I got up this morning to be ready for my 8-10am window for the internet people to come figure out why I don't have internet. I was excited to have some tea in my new pink teapot and a bowl of cereal. I was proud of myself for actually buying tea, cereal, and milk yesterday as well. The milk is somewhat scary though because they have 18 kinds of milk and yogurt here and I can't read any of it. Apparently one kind is "old milk." I don't want old milk. I also don't want buttermilk. It is possible I ended up with both though. I didn't get to try it though because after I got my tea bag out, I remembered I don't have any cups to put the tea in! And then I don't have any bowls to put the cereal in! I have plastic silverware and paper plates, but neither of those are going to help with tea and cereal. Moving to Finland fail #87.
The internet guy did come fix my problem which is good but the bad news is he said he has no idea what they did and doubts my cable TV will work and I have to contact the apartment owner to figure that out. Sounds simple enough but will be anything but.
The Ikea people came as well. I have furniture now! I may just stack the boxes in a furniture-like fashion because actually building the stuff isn't happening any time soon. There are 3 services that do it and it is anywhere from days to months before anyone can come. Awesome. I haven't worked out in a while - I guess over a week now. I'm getting one hell of a workout carrying whatever I buy to my apartment, walking everywhere, and now moving 50-80 lb boxes around my apartment.
The best part of this all is that work is busy right now - it is monthly close. Next time I move continents, I'm not going to do it anywhere near close (...if that happens to be possible).
Caitlin is coming weekend after next which is great. For those of you who don't know, she was one of my best friends growing up and she and her husband just moved to Amsterdam for an expat assignment. Thrilled to know someone on the continent!
Thursday Night Update
I just need to come to accept that nothing is going to be easy about this. And then will have to recite the "A League of Their Own" quote about things being hard over and over again.
I started rummaging through my Ikea haul and sure enough I ordered one piece incorrectly. How do I go about getting it back? Best I know so far is to haul the box (thankfully only 25 lbs) to the bus and take it that way. Then haul the heavier, correct one home the same way. I refuse to pay 59 euros delivery for a 159 euros piece of furniture. Now, the 119 euros total for delivery of everything I got today was totally worth it - just not for one piece. I could take a cab back but that will be close to $50 so not necessarily much better.
This afternoon was my second Finnish class and I'm realizing I have zero talent for learning this language. I am not picking up a thing. I think it is quite possible my brain is already full and not able to take on much more at the moment. I know I'm not stupid, but this just isn't working right now. And for whatever reason, all the foreign language stuff is just making me want to re-learn (or learn...) French. Funny how much more confidence I have there since I at least have a small clue about that language. The class is 4 weeks long and I think offered 2 more times this summer - maybe I'll take it again and second time will be a charm. We will see.
I sent my air shipment (clothes, few kitchen items, bedding, plug adapters, etc) 2 weeks before I left specifically so I would have it within a day or two of arrival. There is no word now on when I will get it. I'm running out of clothes and have to move a plug adapter between rooms each time I want to do something (hair dryer, roku, apple TV, laptop, 2 iphones, ipad). The straw that may have broken my back today was my washing machine delivery. Thankfully they delivered it after my class, but what do you know that it wouldn't fit in the cabinet that is supposedly built to fit a washing machine. The random wiring is looking what is in the way - if that is moved it is still questionable as to whether the machine will fit entirely in. So now I have it halfway out in the middle of the kitchen with the cabinet door taken off. I am excited to finally be able to wash the clothes I do have here but I don't have any detergent - it is with the rest of my stuff somewhere in Finland. Yes, I can buy some. Hopefully I'll remember to do that. I'm just a little frustrated about the number of things I'm having to buy while waiting for my stuff to get here.
I'm supposed to buy kitchen things (plates, silverware, pots/pans, etc) off an expat who is moving tomorrow afternoon. If that goes well, I'll be very happy - I'll have cups and bowls...and at a great price!
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