Our own private continental drift

Last night the movers came to give an estimate for moving our belongings from Ankara to Houston.

The decision to go back to the US for an indefinite period was in the making for quite a while, but we had thought of the move as a hiatus, taking a break after nine years here. We're leaving the school here in Ankara on very good terms (if they can forgive me for leaving) --  good enough in fact that they're holding the door open for us to return. Still, the ideas for a relationship during the interim never took shape, so we're doing the practical thing and moving on.

Today is the last day of school, and I said goodbye to a few of the students. I'll still be at work until mid-August, so I'm not saying goodbye to anyone else just yet. And there is still that thought of coming back in a year. But walking through our home with the movers yesterday, and saying goodbye to students today, reveal small fissures that will soon look like the Rift Valley.

This will be our fourth international move as a family in the last 20 years, so we've become familiar with upheaval: simultaneously feeling expectation and loss, losing the context that once defined you, but gaining the freedom to redefine yourself. Seeing new mountains and canyons appear out of nowhere. Discovering oceans where there used to be land. Redrawing the maps.

Hello, chaos. We meet again.

Comments

[Jake]

Hey Tom.

Personal question (feel free to e-mail me the answer.) What's the transcontinental move going to set you back? What's it cost to move a house-full of stuff from Turkey to the USA? I've always wondered (especially when I wonder if Rana and I will ever be living in my home country.

[Scott Merrick]

Hey, very fun, that redefinition, as I dimly recall. My condolences for the move to Houston, though it may well be a very nice place: I just remember it as big and flat and sprawled. I'll get to see it soon, tagging on a couple days fishing with my Houston based brother after NECC2008 in San Antonio, though. I wish you safe travel, positive redefinitions, and many more blog posts. Funny how things connect over the internet...I was sent to your blog by a Skype message from my friend JRo in Wisconsin, who thought it would be of interest to me because of the music connection, the seeking attitudes, and the love of learning. I see all of that here and am looking forward to staying tuned. Safe passage...and if you get into Second Life, look for Scottmerrick Oh at ISTE Island :)