...typing this while the rain outside is running down the window. I'm trying to make my way to the kids school for their very last day.

Our three year assignment is coming to an end and people keep asking how i feel. Honestly? I don't really feel anything. Ok, fine. I do. Rushed. I feel like we have been going at full speed from day one. And that's how I think its going to be until we leave. Running errands to the very last minute.

But as I sit here in this bus, rumbling away in traffic, I do realize it has been an amazing experience. We have come a long way from the clueless lao wai that arrived in June 2007. We are still foreigners but have come to learn why people walk backwards in parks, say Yes when they don't know, charge us ten times for (fill in the blank) over locals, pick up our kids on the street or insist on drinking hot milk over cold. Its still impossible to cross the street without fearing for your life, get a seat in the subway, eat drunken shrimp without your stomach complaining or have access to any website you want.

But we have also experienced the warmth and kindness of total strangers. Always ready to engage in a conversation even if it is simply where we come from. Kids have been welcomed in every restaurant or private event with open arms and never been seen as a bother even when at their loudest and worst behavior...I'm sure we will miss that.

So. We have less than a week to go. Between now and when the plane takes off, Raili and Kai will have to say bye to friends and teachers in school, I will need to pack my desk at work, we host visitors from France, say farewells to all friends and neigbors and fill up our suitcases.

Rushed. How to savor the moment before it's gone?