moving

I used to move on a yearly basis when I went to college in the US. It was a handy way of keeping all the amounts of clutter in check. Regardless of my intents, I still left the US with four suitcases instead of the two I arrived with way back in 2001. My last college roommate in California studied Chinese, and her term for all the "stuff" was dongxi. I thought of that word as I moved a few days ago, piling my boxes of books, my suitcases of winter clothes and bags of odds and ends into a car, contemplating the need for a dongxi diet! I suppose that on the grand scale of things, it is still not a lot of stuff, since it doesn't even fill an eighth of the storage shed where I left it for the duration of my travels, but it still made me wonder how much of it all I actually need. Really, not much.

But I am on the move again, having finished the packing and errands of the crazy last days in Helsinki and having left that part of world for a month and a half. As I write this, I am at my friend Crystal's house in Michigan, with another high school friend across the dining table from me writing letters to the world on her laptop. My coffee cup is empty, the sun shines brightly outside and a tree in the corner of the back yard is waiting for our limbs to scamper onto it and perch in its branches. I am excited for all that the coming month will contain! Dear faces and places, memories that are both pleasant and sad, perhaps a meeting with my past self that will result in greater awareness and growth.

In terms of some first impressions, I had forgotten the views of suburbia and strip malls with stores like Kroger's and Wal-Mart and Starbucks. One of my first whiffs was of fabric softener from clothes out of a dryer, which might not seem so remarkable, but in Finland we usually line-dry clothing. I haven't missed much in terms of food, but now that I think about it, I would really like some chocolate chip cookie dough! I am back in a world where we drive conveniently around everywhere in a car (public transportation like buses is not available here) and the homes have whole-floor carpets and air-conditioning that requires the use of a sweater inside the house. And one thing I find extremely favorable is the exchange rate of the dollar and euro! But in spite of my great buying power, just remind me along the way that I don't need to buy more dongxi to take back home! :)