone years ago but I haven't heard from him since I believe we were in High School.


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## Nep Nep (Oct 13, 2015)

I went back to Miami a while back as you know, where I grew up for half my life basically.  

I was surprised how happy they were to see me, I underestimated how many bonds I had created there and how strong they were.


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## Solar (Oct 13, 2015)

I visited my middle school a few years ago, but apart from that I haven't done any reminiscing and trips like that since then.


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## Tarot (Oct 14, 2015)

My grammar and middle schools have all been demolished, and my old high school is too far away.


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## Yoona (Oct 14, 2015)

I lived in an area owned by an oil company that was out in the forest because my dad was an employee. Pretty much in the middle of nowhere cause it was only 20 ppl living in that area. I go there a lot because the family doctor I see is in that area. 

I saw my preschool teacher last year. She is retired, she cant believe how I grew since she last saw me.

High school no.


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## ЯƎWO⅃ᖷ (Oct 15, 2015)

I went to three different high schools in different parts of the world. It would be cool to go back and visit some countries- but there really isn't a need for it since I have been able to keep in touch with all my friends (and they move a lot too). 

Other than that- going to places I visited on holidays with my parents is always nostalgic. There's this one city we used to go to every summer in Denmark- I thought it was huge growing up and really busy. Went back a couple of months ago- and realized it's really a sleepy little town. The world just seemed like a bigger place to me as a kid, I guess.


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