Hello, goodbye....

The title of this Beatles hit epitomizes the state of our lives at this very moment. In this globetrekking lifestyle, every “hello” eventually leads to a “goodbye.” So it is that the month of June has become somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster of sorts, mostly for Thing 1 and myself, since Thing 2 is too young to understand and the Cat learned a long time ago not to make many close friends because you end up moving away in the end anyway.

The moving vans have arrived in Warsaw. Throughout the city, families are packing up, getting ready for a new adventure or repatriating to their home countries. In Thing 1's class alone there are 6 children who will not be returning next year. Between them, they are off to Singapore, Peru, Bulgaria, Spain and the USA. At the Embassy, it is a hectic month, trying to squeeze in last minute get-togethers before pack outs and moves. Last year, it was easy because we had only really known people for a few months and were not very close, but this year it is a bit different. It can only be compared to finishing college and wondering when or if you will see your friends again.

This interesting phenomena plays out in two ways: the closer it gets to moving time, the closer people tend to become and stretch out the goodbye part or knowing that the goodbyes are on the way, you shut yourself off from those that are leaving, hardening yourself a bit in order to sustain the blow. I am the former, Thing 1 is the latter. Already he told me, “I need to stop being friends with them before they go” almost as if controlling who ends the relationship will make it better. It doesn’t and we have had many talks about the importance of saying goodbye to avoid future regrets.

Out of the six children that are moving on, three were good friends to Thing 1. One of these classmates was what I like to call his “classroom wife.” Since day one, they rode the bus together, they were in the same class, they were inseparable, but also fought like an old married couple (hence the wife part). Their last play date is tomorrow. She moves to Peru over the weekend.

Today, I went to the school to help the teachers pull down the many projects that have graced the walls over the year. As I walked in, the children were working on these rubber band puzzles where they stretch rubber bands to create different things. This was the same puzzle that they worked on their first day of kindergarten. I couldn’t help but wonder where the year went.
Lockers and cubbies have been emptied. Projects from the past year fill take home folders. On Friday, all those kindergarteners will walk out of their classrooms and board their buses as incoming first graders until their first “hello” this fall.

As for me, my group of friends has remained largely intact, but that could change at any time. I find it easier to say goodbyes to US friends who I will likely run into in Washington at some point in time. In a way, it’s more like “see you later. “ It is the international community that is more difficult to part with. Culturally, these friends have added so much to my own life that I will truly miss our conversations and exchanges. I can only hope to see them again in the future. Thanks to online communities (for better or worse) keeping in touch is a click away.