Eric's Beijing Diary

Whew! What a job! I really do not like moving. The University is doing a massive renovation of the 14th floor, which is where my apartment is. To keep us out of the way, they have provided apartments for us for the summer. They hired a moving company to move us over to the temporary quarters, but we were supposed to pack everything up. I wasn't worried. I walked into that apartment two years ago with two suitcases. Actually, a suitcase and John's old army dufflebag. I thought, "How hard can this be?"

Man, it's amazing how stuff just sort of accumulates over the years. Even just two of them. Seems to be a little bit of everything. For one thing, every time I have some friends come and cook for a party, it seems like I end up buying some utensil or other. So I have a kitchen full of dishes, and they are a bit hard to pack. The guy from the International office said, "It seems that you like to cook Chinese food." Actually, I am not much good at cooking it, but my friends are, and I am very good at eating it. My Chinese daughter came to the rescue. She brought over a suitcase for the dishes.

I hate moving. This one came by surprise. It's a nuisance, but I suppose if they are doing a major renovation, they feel better having us out of there. The apartment I am in for the summer is a little smaller, but it will do. I lived in a truck for many years. What the university provides me is more than adequate. As long as it is clean and quiet, and I have a hot shower, what more can I ask for?

Jean and Claire came over today to help me get everything put away. The moving guys hauled all my stuff over, which was nice, because in China, there is a general rule that if a building doesn't have more than six floors, it doesn't need an elevator. Guess which floor they put me on. And six weeks from now, I have to do the whole thing over again.