MJ and I recently had to move, and per usual it was quite the whirlwind of events... and objects, with things seemingly flying off the shelves into boxes at a breakneck pace. I view moving as a necessary means to the end of being able to live in a different location and enjoy new stimulus, so I don't mind the moving process in the grand scheme of things, but it takes a toll on MJ, mostly because of her particularness about how to box materials, fold clothes, mark boxes with pens, put books together, hide dishes and plates in newspaper as not to damage them, etc., etc. I miss the good old days of moving in and out of college with just a van and jamming as many things in there as soon as possible and just throwing out the rest, like Mary Kondo's "Spark Joy" method on steroids with the added benefit of being able to drive away into the sunset never having to think ever again about that dorm room or crowded apartment I was renting with 4 other college dudes.
I guess that energy has carried over into moving for me in present times, while MJ has a much more......conservationist moving style, until the very end when it doesn't matter for her anymore and we're pressed up against the deadline. She claims that in Korea there are moving companies that do all the packing AND moving all in one inclusive package, so the actual homedwellers don't have to lift a finger. This seems somewhat fantastical given just the sheer density of how many things are crammed in our apartment but also the varying states of disarray that we accumulated without cleaning up for almost a whole year (MJ's reasoning is that we were going to move anyway, so why clean up? Which seems oddly similar to my excuse to my mom since childhood of why I don't make the bed every morning) that I feel like even a seasoned, tolerant Korean moving company that has seen everything would take one look at our disaster area and walk out the door, quitting on the spot. Which makes it seem even more of a miracle that somehow just MJ and I packed up seemingly everything the two of us have ever owned into neat boxes (and also ample plastic bags of blue/green for recycling and trash). It actually was a rather cathartic experience for me, being able to finally clean the place up, and that feeling continued when the U-haul movers came on the appointed day with their truck. It's always pretty eye-opening what kind of tricks movers have to fit everything out the door, but one rule remains: TRY TO LIVE NEAR AN ELEVATOR.
The one night MJ and I spent after the movers were gone and all that was left in the empty rooms were appliances (fridge, microwave) and no bed was weirdly one of the more memorable experiences of our time living at the apartment, like us getting to see the apartment for the first time. I suddenly appreciated the sounds reverbating off the walls, the air felt more open, and I could walk to all four corners of the rooms quickly! I was almost literally walking on eggshells in our normal living situation, where there was a small 2x2 path that I'd have to follow like a field of landmines to avoid tripping, stepping on something, or banging my knee against something. MJ would argue that's more a result of insufficient overall space rather than the messiness of the apartment, but I'd say it's probably somewhere in between. Whatever the case may be, I'm once again relieved that we survived the Great Move of 2021, which was preceded by the Great Move of 2019 (MJ did that one mostly on her own while I was away for work, not sure how she pulled that off), the Great Move of 2018 (moved from one apartment building to the one across the street, so that was the warm-up)
Oh and don't forget about the clean-up after the moving out is done! The work isn't finished until everything is clean! Like polishing up a car for the new owner, the final cleaning is kind of unsatisfying because I won't be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor (and probably won't avoid getting cleaning costs deducted out of my security depsoit anyway, as my experience with apartment companies leads me to believe) but it's like a final farewell to the living space that we occupied for all that time, we'll likely never see you again. Nor do we want to. Goodbye.
Grey's Anatomy recently hit the library at Netflix, and the pilot is pretty interesting, likely foreshadowing a long-lasting series (that's currently still running, on like Season 18 I believe). I imagine MJ's first day at the hospital will be similar but hopefully a little less hectic than that of Christina, Meredith, and George O'Malley. Still, very exciting! The show ALMOST made me want to be in the healthcare profession. Then I think about how lucky I am to have the job I'm having. I won't quit my day job!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
No comments:
Post a Comment