. . . and yet again. Friends of ours are leaving. They found out 4 weeks ago and are moving back to Germany. Yes, you read that right. In 4 weeks time, they found out, packed their entire house and will be getting on a plane Monday to move to another country. So no more complaining about your moves, people. Their son is one of Josh's buddies (in fact he is one of the boys that was in the pic in the last post). I found my boyo crying one morning this week. When I asked him why, he said he was really going to miss Marcus. Last year at the end of the school year, Becca said goodbye to 4 friends. Another of our friends might be moving this summer. They don't know yet. I know this is just the nature of living in the expat community. People are always coming and going. The great thing is that new families are also moving in, but part of me just gets grumpy. Do I have to say goodbye again? And then on the other side of that equation, do you have to get to know another group of people only to say goodbye yet again in a year or two?
Please, don't misunderstand me. We absolutely love living here and cannot imagine moving back right now. BUT. . . I just don't want all my friends to move away either. [sigh] We have friends who have lived here for 10+ years. When they meet new people, they ask them straight out how long that family plans to live in China. If you answer anything less than 3 years, they just might spend less time with you. While that seems extreme, I can see their point. But the optimist in me, she just can't help it. She still reaches out and wants to get to know people. But for today, I am just going to wallow in my grumpy for a while. I am ignoring my optimist. She might be back tomorrow.
Maybe.
Poor Josh! It's hard enough to say goodbye to your own friends, but I'm sure it's heartbreaking to see your kids go through it. At least we know that when we say goodbye to you guys we'll see you again in a year! (Which we're SO looking forward to, by the way.) :)
ReplyDelete