Moving & Unpacking Experiences

Hi Everyone,
Our move is about finished and has actually gone very smoothly. We still have a few things left at the old flat to move, but they are relatively small and can wait till this weekend. After that, we'll have to clean up the old place. It's pretty dusty from the packing and moving we have been doing. The cleaning up, though, shouldn't take too long.

We began to officially live in our new flat last Thursday--so have almost been here a week already! Time is flying! Most everything here has been unpacked and put away. That's a great feeling for me. We had so many things stuffed into our small flat that it was crowded and cluttered. Here, though, there are more cabinets in the kitchen and we have a storage cellar ("sklep" in Czech). Now I can have things more organized when put away--and not just "stuffed" into the cabinets and wardrobes. I'm not a "neat freak," but do need to keep things clean and organized for my allergies. Cleaning is much faster when things are put away and in good order.

Living in this little bit bigger flat has had some unexpected psychological effects, as well. Living in the midst of clutter and small places left me feeling listless--lost in the midst of the odds and ends of our lives. It can be stifling to live in the midst of even somewhat ordered chaos. I tried to have everything as neat and nice as possible, but there is a point where possessions and necessities will begin to take over when you've reached the limit of your living space. Moving to a bigger place has made me feel a great sense of relief in this aspect--there's more space--and most everything has it's place.

Along with the moving and unpacking adventures, Jiri and I had some other funny things happen during the move. During the actual moving process one of our guy friends helped to drive the moving van and load our things. He and Jiri were very Czech in that they wouldn't allow me to help with the lifting and packing of the moving van at all! They had me wait outside with the truck--to guard the truck and the contents as they were packing. When we arrived at the new flat, they had me do the same thing again while they were unpacking! Back home, my own Dad would have had me helping to unload--in fact, Dad and I did just that when he drove my belongings in a huge truck to New Mexico when I moved there! He and I unloaded heavy stuff, too--not just easy stuff! This is what I'm used to--helping out...not just guarding the truck! Still, it was nice, and once our things were in the new flat, I really got to work on unpacking, sorting and putting away!

Another small adventure was to come our very first night in the flat. We had been working all day and hadn't had too much to eat. It was pretty late--22:00--when I finally began to try to cook us some small supper. Try to cook being the operative phrase. Keep in mind it was very hot that day, and we'd been working hard all day long...so my mind wasn't in the best shape to begin figuring out how to run a new stove! There was a manual for the stove, but I wasn't in the right frame of mind to try to dicipher it that time of the night. I looked over the stove and there were no apparent buttons or knobs. Oh brother...what to do? How to turn on the stove? I tried everything, including looking at the controls for the oven. Nothing made any sense what-so-ever. Finally, I had to break down and ask Jiri if he could help me! It only took him a minute of playing around to find the way. The stove top is glass, and has circles for four burners. Near the front of the stove top, in the middle, are five smaller circles I hadn't noticed in my inspection. Jiri found these and touched each one. At first nothing happened, then he pressed his finger onto one of the small circles and all kinds of things lit up on the stove top! Miracle of miracles! These were the means of controlling the stove! I was very thankful to Jiri, but how humiliating to have your Czech husband show you how to use a new stove! This, when I love gizmos and never have to read the manuals to figure out new "toys!"

Our other adventures have been of the more usual kind--deciding where to put the furniture, etc. Nothing so funny or interesting...but still another dimension of the cultural differences in our marriage. Thankfully we've managed to sail through with no mishaps! We will eventually need more furniture to make our new flat a little nicer...and our next challenge is setting up Internet service. This was supposed to be ready to go, but you know how that works sometimes. So, we have to get this taken care of as soon as possible. Right now, I'm using the USB modem--very slow and doesn't allow for pictures to be uploaded very easily. I'm hoping we can get this fixed before I leave for the States!

Well, that's all for today! I hope you all have a great day! Thanks to all of you who have continued dropping on Entrecard. I'll be back to dropping regularly again as soon as we have our Internet service figured out!

Have a great day!

God bless,
Sher :0)

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