October Rocks

One of my coping mechanisms for living in Pakistan has been to assume that I was going to spend the rest of my life here. This seemed to make accepting the negative side of my circumstances a bit easier. However, a while back I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, its October which will be a momentous month for me as I complete my year with MSF in Pakistan and return to Canada. The following are some of my key dates for the
month:

Thursday, Oct. 5 – The NHL season begins.

Sunday, Oct 8 – One-year anniversary of the Kashmir earthquake.

Saturday, Oct. 14 – My replacement arrives in Pakistan. If not for the fact that Mario’s flight arrives early in the morning, I would have met him at the airport and even on the runway if they would let me.

Wednesday, Oct. 18 – It’s my birthday…but don’t tell anybody.

Wed/Thurs, Oct. 18/19 – 2007 Annual Plan meetings in Islamabad involving the full country management team. Perfect timing for Mario’s handover and a nice chance for me to socialize.

Friday, Oct. 20 – Farewell to Pakistan. Fly Islamabad to Amsterdam to Leeds, England – A weekend visit with Dennis & Jeanne and possibly others in Yorkshire (“God’s Country”). Great people, who I first met in my inaugural overseas adventure in 1982, and even more enjoyable after a day or so when I start to understand their accents and figure-out what they’re talking about.

Monday, Oct. 23 – Leeds to Amsterdam – I’m looking forward to spending a few final days here. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Amsterdam over the past few years and still enjoy it.

Tuesday, Oct. 24 – Debriefing day with MSF Holland in Amsterdam. This is a standard part of the end-of-mission process and involves meeting with a variety of people from different departments. It will be strange to say farewell to those I’ve had long-distance working relationships with over the past year, specifically in the finance and human resources departments.

Wednesday, Oct. 25 – After an absence of over one year I will be returning to Canada, although it is just to Toronto.

Thursday, Oct. 26 – Debriefing with MSF Canada in Toronto. Apparently, I have to put on an informal 30-minute “brown-bag lunch” presentation.

Friday, Oct. 27 – Spend the weekend in Toronto with Kevin, an old roomie from my days at UBC (and previously noted aficionado of rice paddies) and his family. Kevin works in sales for Labatt Breweries and should be able to help with my re-acclimatization to Canada. Apparently, we are going to North Bay on the Saturday evening for something called a Beer Dinner. Sadly, the Leafs and the Marlies are both on the road this weekend.

Monday, Oct. 30 – Fly to Vancouver…Mom, I’ll be a little late for dinner.

Tuesday, Oct. 31 – Halloween; …Canucks versus Nashville; …Begin the rest of my life.