What brought me back

In Prince Caspian (the book, of course), Lucy asks Aslan why he didn't just make everything right, the way he did against the White Witch. As I recall, Aslan looks through her tears and says things never happen the same way twice. His answer is true in that story, I've seen it to be true in general, and it is certainly the truth in the case of my return to Volgograd.
Of course I knew things would be different this year, but somehow I still took a lot of the aspects of my life last year for granted. Last year, the young foreign teachers all hung out together. We had fun exploring the city's limited tourist attractions and trying out its various cuisines. This year the other teachers, while interesting and enjoyable people, are at too many different stages of life to make hanging out automatic or natural-seeming. That's where it's really good that at least on Sundays I get to spend time with some real friends in fellowship and good conversation.
While last year I shared an apartment overlooking the Volga river, this year I'm living alone in a comfortably run-down flat with its own set of unique quirks of personality. For example, when I wish to wash dishes in the kitchen, I must first turn on the hot water in the bathtub, then turn on the faucet in the kitchen, then turn down, but not off, the tap to the tub. And, as I discovered today, all the plugs in the whole apartment are on the same circuit. Thankfully, I quickly discovered the correct button to push and I'm rarely so busy that I would need to do laundry and vacuum at the same time.
My classes this year are also different, but I actually know a lot of the students from last year. Since I'm teaching exam preparation courses, many of my students were in my upper-intermediate classes last year. It's fun to get to see so many of the same faces, but the fact that I know them so well makes me feel more emotionally involved in making sure they are prepared to pass their exams. Of course, having a test looming in the distance means the lessons are a little less free-form and fun than they were last year.
All this is not to say that I'm having a bad time here. It's different, and there are certainly times when I wish it weren't. But the fact that things change is not the only lesson in Prince Caspian. There was a reason things were different, even if it was one that Lucy couldn't grasp. Lots of times, I don't really know why I'm here, but that's okay. What brought me back is surely nothing as dramatic as the blowing of Susan's horn, but I trust that there is something.