Summer Vacation Day 34: The Big Move-in and the Bookshelf

Hello, Tim!

Today is the big day!

8/2, Thursday

It was half past eight in the morning sealing up the boxes that were left open.

The house looked horrible- bags piled up in one corner and another; baskets and boxes are scattered around. The sofa was moved away from the walls, just gotten rid of the dust, bubble wraps-covered tableware was put on the floor next to the carton that is already filled with pots and pans. Wardrobes were taped at the door so that it wouldn’t open on the moving truck. With so many things set around the place, I barely had enough place to sleep! As much disastrous as it sounds, it is just how a house should look like when a family is moving. The funny thing is, Mom seemed very stressed out that it looked so chaotic at the moment.

The house has never been so messy.

The doorbell rang, and in came the people of the moving company. With their incredible capability to carry tons of things in one trip, our house was soon devoid of a sofa, a TV stand, a dining table. For the beds, they even got out their toolkits and disassembled the whole bed board, explaining to us they would reassemble it once they reached the new house.

The cushions on the sofa were first wrapped together, and then, along with the sofa itself, they were carried away.

After the TV stand and the TV followed the sofa, the living room looked like this.

Then they took my bookshelf away as I was looking at it with worried eyes. Granted, there were no books left in there, but it was practically the house of my treasure; I treat it like any of my books.

Soon, the two trucks they had driven over were fully loaded with boxes and wooden furniture, but there are still things we had yet brought with us, including a fan, a king-sized bed (that once belonged to Sophie’s mom, but since they got a new bed when they moved, the spare one was given to Mom, who very willingly accepted), several clothes hanger, etc. So that was why I had to stay over here while they dropped everything on the truck at our new place. I looked at the now half-empty (or was it half-full) house, and all the emotions rushed back once more. I knew that I would truly miss Xindian, a place where my elementary and middle school are located in, where I discovered myself and know myself better in general, where bumping into old acquaintances is nothing surprising. I didn’t think I had such a bond with my house before Xindian, a place named Nanshijiao; My school wasn’t there, and plus the memories were quite blurry.

I waited in Sophie’s house before the trucks came back.

Two hours had I waited, for the trucks' return, and I used that time to immerse in the world of TV shows. There is a famous TV show, a sitcom called How I Met Your Mother. It’s American, so I think you probably know it as well. I have always heard about this show, but it wasn’t until recently that I had started watching it. The jokes and the comedy relief are just my cup of tea, and I am sure I have at least cackled once every episode.

The trucks came back again, and this time they took away everything else, including me. Mom was already in Tianmu, probably already working on rearranging everything. I followed the workers onto the truck as we hit the road.

Bye, Xindian. I'll be back and visit you :<

It was one of the most unpleasant car rides I have been on in a long while. I know that all the roads are bound to be a little bumpy, but in such an old large truck, it felt like the bumps are made ten centimeters higher. I felt my brain bouncing around, migraine and nauseating waves struck me at once; had I had lunch a little later, I believe that I was going to throw up. Fortunately, I made it to Tianmu in one piece.

In accord with my speculation, Mom was already unpacking everything whilst fussing over the placements of the pieces. Without actually putting down the end table in the living room, she was convinced that there is no space for it (which was proven wrong later on). The table is moved from next to the fridge to the wall facing the living room, etc.

SEE MOM We have a path wide enough to pass even with the end table!
P.s. With all the furniture, the house does look more than decent.

As for me, I knew exactly what I had to do for the next couple of hours. I sliced open all sixteen boxes of books and started putting my books back into the exact same order as it was before moving. How did I do that? Well, a week ago, I took pictures of every single row of my book, knowing it would be necessary. Therefore, with the aid of the photos and three hours, the bookshelf is back in its perfect state once again.

Pictures from a week ago, back in Xindian

Two hours later.

A few more things are done after the coming several hours, including plugging in all kitchen household appliances, putting the clothes into the new shelves, laying the tablecloth back on the dining table, the whole house looked considerably cozier and more home-like than it had ever been. The plastic tiles were a big plus.

I have yet gotten a desk for my study, meaning there are a lot of textbooks in the boxes, but we decide to let the problems slip. After all, this is the first day. After a more thorough cleanup, I’ll be giving you the promised photo essay!

This is all for today.