At (a New) Home
We're here. We're officially residents of Bloomington, Indiana as of yesterday. And...so far, so good. I still feel like I'm holding my breath a little. But here is how it all went down:
Thursday
8 a.m. Car folks arrive to ship car
9:30 a.m. Four movers (who are amazingly nice and extremely accommodating with my micro-managing tendencies) arrive, pack, and load our apartment. It is a very positive experience.
5:00 p.m. Movers leave. Kris, Saya and I leave for good. Surprisingly, I don't feel as emotional as I thought I would. Leaving our empty apartment is much less difficult than thinking about leaving a full apartment the week before. I choose to close the door and walk away without looking back. I am afraid the emotions will be too overwhelming.
6:00 p.m. Buy iPhones and set up a new AT&T account.
7:00 p.m. Meet Marsha, Daphna and Nicole at Gordon Biersch (where Kris and I met for the first time). Drinking a mojito is, um, necessary.
9:00 p.m. My mom, Saya, Kris, Nicole and I go to Marsha's, where we meet up with Chienyo and eat bacon ice cream. Marsha gifts us with brownies, lemon bars and chocolate chip cookies...and an amazing customized book she made herself on Flickr, called "Saya's California Adventures". That is what really gets to me...I start tearing up and holding back the sobs. The book is filled with pictures of our little family...and our friends...and our good times in California. All narrated by Marsha. It is, seriously, the sweetest gift I have ever received from a friend.
11:00 p.m. Kris, Saya and I check into a Best Western in Palo Alto for the night. My mom stays overnight at Marsha's.
Friday
4:00 a.m. Wakeup, frantic re-packing of our million and one pieces of luggage
5:00 a.m. Pick up mom at Marsha's and drive to airport. Decide at the last minute that we can't take three pieces of luggage with us, and ask mom to ship them to us.
5:20 a.m. Arrive at airport
6:30 a.m. Flight to Minneapolis. Saya is a doll - she never cries and sleeps for a good chunk of the flight.
12:30 p.m. CST Flight from Minneapolis to Indianapolis (what's with all the polises in the Midwest?!). Saya sleeps for nearly the entire flight. I try to breathe as I realize we are the only Asians on the plane. I channel Samuel L. Jackson: "GET THESE MOTHER@*@*# ASIANS OFF THIS MOTHER*#*$*#*# PLANE!!!!" feeling like I need to jump ship immediately. Thank goodness I calm down. Yes, this is the Midwest. We will survive.
3:30 p.m. EST Arrive in Indianapolis
6:00 p.m. EST Arrive at our fabulous summer sublet in Bloomington (we'll be staying here for two months until our rental home becomes available). I manage to unpack almost all six suitcases. It feels so great to move into a beautiful, chic, fully furnished 3-bedroom luxury home and not have to think about anything...no setting up utilities, no re-arranging furniture. I feel so lucky to have my amazing colleague Nicole who is so generous to let us stay in her place. Saya is OBSESSED with the open floor plan and is exploring everything. Including the huge, amazing walk-in shower. Yes, we have that. Nyanyanyanya!
8:00 p.m. Dinner at Esan Thai. Amazing pineapple fried rice. Surprisingly, I feel elated and energized. It's a new beginning for us.
11:00 p.m. Bedtime!
Saturday
11:00 a.m. Kris and Saya wake up
12:00 p.m. I wake up, feeling great! Did I mention that one of our "essential" luggage items included our beloved espresso machine and coffee grinder? Yes, we are crazy. But having one of Kris's lattes this morning was so, so, so good. Such familiar comfort.
2:00 p.m. Brunch at FARMbloomington. It's a local place with lots of hype but meh food. I try to stay positive but my experience matches that of my previous Yelp review.
3:00 p.m. Exploration of the local College Mall, where we buy iPhone covers and a summer wardrobe for Saya.
4:00 p.m. Target run!
6:00 p.m. Back to the house.
8:00 p.m. Dinner at Casablanca Cafe, the Moroccan restaurant here. It is terrible, despite its glowing Yelp reviews. I slowly try to digest that I think I've seen every single street in this town...in a single day. I keep asking Kris "but isn't there more that we haven't seen?!" as he shakes his head no. After dinner, we drive around for 40 minutes on a quest to find the "other" parts of Bloomington we haven't yet seen. Turns out there is not much else, except for a lake that looks like the Blair Witch Project was filmed there.
9:30 p.m. "Home". Shower with Saya in the walk-in shower. Did I mention we have a walk-in shower? Nyanyanyanyanya!
Did you mention you live in NOT Indiana?! (I know...nyanyanyanyanyanya.)
Thursday
8 a.m. Car folks arrive to ship car
9:30 a.m. Four movers (who are amazingly nice and extremely accommodating with my micro-managing tendencies) arrive, pack, and load our apartment. It is a very positive experience.
5:00 p.m. Movers leave. Kris, Saya and I leave for good. Surprisingly, I don't feel as emotional as I thought I would. Leaving our empty apartment is much less difficult than thinking about leaving a full apartment the week before. I choose to close the door and walk away without looking back. I am afraid the emotions will be too overwhelming.
6:00 p.m. Buy iPhones and set up a new AT&T account.
7:00 p.m. Meet Marsha, Daphna and Nicole at Gordon Biersch (where Kris and I met for the first time). Drinking a mojito is, um, necessary.
9:00 p.m. My mom, Saya, Kris, Nicole and I go to Marsha's, where we meet up with Chienyo and eat bacon ice cream. Marsha gifts us with brownies, lemon bars and chocolate chip cookies...and an amazing customized book she made herself on Flickr, called "Saya's California Adventures". That is what really gets to me...I start tearing up and holding back the sobs. The book is filled with pictures of our little family...and our friends...and our good times in California. All narrated by Marsha. It is, seriously, the sweetest gift I have ever received from a friend.
11:00 p.m. Kris, Saya and I check into a Best Western in Palo Alto for the night. My mom stays overnight at Marsha's.
Friday
4:00 a.m. Wakeup, frantic re-packing of our million and one pieces of luggage
5:00 a.m. Pick up mom at Marsha's and drive to airport. Decide at the last minute that we can't take three pieces of luggage with us, and ask mom to ship them to us.
5:20 a.m. Arrive at airport
6:30 a.m. Flight to Minneapolis. Saya is a doll - she never cries and sleeps for a good chunk of the flight.
12:30 p.m. CST Flight from Minneapolis to Indianapolis (what's with all the polises in the Midwest?!). Saya sleeps for nearly the entire flight. I try to breathe as I realize we are the only Asians on the plane. I channel Samuel L. Jackson: "GET THESE MOTHER@*@*# ASIANS OFF THIS MOTHER*#*$*#*# PLANE!!!!" feeling like I need to jump ship immediately. Thank goodness I calm down. Yes, this is the Midwest. We will survive.
3:30 p.m. EST Arrive in Indianapolis
6:00 p.m. EST Arrive at our fabulous summer sublet in Bloomington (we'll be staying here for two months until our rental home becomes available). I manage to unpack almost all six suitcases. It feels so great to move into a beautiful, chic, fully furnished 3-bedroom luxury home and not have to think about anything...no setting up utilities, no re-arranging furniture. I feel so lucky to have my amazing colleague Nicole who is so generous to let us stay in her place. Saya is OBSESSED with the open floor plan and is exploring everything. Including the huge, amazing walk-in shower. Yes, we have that. Nyanyanyanya!
8:00 p.m. Dinner at Esan Thai. Amazing pineapple fried rice. Surprisingly, I feel elated and energized. It's a new beginning for us.
11:00 p.m. Bedtime!
Saturday
11:00 a.m. Kris and Saya wake up
12:00 p.m. I wake up, feeling great! Did I mention that one of our "essential" luggage items included our beloved espresso machine and coffee grinder? Yes, we are crazy. But having one of Kris's lattes this morning was so, so, so good. Such familiar comfort.
2:00 p.m. Brunch at FARMbloomington. It's a local place with lots of hype but meh food. I try to stay positive but my experience matches that of my previous Yelp review.
3:00 p.m. Exploration of the local College Mall, where we buy iPhone covers and a summer wardrobe for Saya.
4:00 p.m. Target run!
6:00 p.m. Back to the house.
8:00 p.m. Dinner at Casablanca Cafe, the Moroccan restaurant here. It is terrible, despite its glowing Yelp reviews. I slowly try to digest that I think I've seen every single street in this town...in a single day. I keep asking Kris "but isn't there more that we haven't seen?!" as he shakes his head no. After dinner, we drive around for 40 minutes on a quest to find the "other" parts of Bloomington we haven't yet seen. Turns out there is not much else, except for a lake that looks like the Blair Witch Project was filmed there.
9:30 p.m. "Home". Shower with Saya in the walk-in shower. Did I mention we have a walk-in shower? Nyanyanyanyanya!
Did you mention you live in NOT Indiana?! (I know...nyanyanyanyanyanya.)
