When I last left the saga of my boxes, they were being held hostage by Die Post. After several phone calls, emails, and shipping off of scans of my visa/resident permit, all eight boxes were sent back to customs to be re-evaluated.
They arrived back at Die Post last week and had no customs charges this time. Yay! Unfortunately, I was in the shower when the doorbell rang, so we missed our chance to have all eight boxes delivered directly to our front door (they only attempt delivery once, this ain't no Fedex). So, on Saturday, B and I headed off to Die Post to pick some of them up. Luckily, they were being held at a Post that was actually closer than where they had previously been; only a five minute walk or so. We brought along 2 large empty suitcases, as previous experience had taught us that the boxes are often not in any shape for carrying.
Unfortunately, we were right. We first picked up 3 boxes, 2 of them entirely of books, in the morning. The boxes were in abhorrent condition (if you ever move internationally, the "moving" boxes from Home Depot ARE NOT SUFFICIENT), although the books inside amazingly weren't damaged. The third box had clothes and yarn surrounding my deeply buried Xbox and its accessories, which seemed to have had enough cushioning that they were not hurt (although we haven't yet confirmed this, as we don't have a TV to hook it up to). We packed up the suitcases and headed back to the apartment.
Five minutes is a long, long time, when you have an oversized suitcase that is stuffed to the brim with books (yes, many hardcovers). B commented in it as well ("Jesus, what do you have in here, rocks?!" "It's my fossil collection!" "So.....rocks."). We unloaded the suitcases in B's kellar (basement storage unit), which luckily has a nice metal bookshelf on it.
Later that day we went back for round 2 (we need to have them all picked up by March 10th or they get sent back to the US). This time we only picked up two boxes, as they were larger. Heartbreakingly, one of them had my blue willow china collection in it, and even as I carefully transferred the bubble-wrapped pieces into the suitcase, I could tell there had been some casualties. Considering the condition of the box, I was lucky that as many pieces survived as, in fact, did (a testament to my father's packing ability). I lost about half a dozen cups/mugs and about an equal number of small plates/saucers. The biggest loss was definitely a large serving platter with the pattern in black. B has promised to look around for a replacement as a future anniversary/birthday/Christmas present. (Just a note: My collection is a somewhat random assortment of pieces of varying quality, age, and type. The loss is more sentimental than monetary, as it is a group that I have gathered from several relatives, shops, and random places.)
The other box's contents was fine (more books), and on a third trip B picked up another box that had my rolling pin (woot!) and several custom-framed pictures, including a totally awesome one of Maleficent at the top of her tower (best Disney villainess ever - moral: get competent minions), that all survived. I can't wait to get them up in a new space. If we ever get one.
Which leads me to the (non) departures - B and I sent off three apartment applications last week, and another one this morning. They each had cover letters, so we're hoping to hear some potential (good!) news this week. Since starting to include cover letters, we have at least started to receive replies from companies, albeit apologetic, bad ones. Eh, it's something.
They arrived back at Die Post last week and had no customs charges this time. Yay! Unfortunately, I was in the shower when the doorbell rang, so we missed our chance to have all eight boxes delivered directly to our front door (they only attempt delivery once, this ain't no Fedex). So, on Saturday, B and I headed off to Die Post to pick some of them up. Luckily, they were being held at a Post that was actually closer than where they had previously been; only a five minute walk or so. We brought along 2 large empty suitcases, as previous experience had taught us that the boxes are often not in any shape for carrying.
Unfortunately, we were right. We first picked up 3 boxes, 2 of them entirely of books, in the morning. The boxes were in abhorrent condition (if you ever move internationally, the "moving" boxes from Home Depot ARE NOT SUFFICIENT), although the books inside amazingly weren't damaged. The third box had clothes and yarn surrounding my deeply buried Xbox and its accessories, which seemed to have had enough cushioning that they were not hurt (although we haven't yet confirmed this, as we don't have a TV to hook it up to). We packed up the suitcases and headed back to the apartment.
Five minutes is a long, long time, when you have an oversized suitcase that is stuffed to the brim with books (yes, many hardcovers). B commented in it as well ("Jesus, what do you have in here, rocks?!" "It's my fossil collection!" "So.....rocks."). We unloaded the suitcases in B's kellar (basement storage unit), which luckily has a nice metal bookshelf on it.
Later that day we went back for round 2 (we need to have them all picked up by March 10th or they get sent back to the US). This time we only picked up two boxes, as they were larger. Heartbreakingly, one of them had my blue willow china collection in it, and even as I carefully transferred the bubble-wrapped pieces into the suitcase, I could tell there had been some casualties. Considering the condition of the box, I was lucky that as many pieces survived as, in fact, did (a testament to my father's packing ability). I lost about half a dozen cups/mugs and about an equal number of small plates/saucers. The biggest loss was definitely a large serving platter with the pattern in black. B has promised to look around for a replacement as a future anniversary/birthday/Christmas present. (Just a note: My collection is a somewhat random assortment of pieces of varying quality, age, and type. The loss is more sentimental than monetary, as it is a group that I have gathered from several relatives, shops, and random places.)
The other box's contents was fine (more books), and on a third trip B picked up another box that had my rolling pin (woot!) and several custom-framed pictures, including a totally awesome one of Maleficent at the top of her tower (best Disney villainess ever - moral: get competent minions), that all survived. I can't wait to get them up in a new space. If we ever get one.
Which leads me to the (non) departures - B and I sent off three apartment applications last week, and another one this morning. They each had cover letters, so we're hoping to hear some potential (good!) news this week. Since starting to include cover letters, we have at least started to receive replies from companies, albeit apologetic, bad ones. Eh, it's something.
 |
| Giant, grilled, fake bratwurst outside a meat shop. Sometimes Switzerland is weird. |
No comments:
Post a Comment