If you grew up in a small town, odds are you have that one friend you've been close with since kindergarten, and you're still inseparable. You've known them for years, and you've made countless memories. But for some, a friend of a lifetime comes from 5,000 miles away.
The character "Fes" from That 70's Show is a comical foreign exchange student that has silly misunderstandings of our customs and attempt to go along makes him stand out more. Even so, an actor on TV and a real person are two totally different things.
You shyly start out with casual small talk, wanting to know them mainly out of curiosity. You want to know where they're from, their culture, and of course, hear their cool foreign accent. You could spew out questions forever, intrigued about their exotic lifestyle.
Soon, you really get to know them. They're now just considered another classmate, not just the new foreign exchange student, but officially part of your little small-school family. You go on adventures together, living through high-school, having laughs. It really is astonishing how someone you have so much in common with has been living half a world away. In the huge web of possibilities, of all the schools they could have gone to, of all the students you could have been given, your paths managed to cross.
The end of the year is coming up fast. The impending doom of the deadline of your time together is tugging at your thoughts, but you shove it to the back of your mind, smothering the pang of sadness with the joy of the memories you're creating. You feel like you could spend forever in that moment, smiling and bathing the seconds with your new beloved friend.
As much as you've been digging in your heels, and hoping for time to slow, it has arrived. School is over, and summer is here. You're overwhelmed with the relief of school being out, and the angst of your friend's final days with you.
The feeling is bittersweet. With tear-filled eyes and a heavy heart, the moment you've been dreading is here. It's time to say goodbye. You've made a once in a lifetime friend, shared your customs with each other, and had a chance to teach and learn from someone originating from across an ocean. They may be leaving, but the cherished memories made will stay locked in your heart forever. They started out the exotic foreign exchange student, but grew to become one of your dearest companions. This is not goodbye, this is see you later. You're glad to have had a lifetime's worth of friendship compressed into a handful of months, and you wouldn't take back a single second. You give them best wishes and safe travels, and send them on their way. May their memories last forever in their heart, for you know they will in yours.
