My Shoes

I had my last pair of athletic shoes for 4 years. In the 8 months I have been here my new pair is almost as worn out as the pair they replaced. I am going to blame the 7 weeks of international travel where I have walked all day every day in almost exclusively them. Possibly also the month where I only wore them because they felt best for my ankle injury. Maybe also winter before I got my snow boots and the ice was too bad to wear my uggs. Also every day at practicum for 2 semesters... Anyways, the moral of this story is that I walk all the time and these shoes have saved my life.

My shoes have gone to Denmark, Sweden (x4), England, Switzerland, Germany (x3), Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, England, France, Italy, and Estonia. Tomorrow my shoes leave for Turkey and then the Czech Republic. Maybe my shoes are falling apart because they realize that this trip symbolizes the end of study abroad. This is the last big adventure they are going to be taking and they feel like there is nothing left for them in America. Why should my shoes want to go back to California when everything they have experienced here has been so magical and life changing? My shoes only have 3 more weeks of school left after they get back, and only 4 more weeks in Denmark. My shoes have a big stamp on them that say "Made in USA," but maybe they do not feel American anymore. Maybe they like public transportation and eating sandwiches with a knife and fork. Maybe my shoes can't imagine going back to a high stress environment and teaching children who have been drained of creativity and pumped full of rules. Maybe my shoes should be falling apart. Maybe falling apart is the only defense my shoes have left to the utter frustration that they have to leave and there is nothing they can do about it. Then again, they are only shoes.