The Move

Saturday I spent the day moving into our new apartment. Maxime and Henri stayed at the hotel, both nursing a cold.

No fewer than ten men arrived with three small moving trucks with our belongings. Within one hour all the boxes and furniture were in and a couple hours after that our stuff was unpacked and all the boxes were removed. 

One of the guys - a grandfather type and the boss it would seem, displayed an interest in hanging out. He shared his cashews with me and told me they were from Canada. He said he was also a massage instructor and started explaining pressure points, showing me on my arm how you just grab the wrist right here and sqeeeeeze it will get rid of motion sickness - I had to scream mercy to make him stop... 

Some of our furniture was banged up a little but nothing to get worked up about. It was nice to see my familiar things but it is such a gigantic mess!  

So then I started getting the apartment Henri ready. 

I started off with a load of laundry. I heard a strange noise and when I checked I watched the sink (which is what the washer machine drains into) fill up and then overflow onto the floor. Hmmmm. On top of that, the refrigerator , which we had turned on the day before, still wasn't cold. 

The management person was on it and sent a repair guy right away.

In the meantime, I ran to a nearby store to acquire some essentials. On my way I saw a dog run by like it's got some place to be. 

At the store I have the opportunity to do a little comparison shopping. One roll of bounty paper towels is the same price as a six pack of local paper towels. Only difference is local paper towels are about three inches shorter when stood upright. Looks a little funny in the holder but no biggy.

The store was crawling with workers offering up samples. I must say they are very aggressive. This lady kept speaking a combination of English and Mandarin at me pushing a toothpick with some sort of meat at me - eventually I realized she was saying "hand packed chicken," punching her fist in her other hand, then slapping her thigh. I had already read the package which just said chicken wings. Another lady was pushing tea which she said would fight the signs of aging and gray hair. When I showed my disinterest by trying to move away she took a closer look at me and suggested I try this other one for not getting enough sleep.

On my way back I see another free roaming dog, also on a mission. I actually feel like I'm in his way as he trots past me on the sidewalk.

When I return to the building I realize that I can't get in. I didn't forget my keys  - I had all 18 of them on me (every door has a key, bedrooms, balcony, front door, back door, gate, etc) but I had left the security code in the apartment. A dog that lingers about our building just stares at me through the door, not helpful at all. 

After trading a few texts and a call with the property manager I get the code, no problem. 

Other than  wrestling with the crib for an hour, my afternoon went off as well as can be expected. Until I realized that my kitchen has not a single drawer. No where to place silverware... Ugh.

The repair guy comes and tells me the hot and cold water were reversed on the washer machine but I'm not sure what that has to do with draining. He also scrapes out a mound of black dust bunnies from the bottom of the fridge and declares it fixed. 

Once he leaves I wrap it up. Maxime texts me that Henri's crawling which was  totally cruel. I think I spent the longest time away from the little guy that day - 10 Hours. Hen will be crawling very soon. He can inch his way across the room already - mobility, just in time for the move...

Pictures of the new place will follow soon.