Our Stuff Is Out of Here

With less than four weeks to go, we still don't have airline tickets off the island, but our stuff got a ride out today.  Yes, today was the fateful household goods pack out.  We have two shipments of our stuff - the household goods which is all the furniture, TV, beds, nick knacks, etc. and takes around two months to get to Washington by boat.  Then there is the "express" which is everything else left behind and takes around a month to get to Washington.

When we called the moving company yesterday to ask what time they would be here, they gave us the window of 7:30 am to 6:30 pm - quite the span.  But knowing the way the Japanese do things, I was expecting them sooner rather than later, and sure enough at 7:35 this morning London announced that the movers were here!

Good thing we had worked tirelessly the day before separating the things that go from the things that stay and putting signs up to tell them what not to pack.

I trusted Google translate to get the kanji right.

The Japanese are working machines so I was again not surprised when the first boxes started appearing on the curb by 8:00.

Emmy and London watching with great interest.

By 11:15 our whole life (or the better part of it) from Okinawa was sitting in the street ready to be shoved into crates.  These movers were like expert puzzle players piecing every box and piece of furniture into six crates.

By 12:00 we were signing paperwork and approving the sealed crates.

And by 12:05 - exactly four and a half hours after arriving - the vast majority of our household was rolling down the street.  See you in the States!

We're left with a very empty house.

For tonight, we're camped on lawn chairs and blow up mattresses until the government furniture we've loaned arrives tomorrow.  This is high style!