After Finals

In Madison, every semester, there is a phenomena which I call After Finals. Quite obvious for anyone who has ever attended a college town.

For those who don't know anything about Madison and Wisconsin in general, let me be your intro person, which I shall do so gladly. Madison is a mid size city in the Mid-West that happens to have University of Wisconsin-Madison in it. It is in short a college town that is a rare find in the U.S. Public transportation and biking are prevalent in Madison. Streets are built to grant easy access to both, without endangering the cyclists and forgetting pedestrians. We love cheese and beer here. We also have thousands of lakes, parks, recreational activities and are community based. Most neighborhoods are safe, people are friendly, coffee is always good and mostly a lot of intellectuals reside in Madison. There of course are about fifty thousand students living, working, studying in Madison.

Students pretty much have invaded anywhere in Madison-Downtown. Not that it's a bad thing at all. The only drawback is that, when the finals are over and especially in Spring, it's like the downtown has turned into a mini village, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Now that finals are over and summer has officially begun in Madison with the great weather we have been having here, there are minimal number of students left (this is not to say that there are no students left, there are plenty of students still living in Madison during the summer) and it feels a little empty, nostalgic and a little sad.

I am used to seeing the streets of Madison booming with students from Undergrad to Post.Doc. and everythingin between. The crazy drunken nights, the bars that are filled to full capacity, the restaurants that are always busy, the Memorial Union that never ceases to amaze me with the number of guests it can hold.

Well, till July, then students will slowly begin to return :)