Boxes and boxes of stuff

Our boxes of household goods finally arrived from Denmark. Once the boxes arrived, it was evident WHY it took 3 weeks....

While in Denmark we packed up all of our boxes. On the trip over we had 15 boxes, two of which were bike boxes. We accumulated a little stuff, packaged our suitcases a bit different, and had one less suitcase on the return trip, so we had 7 extra paperbox-size boxes for the return trip. The moving guy arrived, said we did a great job packing, so he didn't have to repack anything. He would just seal all the boxes and load them up. Perfect. The other option was to repack and relabel all the boxes while I stood in the entryway.

I meticulously labeled and packed each box. Packed so tightly, not even a fly could stowaway.

Imagine my surprise when the boxes arrived and all our boxes were replaced with Alfa moving boxes...moving boxes with NO labels. Nothing. Great. They unpacked and repacked all my stuff. Now I had 33 boxes with no clue what was in each box. 33 boxes that were 3/4 full. 3 boxes were even half full. I'm not making this up...I even took pictures of each.and.every.box! I guess that explains the 'overage' in our moving allowance. And to top things off, my stuff smelled like cigarette smoke.

Interesting how the moving company failed to mention that they repacked our stuff. Interesting how they failed to mention that was the reason for the 3 week delay. Interesting how they repacked the items to take up more space, thus padding their account just a bit.

I haven't unpacked every box...yet. I'm still going through the painstaking process of unpacking, finding the items on the master 5 page document and checking it off....then, of course, how bad does it smell, do I need to wash it, or toss it. Lovely. Thank you Alfa moving. I should probably send you a bill. My hourly rate is pretty high.

I'm getting a little tired of folks making additional work for me.

So, there's my latest Danish complaint. My next post will be about something great about Denmark....I do have a few things :-)

On to the next chapter

I've started the last page in the chapter "Life as an Expat in Denmark."


Our outstationing in Denmark has ended. Our last few weeks in Denmark were busy...meeting up with our European and other expat friends, packing, and getting things ready for repatriotization back to the United States.


Our time in Europe has been full of adventures, excitement and new experiences (some of which, I'll quickly purge from my memory!). We've made some wonderful friends along the way and will miss them dearly....there's always an open invitation to visit Chicagoland...hint, hint.

We will treasure our time in Europe and will gladly accept another offer to work (not me) and travel (yeah baby) just about anywhere in the world.

We've been working on adjusting to our new life in the USA. It is definitely 'home.' Our social calendar has been full, meeting up with all of our friends and catching up.

We've also been doing our part to stimulate the economy....buying local whenever possible. I think the initial hemorrage has subsided and now we have a slow, but steady leak.

I have a long list of questions folks have asked about living in Denmark, so I'm planning to post all the answers and helpful information to living (and working) in Denmark.

The next adventure awaits...

Moving, moving, moving

Dear Danish moving company...(yes, you) -

My patience is gone.
It was supposed to take 1 week.
You've had my stuff for 3 weeks.
What is a fair rate for holding my stuff hostage?
Free shipping is a good compromise.

Thank you.