Family

Getting ready to move

Today was a long day.  My wife’s parents returned to China on Thursday after spending a month visiting us in Seoul.  Since then, we’ve been busy tearing the house apart.  The boxes have come out, and some items have already been prepared for shipment.  It’s starting to look like moving time again.  Things really geared up today.  I spent the morning taking down the Christmas tree and decorations (we kept them up longer than usual to keep the house looking festive during our transition), pulling out the suitcases from the attic, tearing down my son’s swing set, and cleaning out the storage shed. 
 
We have to separate everything into three different shipments.  One shipment, the largest, is bound for Paraguay.  We won’t see that one again until next July or August.  The second shipment will head for our temporary home in Virginia, where it will be waiting for us next March.  The third shipment will head back to permanent storage in the United States.  We shipped too many goods to Seoul, and two years later, we figured out what we really didn’t need after all, such as the circular saw.  We’ll also send back some items mistakenly sent to us, including a sofa chair and incomplete pieces of furniture. 
 
We made some progress today, but there is much yet left to do.  Our move is a week from tomorrow, so there’s still time, however limited, to pack.  These kinds of moves are always intense.  Life is insanely busy until the day you depart, and then suddenly it’s all over.
 
Blog Note:  Hi Quemino, thanks for stopping by for a visit.  I didn’t realize that "The Host" will be released in the U.S. as an independent film.  The movie is the highest-grossing Korean film in history, so it’s no surprise that it will make its way to the United States.  I have not yet seen the movie but have heard mixed reviews from Koreans who have seen it.  While "The Host" is a ground-breaking science fiction film in Korean cinema, its special effects pale in comparison to those featured in the upcoming Hollywood film "Transformers."
 
 

Sometimes it’s better not to assume

We’re planning to sell one car before we leave.  Some family friends here wanted to buy our car, and we agreed to meet for a test drive this morning.  Our friend was sorely disappointed when they found out we were planning to sell our secondary car, not our primary car.  I assumed they knew which car I meant when I offered to sell it to them.  We plan to sell the second car that we bought after we arrived, and we’re planning to ship our primary vehicle.  They assumed we were planning to sell our primary vehicle.  I’m not sure where the miscommunication occurred.  I’m not sure whether they’re interested in buying the our second car, now that they have to deal with the letdown of not buying the car they thought they were buying in the first place.  I can’t blame them for being disappointed.  I was as surprised as they were to find out we weren’t even talking about the same car when we talked about making the sale!  It goes to show you…sometimes it’s best not to make assumptions.  The old adage is sometimes true–sometimes assume equals ASS+U+ME. 
 
Now we have just three weeks to find a buyer for our car.  We have to do something–we can’t ship a second car, and the car does not meet U.S. safety standards and can’t be shipped back to the states.  Fortunately, our friends agreed, if need be, to babysit the car for us until we find a buyer.  Or, maybe they’re have a chance of heart and buy our second car, which I had assumed they would buy in the first place.  Thank goodness we’re good friends.  At least that’s what I’m assuming!

Lest you think…

…that all is hunky dory at home from the rosy imagery painted on this blog, I wanted to point out that it’s been a trying few days with our son.  He hasn’t been feeling well and threw up last night and last Saturday.  He seems perfectly fine until around midnight, when everything he consumed during the day came back up.  Twice.  It was absolutely nasty.  Then tonight, at a restaurant, I sat him next to me and tried to be a good dad.  All of a sudden, for absolutely no reason, he slammed his head into my mouth, cutting my lip and causing the blood to flow.  It still hurts like !@#$, and I now have a nice welt on my mouth.  I suppose you could say that illness made him act up, but during times like these, having a child is not much fun.  I’m sure things will be better in a few days.  For those who wish they had families, be mindful of times like these.  You have to take the good with the bad.