Moving Day 3/22/12

While I was on the bus to the zoo, David called me.  I always know it's him because I've assigned him a very intrusive, stop the world because the most important person ever is calling me, red alert ringtone.  I was chatting with a first grade teacher from Australia a the time...discussion ended immediately.
He wanted to know if I had read the e-mail that he had forwarded to me...No, I was talking with someone.  To check e-mail would have been rude...fill me in on the basics of the e-mail...

Our sea shipment has cleared customs, and when do we want it delivered?  Is tomorrow too soon?!?!?

WOO HOO!  Our STUFF is coming!  It's been exactly 8 weeks since it rolled away from our home on Michigan.  Part of me says, "Hmmm...we've managed without it, so do we really need it all?"  Then I remembered our BED...real dishes, the Wii, bikes, toys, my scrapbooking supplies, golf clubs, books, and the piano!...

BRING IT ON!

After dinner that night, I numbered each space in the apartment (1-19) and labeled the shipper's manifest so I could direct the boxes as they walked through the door.  I'd love to take credit for the idea, but it came from another expat wife, and I think it was a very inspired idea!

The crew (5 of them, 1.5 capable of English communication) arrived at 10AM.  I was ready!

Boxes flew through he door.  Rooms filled...quickly.  YIKES, where is this all going?  Um, these cookie sheets are too big for the oven...why do I have all this stuff?

We brought our American king-sized mattress on recommendation, because Chinese mattresses are really hard...not firm, HARD.  We wondered how it would be brought to the 7th floor... elevator?...will it fit, or will the movers have to heft it up 7 flights of stairs?

It came by elevator.

Then they had to get it up to our bedroom from there...












Then they started unpacking, with the sole objective being to empty the boxes and remove the cardboard from the apartment, regardless if the contents had a home or not.  Needless to say, every horizontal surface of the kitchen was covered, and half the boxes had yet to be opened!

Again, we brought all this stiff because...?  It was a late night.  Then they were back for more the next day.

Moving is not a green process.  This is the paper from just one box...not saving any trees here, but our dishes arrived unbroken.

Most everything arrived intact, and anything that did break, fortunately, is replaceable.  After 3 moves, we should know to remove casters first, but those are easily found...















By the end of day 2 (Friday) everything was in, most of it unpacked and our work cut out for us.  On Sunday, we were due a dinner guest, visiting on a business trip from the States.  It was the best incentive ever to motivate our efforts...and we would have more than 4 plates for the 5 of us to eat from!

And who doesn't love a good box to play with anyway?