Moving Day in Seoul
Moving is stressful. Although I should be a pro at it by now, I am still quite a novice when it comes to managing my expectations. The movers were supposed to arrive at 8:00 am last Friday. They sauntered in a little later, closer to 10:00am.
As soon as we opened the door to them, they charged into the room with their dirty shoes on and, looking down at our socked feet, instructed us to put on our shoes. It’s common practice in most Asian countries to take off the shoe when one enters a home. Because it was moving day for us, I did not mind. But the manner in which they charged in, an hour late, set the stage for disappointment.
So much of life is about managing expectations.
Why did I expect the movers to arrive on time? Why did I expect them to arrive with tools? I guess I should have been grateful that they arrived with crates, some boxes and rolls of tape. One mover took permanent markers to use, stating, “I need to use this.” Of course, as expected, it did not make it to my next apartment.
The marker wasn’t the issue; I can afford a marker, but it’s the principle behind it. If you are moving company, you need to show up prepared! I finally spoke up when they started throwing my books, willy-nilly, into their plastic crates. As evident from the sparsely furnished apartment, I don’t own much furniture, however, I own lots of books. When movers handle my books by tossing them into crates so that the binder is not fully aligned or so that the pages are all crinkled, my entire body starts to tense. My body was as stiff as a statue on moving day.
The new apartment is about half the size of the old apartment; however it’s brand-spanking new and within a 15-minute walk to work. The latter was the tipping point for me; how much space do I really need because I am rarely home.
It’s been six days since I moved, but the place still looks like I just moved in. Two of the bedrooms are full of unopened boxes, stacks of backpacks, suitcases and things piles against the three walls. I need to slowly tackle everything, putting them away or getting rid of them so that I feel more at home here than I did in the previous place.
Unfortunately, I have been so busy with work that I haven’t had much opportunity in the evenings to get my things in place. All that will have to wait more weeks until I return from the US; I fly to the US tomorrow. Today’s major accomplishment was finding my carry-on luggage, hidden behind two boxes of appliances from when I lived in Europe, buried in the bottom of a pile of other suitcases, backpacks, snowboards and skies.
It’s well past midnight and ow I need to go and pack my suitcase for tomorrow’s trip.
Oh geez, I feel for you. I HATE moving; its so stressful, and ill-prepared movers just make it several orders of magnitude worse.
We were talking bout you at knitting last night – people asking how you are, where you are, etc (and me wishing for time to come visit because I REALLY want to see any part of Asia). I’m glad I at least read your blog so that I could update people a bit
So, are you coming to the east coast at all? Anywhere near CT? Or is this a west coast or mid-atlantic visit? Or a work trip with no time for fun? Hopefully this is Vacation and not work. Have a safe trip!
I knew were your carry on was, I had seen it in the green room. Towards the wall….
You even have time to post on your Blog… My hat is off to you. I still haven’t blogged in months. Maybe some day Shengzhu and I will visit you guys if you ever present a stationary target.