Good-byes / Aufwiedersehen

And so begin our good-byes, lots of them, in the next week and a half.

It actually began on Wednesday with Herr Reiter and Kids Club at the Salzburger Tennis Club. We're lucky that Nikolas discovered tennis last year at Pennington Day and that youth tennis here begins at age three and not at age four as it does at home. It has been a tremendous thing to watch Nikolas's language, physical, and social skills develop week-by-week at tennis. It has been something that we've looked forward to every week, and something that we will miss greatly.

This afternoon/evening was our last gathering with the students. The semester doesn't end until Tuesday, but the students will begin leaving over the weekend, and all must move out of their dorms - and thus will be scattered here and there - by day's end on Tuesday too. They brought back bags of stuff that they had taken at the beginning of the year; things that we will take down to the basement and leave behind for next year's crew. I remember our first gathering, the day that most students arrived back in September, and all the excited chatter about the year ahead. There was excitement at this gathering too, excitement for all those things that they've missed like driving cars and grocery stores that are open around the clock AND on Sundays and Mom & Dad's (free) washing machine, as well as some remorse that the US college summer is already half over and they are still getting those last assignments finished.

Step by step we are moving closer, and while I silently curse out the little old lady who cuts in front of me in line (and who, today, also happened to be a nun!)and look forward to leaving unfriendly people behind, I hate to say good bye.