Good Bye Pohnpei

Our time in Pohnpei has come to an end, how time flies and it has been 2 years since we arrived in the Garden Island of Micronesia or famous for Pohnpei.

It's time to pack our stuff and move on to the next journey, going back to Australia where I called second home. My first home still Indonesia, a place where I was born and grew up until 2009 when I decided to leave everything and follow Mr. Husband to his homeland.

When I married Mr. Husband I knew that my life won't be boring, we can move to anywhere in this globe where his office reside.

Pohnpei is my first posting but fourth postings for Mr. Husband. When I said yes, he can apply for Pohnpei I don't know what to expect, as not much information I can get from google but one thing strike me was the island remind me of my first home, Indonesia, the tropical weather, the green scenery and the people, well Micronesian and Indonesian are quite similar, dark brown skin and brown eyes.

We arrived in 9 September 2010 and yes the island reminds me of my home town (5 hours drive from Jakarta), I saw familiar trees along the road and in the compound.
I see sugar cane, casava, breadfruit, lemongrass, pineapple, coconut, papaya, soursap, banana, tumeric and even jambu or sour apple as Pohnpean called it, the main difference is rice/padi field, I don't see a single of rice field in Pohnpei, in fact there is no rice field anymore in Pohnpei not like in my home town where you will see rice field pretty much everywhere you look.

Last week the removalist have come and packed our stuff, the house is empty now. We live out of settling in kit and 3 suitcases among the 3 of us. The house feels different, mind you the physic still the same but the heart is different. Everywhere I look, I see empty shelves and empty cupboard, it feels weird and cold, it doesn't feel home anymore, it just feels empty.

The emptyness makes me ready to go but alas we can't go until tomorrow. Our succesor have arrived last Friday and they are ready to move in to the house and we are so ready to go, it's the last 2 weeks that feel dragging.

As in life, there is always ups and downs. I experienced both up and down in Pohnpei but nevertheles I enjoyed my 2 years here. I will miss the easy life, the beautiful scenery, the kind people that I met and I proudly I called friends now.

2 years is perfect for us, because most of our friends were arriving at the same time. We said good bye to some good friends who were finished in July and moved back to the United States but we still have some friends in the island. If we choose 3 years, we will be the last staying in Pohnpei and saying good bye to all of our friends, that would be really hard for us and making new friends is not easy.

I'm sure at the airport tomorrow, there will be tears, yes mostly mine. I guess it's normal to be emotional when you leave your home for 2 years, leave your friends behind and leave the memories that you built based on genuine friendships, laugh, anger and even tears. But life goes on, people move on, people saying good bye and welcome new comers, that is life as I know it.

Good bye Pohnpei, it's been a memorable 2 years for me, good and bad ones. I have formed new friends here and I will cherish the friendship and the memories.

The one that I will call home for now is Canberra, until we pack our stuff again and move somewhere and the cycle will continue.

I'm closing this chapter of my life and opening the new one. It's not the place that count but the people. No matter where you are if you have friends, you will enjoy it anyway.

Good bye Pohnpei, and hello again Canberra.