We're Moving, Moving, Moving! Rawhide!

What a week!  I've moved nearly twenty times in my lifetime and none of those moves prepared me for this.  I've never moved only part of my belongings before and I've never made an international move before.  Can you say Eye Opening Experience?  We have an air shipment and a sea shipment.  Both have different rules and regulations.   There are inventories and valued price lists, there are limits on weight and the types of items you can take, there are mounds of paperwork and packing paper, the movers have to pack everything twice and there are super secret seals that have to be signed and placed on all air freight boxes.  And then there are the duties that have to be paid on all these prize possessions of mine.   Who knew that moving abroad would be so complicated?


Thankfully, we didn't completely move out of our house or the poor movers would have been here all week.  What a great group of people Williams Moving and Storage has working for them.  Bless them.  I wouldn't want to do all that they had to do.  I wasn't real thrilled about doing all the inventories and organizing that I had to do to get ready.  I'm glad it's over and hope everything arrives safely in Shanghai.  I'll let you know how that works out.   In the mean time, here are a few pictures of the organizing and packing process. 


My house looks as though I am getting ready for a huge garage sale.  Selling only my most favorite possessions.  There are stacks of pictures, games, books, towels, blankets, pots & pans, dishes, and of course my cross stitch and needlework stash. 

I'm just waiting to see how long it takes the children
to knock over this precariously stacked pile of quilts,
blankets, towels, and pillowcases.

Answer:  Day 2 Emma Grace took the corner too
          quickly because she was mad at me.

I can't decide if I'm a pile away from becoming Sanford & Son or the next episode on Hoarders.

There use to be a kitchen table underneath this pile.

                                                                                 



This is also the first time I've only moved part of a house.  There is a lot of planning and preparation that has to go on in order to organize for not one, but two moving days.  The first day is the Air shipment and the second will be the sea shipment.  Whatever doesn't fit in day one will be added to day two.  Except for the books, still waiting to hear the fate of taking all of my children's books to China.  There are imposed limits on books.  Books can only be shipped if they are for work or study.  Reading for entertainment and joy is frowned upon.  I can write a really detailed letter explaining where I purchased these books, why I have so many books, the value of the books, and what I will be doing with all these books (Really, that isn't self explanatory?), and pay a sizable duty for having so many books and just maybe they won't take my books away in customs.  I always knew books were powerful little creations!



I'm waiting to hear if the piles of books are going to
get to come with us.

Book Update:  Only the air shipment had a limit of 50 books with detailed descriptions.  Heard from my mover in Shanghai that I could move 1500 books on the sea shipment.  Just have to make a note on the declarations page.  (That's the page that charges duties for luxury and high end items.  Yes, books are considered luxury/high end items.)






There once was a sideboard under this mountain of linen,
silks, and patterns.

If I find out there is some sort of limit on my cross stitch stash, I may just have to stay here in Tupelo.  I was trying to just pick out my favorite pieces to take with me and some holiday pieces and some sentimental pieces and my unfinished pieces.  Soon I realized that choosing just certain pieces was like choosing which twin would get to move to China.  There was no way to pare down to just my favorites.  They are all my favorites.  That is why I bought them.  So in the end, it is all going with me.  Heaven help any one if this shipment doesn't arrive safely at Wells Manor Shanghai.




So we made it through.  I got to ship all of my books, cross stitch, sewing machine, and scrapbooking supplies so I am thrilled.  The children got to ship all of their favorite toys and games.  I'm not sure what Rob got to ship other than clothes and a tool box, but he seems content.  I can see all of my tables and side boards again.  Fred and Lamont have moved on to somewhere else.  I have a feeling that I will be seeing them again in Shanghai.   Any volunteers to come help me unpack in about a month to six weeks? 

A-Hunting We Did Go

House - check
School - check
Ayi - check
Movers - check

Ready or not Shanghai, here we come!

What an awesome experience the past week has been!  We shopped for houses, previewed schools, worked out a plan for our ayi (housekeeper), and even managed to see a few sights in old Shanghai.  It was exhausting and exciting.  I managed my first meal entirely with chopsticks, took taxis from one side of Shanghai to the other, and participated in a traditional Chinese tea service.  I've discovered that I actually like tea, realized there is a method to the madness that is Shanghai traffic, and learned that phrase "western-style housing" is open to interpretation.



Shanghai is full of people, about 24 million to be more precise, and they all have to live somewhere.  There are apartments, townhouses, and villas (free-standing homes) and they are all tall.   Housing goes up, not out. They are also protected by gates and guards.  A reminder that you are not house hunting in the United States.  Our relocation specialist, Nicolas, was a great help in coordinating appointments and translating when necessary.

I have never seen so much four-story housing in my life.  And I trudged up and down every one of those steps.  I lost five pounds last week and I know those steps had something to do with it.   Sheesh!  You have to scale Mt. Everest every night just to go to bed.  In Shanghai center there are no gardens (yards).  You have to live in the outlying districts to have any garden.  The housing spreads out a bit there as well.  So after mucho searching, we decided to live in the Qingpu district.  Qingpu, pronounced "ching-poo", is in southwestern Shanghai. 

 We are about 20 minutes from everything we need and secluded enough to forget we live in a such a large place.   We have two gardens, and have access to a clubhouse, two pools, a beach, a basketball court, and a tennis court.  Our house only has two stories, heated floors, great outdoor   spaces, hidey holes in the attic for the children to play, and all the living space we could want.  So make plans to visit! 

While it is exciting to live in a foreign country, having the comforts of home are essential.  As a dear friend pointed out to me, we will be surrounded by Chinese culture so home needs to feel like home.  The children will have a place to play soccer in the back garden and they can explore the stream and waterfall in the front garden.  They will live in a compound with children from France, Germany, Sweden, and several other countries.  And ride their bikes on the streets without fear. 

Although the contract details are still being worked out, hopefully we'll have the house in early May.  Mr. Wells will be working in China for a few weeks until we can get there.  The movers are making their plans and I'm going to be extremely busy the next few weeks.  It seems as though the waiting is about over.  In a few short weeks, the Wells family will be Shanghai bound.