Moving Times
It was almost 8 years ago that I moved to a house in Nanjing. My kids finished their high school education there. My son rehabilitated from a major motor bike accident there. We had parties galore there! I got locked out there. My daughter learn to climb through windows there! My wife turned it into both an art studio and an art gallery. We had more parties there!
Nanjing, Xianlin, and the house hold memories. Memories of people and events. Our Journey is all about the people, but the place and the buildings where they occur both influence that and create that image that you hold in your mind.
This week we leave Nanjing and the house we have called home. We are staying in China. Moving an 8hrs truck ride south to Nanchang.
This is our Ayi - means ‘Aunty’ in Chinese. She was our cleaner and home help in this house. Speaks no English, but through WeChat translate has been a great friend and help. Bossy to everyone but a heart of gold.
We are lucky, we have a professional moving company packing and moving us. So we don’t have to do much. We have been disposing of things for weeks - but still the 400+ sqm house looks full. It’s got to fit in a 300+sqm apartment - so we’ve tried to be ruthless, but still we have too much. An artist wife has lots of things ! I have lots of hobbies that need large things. Then we have our souvenirs. They are the memories of our life! As an example, we have an awesome coffee table and chairs - bought in Glastonbury, made in Thailand from local Thai tires. Used in numerous parties. Not much use in an apartment - but irreplaceable. We’ve also been putting post-it stickers on all the landlords things. What not to pack! We want to make sure not just things like the landlord TV, furniture doesn’t go, but also remote controls, instructions and WiFi routers are left. We have had personal experiences where movers will pack the racks from built in ovens. Heard those horror stories of rubbish bins going with rubbish in them! The packers arrived, first is a wonderful 30+yr old Chinese woman, Ester, with great english who is the boss of the operation. She is calm and in control of 4 men. Great watching how she controls them. Normally in China, my experience is that things get done by bosses shouting and demanding. Not with Ester. She uses a blend of respect, empathy on top of her positional power. Immediately the house is full packing materials. You can hardly walk ! By about 4pm on the 1st day, the basement is mostly done and a little of the ground floor. This is a 4 story house - so it’s looking a challenge for a 2 day pack.
Ester tells us not to worry. She’s got the guys in a little earlier tomorrow and a few extra people. If she’s worried - she’s not showing it. Day 2 - 8:30am start. More workers appear. The sound of tape starts again as they make up boxes, fill them, tape them. Almost a rhythmic pattern occurs. Cupboards and chairs get dressed in blankets and bubble wrap.
With all this going on - our landlord appears and does an inspection. We were really worried about this. 8 years brings lots of wear and tear. When this happened in Germany we had a nightmare. Even though we’d spent 7 years in that property, the German landlord wanted it like new. No wear and tear allowance. Cost us a small fortune to fix. Here, much simpler. An inventory and meter check is all. Our landlord had been awesome all the time we were here. I was told that in China it’s not ‘Location, Location, Location’ it’s ‘Landlord, Landlord, Landlord’ and they were right. Let’s hope we have a good Landlord in Nanchang ! 5pm - it’s getting dark. Still lots to go, but now they move the most challenging item. We have 2 stone lions. About 250-300kg a piece. They are crated up.
Then 3 men, tilt them and slide them onto a trolley. Then they are man handled onto the truck. They will need to do the same in Nanchang but this time taking them up in the elevator !
They are much better than when they were first delivered. We paid about $40 for delivery. 4 men appeared in a small truck, with only rope and bamboo poles to get them off the truck. They tried lifting them, but the poles were nowhere near strong enough. At one point, they had titled it off the truck and one man is holding most of the weight, screaming at his mates, his mates laughing. Eventually they find more wood & poles and slide them off. No worse for wear - but a typical example of not planning ahead.
Packing and loading is done. 430 items ! The next phase of the Journey begins. The challenge of making it fit in!