Moving Day

I haven't fallen off the island yet.  I've just been distracted by the huge mess in my house.  Our household goods shipment arrived just in time for the weekend.  This is what it looked like:

We managed to dig out from underneath most of it, but still have lots of odds and ends to put back in place.  Having the movers pack up our stuff in Jacksonville was much easier.  I just sat around and watched them put all my stuff in boxes.  Unpacking, however, can't really be done by movers.

Our team of Japanese movers arrived in the rain.  They were very fast and efficient with unloading everything from what I think could be the largest truck in all of Okinawa (parked in the middle of our extremely tiny street).  And they answered my question of whether or not Japanese movers keep putting their shoes on and off as they move in and out.  They do not.  But they did ask for permission to keep them on.  They put most of the furniture in place and took all the bedroom stuff upstairs.  We asked them to unpack the boxes so they could take all the packing materials with them (it's difficult to throw things out in Okinawa - that will be another post).  This just involved them dumping the contents randomly all over the floor and whisking away the packing materials.  Disaster central.

They also didn't put together the disassembled furniture.  I think they are supposed to, but then we'd have to instruct them on how to put it together.  This task is best left to Fred.

Overall, nothing was seriously damaged.  A couple tables and cabinets suffered minor dings and cracks.  The whole move has made me realize that we don't need half the stuff we own.  We already have a giant box of sell/donate items.  Minimalism is the way to go.  Cheers to a free move to Japan!

Pictures of the unpacked house soon to come.