Home is where your stuff is!

Yup, my boxes are here!  If you remember, I shipped these sometime at the end of May and they got into port last week and were delivered to the school this afternoon.  There were 11 boxes in all (one of them in pretty bad shape) and five of them were boxes with supplies, books and teaching materials for my classroom.  The other 6 had to be brought to my apartment.  Normally, in my old life, that wouldn't have been a problem.  Toss them in the back of my Kia Soul and drive off.  Oh no, not here.  I don't have a car....or any mode of transportation.  Gotta cab it.

The cabs here are pretty small so we had to request a station wagon, still not big but bigger.  Here comes this taxi and I'm thinking, no way in hell is this stuff fitting into this car.  Only six boxes but one of them is pretty big.  Apparently I have no clue how much they can pack into these cars because he made it all fit, and I was able to sit in the car too!  He drove me to my apartment building, helped me unload the taxi and the total cost was $3.50.  He refused to let me tip him.  There is absolutely no tipping in this country so I thanked him profusely and proceeded to haul my stuff up to my apartment.

Now, overall Taiwanese people have been unbelieveably gracious, kind and helpful.  Overall. The desk attendents in my building?  Not so much.  One of them looks at me like I'm an invader and has yet to give me a smile, even when I greet him in Chinese and smile politely each and every time.  I thank him every time he calls me a taxi and make sure to make eye contact and acknowlege him.  Here I am with six boxes (none that heavy but still bulky) and I have to somehow carry/drag them through the lobby, down a walkway, unlock the door to my side of the complex, drag/carry to the elevator, load them in and then haul them into my apartment. At no time did either "gentleman" help in any way.  So picture me....about 90 degrees, 100% humidity, sweating my butt off and making multiple trips to and from the elevator to get these damned boxes to my apartment.  I made two trips up in the elevator to my apartment and when I finished, I, being the smartass that I can be, went right up to the front desk, bowed slightly, gave them a big sweaty smile and thanked them for their help.  One guy looked down and the other pinched his lips just a little bit tighter.  Ah, the small pleasures in life.

So it took me about 2 hours to unpack things.  Everything was so packed with paper and taped up, it took me a few minutes just to unwrap the few glasses I packed.  Now I have all of my clothes and shoes (which took up 1 1/2 medium boxes by the way).  I've been living with a minimal wardrobe since May so it was a little like Christmas unpacking everything.  It is so NICE having a few of my favorite things here.  Not many things but things that mean something and remind me of home.  Photos, sea glass, rocks from Bailey Island, candles, a couple of small throws for the couch, a favorite quilt made by my friend Patricia (which I love, love, love), a few cooking things, my favorite knives and towels and sheets to make up the guest bed (now you can all come visit)....these all made my apartment feel like......home.