Impending summer

Ah, June. School is coming to a close, the air is warm and soft, teenagers get especially restless, and anticipation is mixed with dread as exams loom on the calendar. I remember this feeling so well from my time as a student, and it's a bit odd to be back inside it as a teacher. Exams for me now are not something to worry about, but something to administer (though there is a touch of dread, as I do the speaking exams, and it can be somewhat tedious to sit and listen for hours every day and maintain interest. Nevertheless, if any of my students do read this, I am paying attention, I swear.), my hormone levels settled down a while ago, and summer is not the unrestrained freedom it used to be.
But there is that sense of ending, mingled relief and regret, bittersweet and delicious. I will have more time to myself this summer, to do some traveling, but I will miss many of my students, and while I may see some next year, there's no guarantee. The pubs and cafes have put tables outside again, so I can sit in the sun with a coffee or beer, one of the things I most enjoy about Europe, but my friend and conversational companion, Patrick, is returning to the US in a few weeks, so who will I sit with? Back home, my family is celebrating a wedding and saying goodbye to my grandfather. Politically the primaries are moving into high gear and Bush is making farewell gestures already.
Nonetheless, I will think about the good stuff. Like wearing my Hawaiian shirts in appropriate weather again. (I wear them all through the winter, but I get more looks then.) Sandals, instead of boots or shoes. Open windows and late sunsets. Summer thunderstorms and hot, lazy Sunday afternoons. The near-weightless feeling of my bag without textbooks and photocopied exercises. Adventures to be had, history to be discovered, new friends to make. It's a good month, June.