Remember me?

Sorry everyone, I haven’t been doing much lately. I’ve been finishing school stuff and packing up, all while getting hit with some serious stomach sickness, which has not been fun.

Last weekend, me and the boys made it to Forli, about 2 hours north, to the Es Game of Skate.

I lost, first round, to some fucking euro with every fucking caballerial variation. It was stupid anyway. I’d hate to get a fair game in at any time in the near future.

On the way back, we drove down a winding, thin road on the side of the mountains at night and in the pouring rain with no operational headlights, forced to follow another car using hi-beams. I’ve never been so absolutely sure of death in my life. Seriously. Then I got real sick, with the shits and everything and had to take some exams and write a paper, which was not fun.

So, I’m trying to think about how to wrap this up, as I sit in my now near-empty apartment and attempt to finish packing. And I know that, despite my constant writing, people are still going to be obnoxious assholes and ask me how it was, what my final thoughts on the past 4 months are. Due to Kosta’s laziness, there’s also a good chance that you will have seen me around a long time before this ever gets online and I’ll have to answer all your questions anyway.

To be honest, I’m glad I came here. I’ve bitched and moaned, and a lot of the time it was pretty frustrating, but a lot of people wind up going through life without knowing what’s going on outside of their own comfort zone. Look at your neighborhood and think of all the people that have been there since childhood, with lawn chairs out on the sidewalks during the summer. And don’t forget about those neighborhood kids that sit on the same stoop and watch you leave your house every day to go skate. They’re trapped in their own bubble without any real hope of getting out. Comfort can dictate life frighteningly easily. I know the same does not bode for you, my lovely audience, because we’re skateboarders. We’re different from everyone else. We see the world in strange light. It’s in our nature to keep moving, keep looking, keep trying, and that’s why I’m telling you all right now, if you have a chance to go outside of your world and see something new or foreign, to skate something you’re not particularly used to skating, do anything that changes your perspectives, do it. And don’t fucking pussyfoot it. Try as hard as you can to adapt. The worst that can happen is that you hate it, and then at least you know never to do it again. But there’s a good chance you all knew that anyway. I just wanted to make sure.

To talk about my case specifically, I’m just not a big fan of this city for any more than a week at a time. I could, and probably will, come back one day. The food is good, and there’s a lot of cool shit to see, but after all that, what do you do? If you do plan on doing a program like study abroad, make sure you do some research and know that it’s the type of place that will suit you. Don’t listen to those obnoxious girls with an “open mind” when they come back from Europe talking about “how absolutely breathtaking it is” and how “it’s just amazing” or saying that “I can’t describe it with words.” People who use phrases like that should have been used for stem cell research and are not capable of being genuine with you. You should know what you want out of it and you should know what kind of place would make you happy.

For the record, the NYU in Florence program is probably the worst thing ever invented. It’s small and isolated on some fucking hill in the middle of fucking nowhere and filled with the type of people that make you wonder how it’s possible their parents got away with being first cousins. The members of the administration have also undergone several lobotomies and manage to do absolutely jack shit to help you along, either out of ineptitude or because they’re too busy being outwardly fake pricks. Eat a fistful of pubes, assholes.

HEY NYU, I’M NOT GOING OUT OF MY WAY TO DO YOUR FUCKING EVALUATION SHEET. WHY DON’T YOU GO OUT OF YOUR WAY AND READ MY FUCKING ARTICLE?

I’m not really bitter about it, to be completely honest. I just never got a real chance to voice my opinion.

So, it’s all over now. I skated some cool shit, ate some good food, and met some good friends in the process. I also learned a lot about what I need in life, and I’m very, very happy to be going back to it. I’m from New York and I’m proud. Fuck your city.

Shout Outs: Mura, Checco, Bambi, Squeet, Michele, Ghigo, Mass, and the rest of the Firenze Skate Crew, Kosta, Weiss, Pryce, Ty, Mooney, Gigliotti, Melons, Ben, and anyone else I forgot in the Quartersnacks family, Supreme, my parents, Hannah, Alexandra, Elena, Manon, Lejla, the Boyans, Caroline, and anyone else that helped me out and wasn’t a total douchebag.

Thank you

I’ll see you on the streets,
Isak Buan