Now, my time here in Toronto has ended. It’s truly a bittersweet moment. I’m looking forward to going home to my friends and whānau in New Zealand, meat pies, and my beloved wicked wings. But as excited as I am to return, it’s hard not to feel the weight of goodbye.
Leaving the people I’ve met along this journey is the hardest part. In just a few months, they’ve gone from strangers to friends who feel like family. We’ve shared laughter, late-night study marathons, travel adventures, and more than a few moments of chaos. And now we’re scattering across countries, continents, and time zones.
Saying goodbye this time hits differently. This isn’t just “see you after the break”. It might actually be goodbye, forever? That’s the wild part about exchange. You build this whole little life somewhere, pour your energy into friendships, routines, and memories, and then you must let it go. It’s surreal thinking about how long it might take to see any of them again. Some are just a few hours away… others are more than a day’s journey from Aotearoa. But I know this experience, and these people will stay with me no matter where we all end up.
In the last few days, I visited my favourite places one last time. It feels different now, quieter, more reflective. I walk past the familiar streetcars, the campus cafés and libraries where I “studied” more yap and lore than papers, and the uni buildings that once felt so big and intimidating but now just feel like part of my story. I’ll miss the frozen sidewalks, the way the CN Tower always helped me reorient when I was lost, the chaotic TTC, and the cold that physically hurt but kind of bonded everyone.
After exams, life shifted gears fast. I swapped caffeine-fuelled study sessions for coast-to-coast travel with my parents, hopping from the buzzing streets of New York to the political heart of Washington D.C., the mountain air of Denver, the neon chaos of Vegas, and the palm-lined sprawl of Los Angeles. Each city had its own kind of magic, but a part of me kept comparing them all to Toronto, the place that started it all. As much as I enjoyed the trip, it also marked the slow goodbye, the quiet realization that this chapter was closing. Seeing the world with my parents by my side was special, but the heart of this whole experience still beat back in Toronto.
Who knew I was this sentimental of a person? Because I didn’t.
Now, I’ve returned to Auckland with my suitcases a little heavier (and my wallet a lot lighter).
Ka kite anō, until we meet again 🩷