Countdown...

My daughter has started the countdown. Now she knows how many days remain before I show up the door. As a parent, I feel proud for two reasons. The first, she misses me and the second, she knows to count; it was investment on her education. It has been 8 months and I wanted to start a countdown as soon as I booked my tickets. The "cold snap" and the business of being involved in everything yet nothing has prevented me from doing it. 

Looking back, the last time I did a countdown was in 1997. A few days in Bern for the first overseas assignment, I was homesick. I wanted to go back home. I wrote the days remaining on text file and updated it every morning. When that was not fast enough, I reworked on the countdown and calculated the number of hours remaining. Luckily, that moved fast enough for me. If it did not, I would have moved on to minutes and then seconds. Like I said, I was homesick! It was a jinxed countdown. When the goal was within reach, they extended our stay by another one month. You can imagine my despair.

That experience with the countdown also had another effect on me. Now I'm prepared whenever I go for assignments, however short it is. Deep inside my mind, I know these can get extended. This also is one advice I give freely to anyone who flies to a different location for an assignment. Have an open mind with respect to the duration.



Comments

  1. Yes it is important to make the most of our time wherever we are. But it is always nice to go home.

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    1. It is the only on the first trip you feel homesick. It also prepares you very well for the subsequent ones. Now, there is no (home)sickness. But there is excitement on returning. :)

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  2. Thinking of countdown reminds me... as a kid i used to start the countdown for my next bday from the next morning of my present bday! :P

    Countdowns are a beautiful thing...

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    1. :) That is something. And you used to complete it versus abandon it in the middle?

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  3. Coming back home has its own excitement. Glad you are getting back to family. Till the next assignment..

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    1. This is only for a short vacation. 2 weeks and I'm back to Paris. :|

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  4. Wow! That is a news. Waiting for loved one makes us do many things.

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