The Acceleration Of My Merry- Go- Round (III)

The Acceleration Of My Merry- Go- Round (III) - Okay, as mentioned earlier, around the age of 18, I began to notice that time was in fact not so stagnant as I had been used to perceiving it. Overall, however, it was still dragging on way too long. Honestly, I could not wait to finally be all done with those eight years of High School since I still did not like it. Sure enough, over time, I had caught up with my peers language- wise, and even my grades had well settled somewhere around average. Nevertheless, I so badly yearned for the start of a brand- new chapter in life. Until then, though, there was still a great deal for me to accomplish, and as far as time went, well, it appeared to just not be passing quickly enough for me back in the mid 80s. For instance, those three months of prep studies for my Highschool graduation exam seemed painstakingly endless. After that intense period, I needed to dig my heels in just once more to get ready for TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) which was absolutely imperative to go on studying at any university across the North American continent. I had been given the opportunity to live with some Canadian relatives in Vancouver, BC and attend one of the two local universities. Again, it was going to take forever to receive any written notification regarding my test results in the mail (not for nothing called snail mail). Long story short, against all expectations, I ended up staying only three months on the Canadian West Coast, but those ninety days truly appeared to be lasting for a whole eternity. Anyway, once I was back home safe, I simply could not comprehend what it actually meant to be looking onto several years of university life ahead of me in the south of my country. After all, time had still not lost much of its generally leaden impression which was probably why I was ultimately just drifting along with it. Today, I can say that I absolutely loved all those long academic years and that I truly enjoyed every single moment of it. Those were inarguably the best years of my life simply because I lived all by myself for the very first time ever, took my time studying what I had chosen, went to countless parties, met a gazillion of people, made lots of friends, and because I basically didn't have to worry about much except getting all my ducks in a row regarding my certificates and graduating at last. Afterwards, I stayed on in Graz and among other things completed my teaching internship which only lasted from October through May. Since I had nothing other than a bike at that time and that school was far away, I depended on public transport in the first place. Oh, my! I just couldn't help feeling I was wasting all that endless time on multiple buses twice a day and three times a week. In my spare time, I would be on my bike, no matter where I was going, and even though, I really liked it, all those trips quickly grew on me as endless ways as well. Anything, be it periods of intense studies, sports events, exams, train- rides, dentist's visits, teaching, coaching, occasionally even parties and, yes, also heartbreaks created the illusion of lasting for quite some time. This is what it felt 20 to 25 years ago. After my internship, I spent almost two years giving private tuition and pursuing all sorts of odd jobs, all under the table, because I was officially registered as unemployed. Needless to say, that stretch gave me the feeling that it would never come to an end, either. When it had after all, I was anticipating just more of all that familiar endlessness in the wake of my first counseling job on the books. Although I only worked there from August till the end of January, I could have sworn I had been with that team much longer than just six months. Back then, I felt completely timeless regardless of my age and consequently perceived myself much younger. Not much changed when at age 31 I finally returned to my home province to take on a steady full- time teaching job. Playtime was finally over by then, and life had begun to show a more serious side. - Did I mention that only 11 years prior I just could not wait to turn twenty at last? Thirty was not a hassle yet as I was still taking both, time and age in youthful strides. By the time my forties were approaching, I admittedly had acquired a somewhat different outlook on time, in general. Suddenly, I would give quite a bit to be able to turn back the hands of time. At 50 it began to hit me in as much as I understood that I had to accept that time was about to outrun me after all. - Part IV follows next week.