The cabinets and cupboards are bare and empty. The personal touches - photos, little figurines, books, are gone. There is a sock on the sofa and the electronics are still out. But otherwise, the place is a desert.
We are heading back this week and things have been a little chaotic. Work has been busy, we have been cramming everything we can into the last few weeks here. So blogging has been on the back burner.
But now there is a little calm. The chaos of sorting everything into what goes by sea and what we take with us is over. I have managed to find recipients for all the things we don't want to take back - 220v appliances, Indian groceries, partially used beauty products, OTC meds, etc. The last of these will go out tomorrow and then we have one night before we fly out.
I have been busy on the fiber front. I finished a shawl, spun a bunch on my Nano Trindle and had a wonderful weekend here in Shanghai with Ravelers from various parts (including one from Canada who is here temporarily). We hit up a warehouse that sells on Taobao - the equivalent of ebay here and bought cones of yarn and other things. We stormed the wholesale notions market (twice) and bought beads, buttons, cord, chains and other findings. We crawled through the local yarn stores and even found a woman who is dyeing fiber and selling handspun abroad from here in Shanghai. We got fiber from her.
But more on all of that and the purchases later. The internet here has been extremely slow of late and that makes me irritable when I want to blog. It will be a lot easier from home.
I wanted to explain the long silence and also capture some of my thoughts as we come to the end of an adventure. Part of me wants to continue the adventure. Another part can't wait for it to end.
It is much harder closing down an apartment in another place than leaving one's place for a long while. You can leave things behind, it is easier to find people to take things because they are not as transient as you.
For example: we had a lot of Indian groceries and spices. I took a bunch home the last time I went but there was still a lot here. Food cannot be shipped. So it was either take it in one's luggage where it adds weight or find takers. My Indian friends are all stocked up and can't take any more due to space constraints. We keep flour and spices in the freezer to keep the bugs at bay in a hot and humid climate like Shanghai. Especially because we stock up - supplies exist but are irregular.
I found one friend to take a bunch but she had to schlep them to Beijing. I sent another bunch home with a local Raveler and the last lot is going to a colleague at work. I didn't want people to feel that they were going to be stuck with things that they can't use.
The household leftovers are going to our ayi who will use or dispose of them to her advantage. The 220v appliances are going to a couple who recently came to Shanghai from the US.
And so it comes to an end.
We are heading back this week and things have been a little chaotic. Work has been busy, we have been cramming everything we can into the last few weeks here. So blogging has been on the back burner.
But now there is a little calm. The chaos of sorting everything into what goes by sea and what we take with us is over. I have managed to find recipients for all the things we don't want to take back - 220v appliances, Indian groceries, partially used beauty products, OTC meds, etc. The last of these will go out tomorrow and then we have one night before we fly out.
I have been busy on the fiber front. I finished a shawl, spun a bunch on my Nano Trindle and had a wonderful weekend here in Shanghai with Ravelers from various parts (including one from Canada who is here temporarily). We hit up a warehouse that sells on Taobao - the equivalent of ebay here and bought cones of yarn and other things. We stormed the wholesale notions market (twice) and bought beads, buttons, cord, chains and other findings. We crawled through the local yarn stores and even found a woman who is dyeing fiber and selling handspun abroad from here in Shanghai. We got fiber from her.
But more on all of that and the purchases later. The internet here has been extremely slow of late and that makes me irritable when I want to blog. It will be a lot easier from home.
I wanted to explain the long silence and also capture some of my thoughts as we come to the end of an adventure. Part of me wants to continue the adventure. Another part can't wait for it to end.
It is much harder closing down an apartment in another place than leaving one's place for a long while. You can leave things behind, it is easier to find people to take things because they are not as transient as you.
For example: we had a lot of Indian groceries and spices. I took a bunch home the last time I went but there was still a lot here. Food cannot be shipped. So it was either take it in one's luggage where it adds weight or find takers. My Indian friends are all stocked up and can't take any more due to space constraints. We keep flour and spices in the freezer to keep the bugs at bay in a hot and humid climate like Shanghai. Especially because we stock up - supplies exist but are irregular.
I found one friend to take a bunch but she had to schlep them to Beijing. I sent another bunch home with a local Raveler and the last lot is going to a colleague at work. I didn't want people to feel that they were going to be stuck with things that they can't use.
The household leftovers are going to our ayi who will use or dispose of them to her advantage. The 220v appliances are going to a couple who recently came to Shanghai from the US.
And so it comes to an end.
2 comments:
Glad you will be home soon. Looking forward to the spinning of the tale.
Wishing you a safe trip home, Jaya. Hope all will go well. Definitely looking forward to the "spinning of the tale" as Nancy said. Be safe. Pat
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