So the other day I was talking with Ian and mentioned that this move and home leave feels different than all the rest. He pointed out an interesting note - this is the first "normal" move we'll do. Every circumstance in the Foreign Service is an "it depends" moment - how do I get my 3 cats from point A to point B? It depends. Will I be able to buy a car at my next post? It depends. What school should I apply to? It depends. What training do I need? It depends. Everything ends with "it depends." And with all our moves, we've had a lot of "it depends" simply because none of them have been "normal" moves (quotes because there's no move that's a normal move, but, whatever).
Between Manila and Togo we had 6 months in the States for French for Ian. Home leave was wrapped into those 6 months.
Togo to Chennai was a direct move with no home leave between. We took home leave a year later for our round-the-world trip. Left and returned to Chennai.
From Chennai we went to the States. Took our home leave, moved into our house, stayed there for 3 years.
Here in Amman, we extended a year so 2 years into our tour we took our home leave. Left and returned to Amman.
This time, we're packing up the house, doing home leave in the States (4 weeks vacation, 2 weeks of class/consultations), then moving on to another foreign post.
It's a long period of transition whereas every other time we've moved from one relatively permanent place to the next relatively permanent place directly.
No wonder it feels weird, because it is weird. For us.
Between Manila and Togo we had 6 months in the States for French for Ian. Home leave was wrapped into those 6 months.
Togo to Chennai was a direct move with no home leave between. We took home leave a year later for our round-the-world trip. Left and returned to Chennai.
From Chennai we went to the States. Took our home leave, moved into our house, stayed there for 3 years.
Here in Amman, we extended a year so 2 years into our tour we took our home leave. Left and returned to Amman.
This time, we're packing up the house, doing home leave in the States (4 weeks vacation, 2 weeks of class/consultations), then moving on to another foreign post.
It's a long period of transition whereas every other time we've moved from one relatively permanent place to the next relatively permanent place directly.
No wonder it feels weird, because it is weird. For us.
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