It has begun…
Yes it has begun. Since I have now finished up work it means that I need to spend the next two weeks cleaning up our apartment and packing everything into boxes. Packing is by far the worst part of moving….but when you are moving overseas but know you are coming back it is even more difficult. I quite like unpacking too but I won`t technically be able to do it for more than a year! So where is the joy in packing?
I have to pack according to three (sometimes four) categories. One, stuff we want to take to Australia (Then this has two sections too- take on board and sending), chucking out/dumping and leaving in Japan. Oh not to mention the fact I am packing up a couple of boxes for cat of stuff we don`t need that she can have (So far most of this has come out of the drugs drawer under our bed….. I have numerous over the counter medicine from Australia and here….Oh and clothes and handbags etc that I can`t take with me that she can have!). All of the stuff we are leaving in Japan is going to one of two place. Most of it is going to Shumpei`s parents place somewhere on their second floor and some of it is going to Cat (Mainly big stuff like our fridge, coffee maker, washing machine, oven etc- She will keep it for the year cos she has just moved and doesn`t have any of those things)
It would be different if we were moving to Australia for good. I could just do a good clean out, sell off our big stuff and then send everything else. But nope, we have to make it difficult by only going for a year. Plus, we will live with dad and he has a fully furnished house.
Well moving date is set to the 27th of April….then I will be out in Chiba for two weeks until I leave on the 13th of May. Shumpei will be here until sometime mid July (Which means I have to pack the stuff he will need between now and then into separate boxes….)….So I now have less than two weeks to get everything in order. At the moment I am trying to tackle one big task a day (although I can`t really pack much into actual boxes yet cos we still need it) and yesterday that was the closet……two full garbage bags later or stuff to dump and two bags for charity later, three coffees and two and a half hours later I was done. It felt good to clean it all out…..I realized, yet again, that I have way to many clothes. Even what is left in there now can`t all be taken to Australia. I packed up our winter coats because we won`t be needing them in Brisbane and even packed away some clothes that are too small now but that I hope to fit into again one day.
Now, I don`t know what to do with the clothes that I want to give to charity. Any ideas from those living in Japan? Giving stuff away in Japan is actually a hard task….All of the clothes are clean and in fairly good condition and I am sure that somebody could get good use out of them. If I can`t give them to a charity of some sort I will have to dump them which seems like such a waste.
Oh and another question. I have an old laptop (4 yrs old) which still works except if you wanted to use it you`d have to plug in a keyboard because the keyboard doesn`t work anymore…..how do you dispose of these in Japan? Can you get like a 100 dollar cash back for the parts somewhere or something like that?
OK, I better go do today`s task. Which is clean out the drawers under the bed…..These drawers are used for everything we don`t know what to do with like manuals, bits of paper, shumpei`s numerous soccer clothes (WHICH HE NEVER USES…..He only uses the same two uniforms every time yet he has like a million others under the bed)……..Wish me luck!
Ps: Shun and I also packed up all the books and manga we didn`t need over the weekend because the book off people came yesterday. 260 books and manga later…..I think we read too much.
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My husband and I can’t live without our books. Every time we have moved the moving company has recommended that we scale down the number of books. They don’t realize that we always go through our books and let go of at least 1/4 of our library before they estimate the weight/cost for moving us. Good luck with your packing!
Ugggh! I hate packing and am not looking forward to doing it myself in a few months. We will have lots of different piles too – sending home, getting rid of, taking on the plane. At least all of the furniture and big stuff was bought here by the company, so they can worry about selling it or whatever after we’ve gone. Good luck with it!
Good luck with all the packing. Moving is always a pain, and it must be even harder since you’ll be back before too long. I got rid of some stuff through Freecycle, and I donated some clothes and things to a place in Yokohama and food and kitchen utensils to Second Harvest (http://www.2hj.org/). It’s a shame it’s so hard to give stuff away in Japan… so much easier here when there’s a Vinnies in every shopping centre!
You can get some kind of charity organisation in Tokyo like Vinnies (I’m sorry I don’t know the exact name) to come and pick up boxes of clothes for free. But they seem to need a lot of advance notice. You could also take them to a recycle shop – they will pay you like 10yen per item or something ridiculous but at least they’re not going to waste!
OMG! I totally need a new laptop and can’t afford to buy an actual new one. Is yours a windows or mac? Would you be interested in selling it to me??? (Also, Sara at Sakura Flavored knows how to contact me by e-mail through FWC- are you on that too?) If you’re interested you could send it to me COD. I would love to help you out by taking some clothes too, but it will be a while before I fit normal clothes again. However, if we can get in touch through e-mail, we may be able to work something out
Hope to hear from you soon (sorry to write this on your blog!)
Packing and moving…. I have been going through my stuff and deciding what I want to bring back to Japan with me, what I want mum to store, and what I need to dump… It’s not a fun experience! Although I understand about the unpacking part. I am so excited about organising “our” new house… wherever it may be!
There’s a clothes swap on April 27th at the Pink Cow – take your clothes there, and then even if they don’t go, they go to the Sally Army, or take them to the Sally Army or call teh Sally Army to come and get them.
That’s my best advice! But the clothes swaps are such good fun. I take my clothes there even when I am not picking up!
Sigsy! I really wanted to go the clothes swap! I have been before at the pink cow and had a great time but I am actually moving ON THE 27th! Which is a shame! (I remember you mentioning it and wrote it down but now that we are moving that day, going is impossible!
Thanks to everyone else for the advice. I have contacted two places by email but have not heard anything back yet. Will give the Salvation Army a ring tomorrow also!
And to everyone else getting ready to move etc! Good luck!