A Whole Lot of Nesting (or the Apartment, Part 2)

Our apartment is beautiful. And furnished –well, kind of. In addition to all of the big pieces of furniture, the apartment came with . . . well, let’s see, two small garbage cans, two pots, four bowls, four plates, four coffee mugs (no glasses) and two shower curtains. A good start, but not exactly enough to get us through the next year. So while I feel completely unprepared for the classroom and I have ten-thousand things I could and should be doing to get ready, we –on this our third full day in Hong Kong- are setting off in search of a dish drainer. So with some rather vague directions from our across-the-hall neighbor, off we go.

Hudson may have set off in search of the hoped-for northwest passage through Canada and Cortez may have spent his life in search of the elusive city of gold, but these four intrepid travelers are setting off in search of the fabled Japanese Home Goods store in hopes of buying more hangers, some post-it notes, and a clothes hamper.

This was actually our first time riding the trains and navigating various neighborhoods on our own without a guide. I am happy to report that we did quite well, thank you very much. Granted, our destination was only one train station away, and the mall we were looking for is relatively big and lit up with giant neon signs. But none-the-less, mission accomplished. We now have wash clothes and drawer organizers for both of our desks.

We are doing some serious “nesting” here. It reminds of being newlyweds and setting up our first apartment. It has been both stressful and fun –mostly stressful for Mom and Dad; mostly fun for the girls. For the girls it amounts to playing house on a large scale. But admittedly, it is kind of rewarding settling in and making the apartment our own. Nothing brings a family together like trying to decide if the kitchen table should be positioned left to right or front to back (left to right, it gives a better view out the window). When your life seems to be nothing but variables, its gives a sense of satisfaction when you all agree that these three bottom drawers should be for storing shoes.

For twenty hours there while we somewhere over the north Pacific, I had no drawer for my socks. To be honest, it’s a little unsettling when your socks have no place to call home. But, I am happy to report that I now have a sock drawer (second one from the top, black socks on the left, white socks on the right), and I feel a whole lot better.

Well, now that I have know where I am going to be stowing my toothbrush for the next year, I had better find my way down to my classroom and figure out what I and going to be doing with that classroom full of eighth graders I have been told will be showing up in a couple of days.

-Jack