The Sofa Dilemma

We bought a sofa. Actually, we bought a sofa set: sofa, love seat, chair and a 1/2, and ottoman. This was a huge thing for me because it meant more than anything that our enviable expat life was temporarily/permanently on hold or forever finished.


Something I like to call The Sofa Dilemma was first brought to my attention by a dear friend and American expat still living in exciting Seoul, South Korea. This friend and I would meet to eat and shop when I lived in Seoul ('06-'08). On these outings I found myself gazing at all the neat kitchen utensils, shower curtains, rugs, and bedding patterns at Kosney. I could daydreamshop for hours there. However, it was worthless time spent and torturous because I couldn't really buy anything. Essentially, I was living abroad did not want to lug it all home to my non-existent house in the US and I could not fathom actually moving into a house in the US. I was living a fantasy - living abroad. Anyway, my friend had another expat friend call or email her suddenly from the US saying that she was having a near breakdown . . . because she had finally done it. After years of living abroad and returning to the US, she had bit the bullet and bought a sofa. Her expat life was over - finished.


The Sofa Dilemma is an event that really fits into reverse culture shock, or thinking the grass is greener on the other side (of the world), and that once you own a large piece of furniture that you cannot go back to nomadic expat life. The past few weeks I have felt frustrated, overwhelmed, rushed, confused, worried, scared, relieved, and excited - and sometimes all of those in one day! I have wondered a few times if I'd made a mistake leaving the Arabian Gulf to come here. Then I look outside and remember that I have the freedom to run in shorts, can buy a beer, give my husband a peck on the cheek in public, get to work with American instructors of similar teaching backgrounds, etc. At times I've even thought that surely moving elsewhere in the US (home) or staying where we were would have been easier. Then again, I've never lived anywhere in the US full-time other than as my parents' dependent or a graduate student. House hunting, buying things for the house, and getting services set up were all new things to me. Thank goodness for my husband! Also, at the suggestion of a dear colleague, I made a sketch book to remind me clearly of all the things that were difficult about living in Qatar. Those images do not sugar coat the reality that we faced on a daily basis: life was hard and/or unpleasant nearly every day we were in Qatar.


That is why we are so glad to be in Oregon now. In general things are good! We've been in Oregon for over 10 days and we're still unpacking boxes, but we do have a sofa set coming before July 14th! I'm slowly starting to love the idea of being "settled." I love the idea of exploring the NW, taking university classes for a reduced rate, and RUNNING again, and riding my new bike to work.


Until Next Time,
WW

The Oregon Trail

We left Qatar on June 1st in the wee hours of the morning. We were eager to eat Mexican food, drink buckets of Dr. Pepper, and wander aimlessly through super American places like Wal-Mart. I was excited about wearing shorts and possibly tank tops without worrying about conservative Gulf Arabs staring in judgement at my white pasty skin.

After hours of flying, we finally arrived in fields of green. Our homeland had been flooded actually. We were met at the airport by my parents and later met up with M's family for a quick dinner at McAlister's.

We planned to stay at my parents' lake house so we had to plan out our days without wasting any time. We would have less than two weeks to drive from Missouri to Oregon, but also had a lot on our list to accomplish in just about one week:

- renew my driver's license (paper test and driver's test)
- merge all bank accounts (from 5 to 2)
- buy a car
- get car insurance
- tag and title the car
- have a meal or two with friends and families
- get a rental truck or pod or upack to move our stuff
- pack our stuff (this took a whole day!)
- pack the cats and our necessary stuff in our car
- drive to Oregon!
- find a house!
- contact the university and get to work!

As usual, I have had a few panic attacks in the past 25 days - getting out of Qatar, flying home, moving out to Oregon, and finding a home out here. However, things are good. We're sitting on the floor of our 2 bedroom 1 bath home. I am typing away on a new little laptop; it is tiny so I can carry it with me as a bike to work every day! Frankie and Sophia are their usual kitty selves - fighting, snuggling, and creating hours of entertainment for us.

Thank goodness they are with us because we ain't got nothing else! We packed our container on a Thursday, drove to Oregon on Friday and Saturday. We took only what we'd need and told the Upack ABF truck to take their time transporting our stuff as we still had not found housing. We checked into a Motel 6 that allowed cats for three nights. We found our house on the third day, and moved on the fourth day. In all that I still managed to panic.

Things are good though. Our laundry list of stuff to do for settling in the US is getting shorter each day. I'm just not settled mentally - more on that in the next blog post!

Until Next Time,
WW