Our stuff is here! Our stuff is here!

In the world of international teaching, one of the highlights of starting at a new school is the arrival of one’s shipment, or as it would be known in the U.S., the arrival of the movers.  

I was skyping with our daughter yesterday morning, when the doorbell rang, knowing it was our shipment, she excitedly told me, “go, go.”  Eight minutes later, the movers left and we were alone with our boxes.  A bit like Christmas is the best way to describe it.  I know what is in all those boxes, but opening, unwrapping, and seeing them - it brings such joy.

It was just over 15 years ago that we sold our house in Newcastle and moved to Moscow.  It was an adventure, emptying the house we’d lived in for 6 years.  It was a great garage sale experience.  Everything was either $5, $1, or 25 cents (it meant even the soon-to-be First Grader could give change).  The second day of the sale, everything was 25 cents AND buy one get two free.  We made $300 at that garage sale (and it gave the kids $150 each to spend at the Lego Store in Moscow).  We put a number of things in storage, including the car (because the only available storage units were big enough for a car).  It was a move that involved over 150 boxes being put in a container on a truck that drove to Denver, where the container was put on a train to San Francisco.  It was then transferred to a ship that went through the Panama Canal and ended up in Hamburg, Germany.  There, it was loaded on a truck that drove to Moscow.  Yes, everything arrived safely, apart from the glass lid of one very large container that held ALL the cookie cutters.

Thus, I was thrilled, in June, when the shipment that left our apartment in Ankara was 15 boxes, which was half of what we’d brought to Ankara.  All 15 of those boxes arrived at our apartment in HCMC yesterday.  Nothing was broken or missing.  As would be expected of empty nesters of our generation, we should be downsizing.  I’d say we’re doing pretty well.  Shoot, even the storage unit is smaller now (availability of a smaller unit and getting rid of the car enabled this). 

It was over 3 months of “living out of a suitcase.”  That’s right – for 3 months, we’ve been wearing (most of) the same clothes.  We have been to a tailor here to get some extra pants made to see us through.  Neither of our sizes are readily available here, but tailors are relatively cheap.  I was most happy with alternative night clothes, and getting dressed to go to work on Monday will be a joy – so many choices.

As can be imagined, we have to prioritize the things that go “on the ship” and the things that stay with us.  We even prioritize what goes in carry-on vs. checked bags.  Then, when the shipment arrives and we unwrap things, there’s a moment of “why did I let that go on the boat?” as well as, “ahh, it arrived safely.” 

I try to keep my teaching things to no more than 2 boxes – and a lot of that is books.  At this school, I will have to complete paperwork before I take any of my personal things to work.   I’ve reduced the cookbook collection to only 2 (Pinterest is my source for new recipes now).  The collection of sewing/quilting/needlework books has slowly dwindled as well.  S2 sorts his ties into ones that go into carry-on (ones that our daughter made for him or he wore to something special, like our wedding or his mother’s funeral) and ones that go on the ship.  I take my jewelry with me, but send my collection of jewelry boxes on the ship.  Our daughter’s original art work travels in checked baggage (and has already been framed here).  All medical records, banking records, tax records go in carry-on.  The hat the children wore as toddlers and the pair of socks they both wore when there were born goes in carry-on. 

With each move, I tend to declare that I will NOT be moving this much fabric the NEXT time.  I had three major quilting projects that I finished in the final months of Ankara, which certainly contributed to my fabric reduction, but, I did quite sneakily argue for the use of my fabric stash as packing this time.  There it was yesterday, surrounding S2’s bike trainer (his hobby vs. my hobby). 

This move was the first to the tropics.  My team leader had prepared me for the wardrobe transition of such a climate.  She pointed out while she never wore socks, she did need some cold weather clothes for traveling.  I tried to adjust for that but unpacking the lone pair of jeans and the three sweaters yesterday seemed odd, let alone the leather jacket, winter hat and gloves.  I have to remind myself that I could end up NOT in the tropics for conferences or accreditation visits. 

I left Ankara with 3 pairs of shoes, picked up 3 new pairs over the summer, but mainly use the same 3 pair here, but unpacking 8 pairs of shoes yesterday was a “why did I pack this?” moment.  I can’t imagine wearing tights or nylons here, consequently some of those shoes will never get worn unless I go somewhere else.

A surprising pleasure this time was the arrival of the mugs we’ve deemed appropriate to travel by ship.  We’ve been without cups with handles, which makes having hot drinks a challenge.  Why buy new ones when we had some coming?  So that cup of tea this morning was exceptionally fun.

A new part of this experience, was sending photos to the kids via WhatsApp as I unwrapped treasures.  They humored me through it all – the iPod dock (we can hear our music now), the measuring cups (that we’ve had since before they were born), the jar of shells they gave me for my 47th birthday (from the coast of Italy), and the collection of Beanie Baby Birthday Bears.  I pointed out we need a Septembear to represent our new daughter-in-law.