Moving Day

I know some people are waiting to hear about the move and our new place along with an update on the MIL, so I'll just start with a short post about the move itself.

We chose a moving company with an elephant for its logo because our condominium recommended that everyone use them. The price was estimated to be about $1200. They told us to be ready to go by 8 am on the moving day.

At 8 am we sat waiting for them, and thought we were about as ready as we were going to get. My husband went outside to buy us a drink from the vending machine and he saw their truck parked outside with two guys in uniform sleeping inside. We wondered why they didn't just come up and get started. We waited another hour (and of course my husband wasn't about to knock on their window and say, "What the hell are you doing?"), and we packed some more things up. Suk was getting really antsy.

Finally, the two sleepers (who looked like they were recent high school grads) came up and rang the doorbell. They informed us that they had been "waiting" for the second truck to show up with the rest of their team. However, while they were waiting, another moving company's truck had shown up and parked in front of the building. They were moving a family into the building and had already started, so we would have wait until they finished. It would take about 90 minutes. "Oooookaaaaay," we reply with doubt.

While we waited, our guys decided to move the dining table and hutch out and take it to MIL's house. They finished that in about one hour, and then they came back and parked...and took another long nap. The other moving company did not finish their job until well after noon. There was no sign of a second truck either.

By noon, my antsy-pantsy husband had been sent to the new place with my SIL and Sensei (her husband) so that they could get started over there. I gave them simple things to do like putting together the dog's cage, put up curtains, put contact paper in the drawers, etc. His mom had also shown up with lunch and he had taken her over to show her the new place as well. I waited for the movers to start working.

At about 1 pm, I happened to be outside talking to a friend when the other moving company finished and pulled out of the parking spot. Our moving guys were still napping, so I went over and knocked obnoxiously on the window and yelled, "Owarimashita yo!" (They're finished!).

Finally, they got started and out of nowhere, the rest of their team appeared, but still no second truck. They began in a whirlwind, taking all the boxes and a few pieces of furniture. By that time, Suk and his mom had come back to help out, but actually, the movers don't need any help. You should just stay out of their way.

Then they informed us that a second truck would not be showing up, and they would have to do the move in two parts since only half of our stuff would fit into the small truck they had. Great! March and April are the busiest times for moving in Japan, so I kind of understood the dilemma, but still. We had been told that our move would only take 3 hours at most!

We went to the new place where MIL set up a picnic lunch on the living room floor and we all ate. She even provided beer! It was nice to just relax and eat her food for a bit. Then, the movers appeared with our stuff and in a whirlwind of excitement, it was decided that I should stay at the new place to direct the movers. Suk and his mom went back to the old place to clean.

I am really grateful for that, but I also felt guilty. Anyway...bygones.

What the movers did that irked me:
1. One of the idiots dropped a box full of glass-bottled spices right in front of me. He swore at the box, and his team leader immediately took the box from him and asked me to open to make sure nothing was broken.

2. Towards the end of the move, (about 8pm!!!) the same idiot came into the living room to fetch me. He needed me to check the position of the bed after they had put it together. His way of fetching me was to walk into the room and just stand there silently until I would notice him.

3. Back in the bedroom, the idiot and his team leader re-positioned the bed, and the team leader advised me to leave a bit of space between the wall and the bed. I replied by saying, "Hai" (yes), and the idiot actually mimicked me!

All in all, it was a good experience...one that I learned a lot from. The move took 12 hours total, but not all of it was work, work, work. I think there was a lot of sleeping and standing-in-line. I wouldn't recommend that moving company to anyone either. But, it is so nice to be a new place that is so easy to clean.