July 2, 2009

The Next Step

Yesterday I booked our tickets to return to Hanoi on August 8. For $2100, we received two one-way tickets and a mixed bag of emotions. You would think that lots of goodbyes would be offset by lots of hellos, but it's always a tough transition. Side by side with the excitement of seeing old friends, returning to work, and getting back in time for the fall semester (just like so many of us have prayed), is the realization that we've been spoiled by so much time with friends and family in this country. It will be hard to say, "See you next time."

And then, there's the 32-hour trip itself, the nagging thought that something might go wrong to complicate things or delay us again, and the knowledge that we'll have a lot of readjusting to do after being away for six months. But, all in all, we're very glad to have a date set to return to what we've been called to.

Nancy will finish her radiation therapy around July 23. We'll have a couple of weeks to rest up, pack up, and hang out with the kids and grandkids before arriving in Hanoi a couple weeks before our first official responsibilities. That will give us time to get over jet lag and meet new teammates. I might even be able to get my teaching schedule early! It will be good to be back.

2 comments:

  1. Welcome back David! We all miss you. Hope you & Nancy enjoy the new traffic system here...(Mr Nguyen Tan Dung made it for you as he knew you would come back ^^) . It's now very hot, temperatures in Hanoi sometimes reaches a high of 40 degrees Celsius, I hope it would get cooler in August.. It's great to see you again

    ReplyDelete
  2. Get your teaching schedule early? Good luck! I like the new look and am glad to hear that tickets have been booked. I will continue lifting you up during this time of even more transition. It never ends, does it?

    ReplyDelete