Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Packing and Moving
Nina has gone home and here I am with little more than a week of school left, and numbered days on my island. It seems like all of a sudden I have a million things to do before I go.
I've started packing and giving away or selling the things in my apartment. At times the amount of work to be done feels manageable in the amount of time I have, and sometimes it's overwhelming simply because I don't want to face it. Having received so many gifts and thank you letters from students and teachers, I hate having to decide which packet of drawings or letters are going to make it back to Oregon. I simply can't keep everything, but it's heartbreaking to think of leaving it behind.
This week my school has allowed me to go home in the afternoons to take care of packing. My evenings are booked every night with some goodbye party or dinner with friends. Besides some cleaning up at school, essentially all my responsibilities there are finished. It's just saying my goodbyes to the teachers and students, and taking in all the sights, smells and sounds for the last time.
However, I think moving is a good thing. I've only just started, but I already like that I'm cleaning up and throwing out things that I don't need or use anymore. If we stay in one place for too long we tend to put off deep cleaning and become susceptible to pack-rat habits. Especially moving from Japan, where I know I can't just shove boxes in my mom's basement, but am forced to make a decision for all my possessions. Since I have to pay expensive rates for shipping everything, I'm more likely to decide I don't need it at all.
I have limited myself to one box of Japan things that I'll send back to Oregon. I have two large duffle bags for clothes and books that I'll keep in Tokyo and bring with me on the plane, but I'm going to try my hardest to pare down my special Japanese memorabilia until it's just one box.
Soon I'll be sending out my new address in Tokyo and remind everyone of my cell phone number which will be the only valid number after the move. My email address will remain valid no matter where I am though, so it's always easy to contact me that way. I'll be moved out of my apartment in Narao by August 10th if not before.
Wish me luck!
I've started packing and giving away or selling the things in my apartment. At times the amount of work to be done feels manageable in the amount of time I have, and sometimes it's overwhelming simply because I don't want to face it. Having received so many gifts and thank you letters from students and teachers, I hate having to decide which packet of drawings or letters are going to make it back to Oregon. I simply can't keep everything, but it's heartbreaking to think of leaving it behind.
This week my school has allowed me to go home in the afternoons to take care of packing. My evenings are booked every night with some goodbye party or dinner with friends. Besides some cleaning up at school, essentially all my responsibilities there are finished. It's just saying my goodbyes to the teachers and students, and taking in all the sights, smells and sounds for the last time.
However, I think moving is a good thing. I've only just started, but I already like that I'm cleaning up and throwing out things that I don't need or use anymore. If we stay in one place for too long we tend to put off deep cleaning and become susceptible to pack-rat habits. Especially moving from Japan, where I know I can't just shove boxes in my mom's basement, but am forced to make a decision for all my possessions. Since I have to pay expensive rates for shipping everything, I'm more likely to decide I don't need it at all.
I have limited myself to one box of Japan things that I'll send back to Oregon. I have two large duffle bags for clothes and books that I'll keep in Tokyo and bring with me on the plane, but I'm going to try my hardest to pare down my special Japanese memorabilia until it's just one box.
Soon I'll be sending out my new address in Tokyo and remind everyone of my cell phone number which will be the only valid number after the move. My email address will remain valid no matter where I am though, so it's always easy to contact me that way. I'll be moved out of my apartment in Narao by August 10th if not before.
Wish me luck!
