Countdown to departure

The move process is such a drag. As many times as I have moved in my life, you would think I could just go into autopilot and get it done! But it seems the "to-do" list haunts my dreams and keeps me from focusing during the day because I am worried I forgot this form or the other.

Aside from the mechanics and coordination of the move itself, there is the personal and professional side of leaving. The work here is challenging and while at times frustrating, there is definitely a sense of let-down by not seeing a job finished. I wonder if the next assignment will be as challenging or interesting. The people that I have met have become so special to me, and now I have to leave. The many things I still want to see and do in Italy and the many plans we have made that will not be; these things make me a bit sad.

Yet because of my faith in the Lord and belief that there is a plan for me for future, I know I must let go and move on. To try and cling to something beyond the time, well, it is never as good as you think it will be. So off we go! This post is about the leaving events and the changes we are experiencing in the process.

It takes a village to move two people from Italy to the US

My company definitely outsources all the different jobs to different places so that we have a dozen or so people to work with to get things done.

• Major US move coordinator with the moving company
• Italian counterpart to the move coordinator
• Residency in reverse person
• Turn in the leased car person
• Convert the computer, transfer the Blackberry to US, retrieve the computing assets that stay in Italy person
• Temporary living residence in the US contact person
• Counseling for reverse culture shock person
• Cancel our lease, utilities, and close out with the landlord person
• Change the forwarding mailbox person
• Handle the special expenses and allowances person
• Count the beans travel audit person (this one adds no value whatsoever, and drives us all crazy)
• Find another job in the US person
• Approve my expense reports, travel plans and time card person - after Mar. 5 I have no idea who this is!

How many is that? I have lost track and there are probably a few more I forgot in the process.

How many forms do you need to move two people from Italy to the US?

Wasn't there a bill passed a while back called the Paperwork Reduction Act? Well, they never made it to this process. So far these are all the forms we need to fill out:

• US Customs Form Declaration for Free Entry Form 3299
• Supplemental Form for Unaccompanied Personal and Household Goods
• Power of Attorney form (lets the moving company act on your behalf with Customs)
• Destination Contact form
• Valuation Claim Form (insurance inventory for household goods shipment)
• Guest Lease Agreement (for temporary living accomodations)

In case you have insomnia

For your reading pleasure there is an International Assignment Handbook of 301 pages but thankfully I only have to read Chapter 14 Repatriation for now. There is also the Household Goods Insurance Guide, Altair Guide to Your Household Shipment which is a cliff notes version of International Moving Guide. That refers you to several websites for USDA APHIS, IRS, and US Customs and Border Protection. Are you asleep yet? How can I possibly be awake after all that fun reading!!

Let's make a list

So our move is basically three pieces: what we take with us in baggage on the airlines, what we have air shipped, and what is sea shipped. It takes a fair amount of time to sort through and think through what stuff goes into each category.

My company pays for additional baggage to be checked on our return trip so we will end up taking about 9 suitcases for the two of us. That sounds like a lot but we have to live out of these bags up to 3 weeks plus it includes many items that cannot or should not be shipped any other way:

• current season clothing for about 3 weeks
• jewelry
• important papers (including insurance policies, deeds, titles, medical, appraisals, appliance manuals, birth certificates, tax records, real estate documents, etc.)
• toiletries
• medicine
• work and personal computers
• family photos
• liquids like oil or wine you are taking back
• any food or gift items

The air shipment will arrive in about 3 weeks. There is a weight limit on it but it is a generous limit and we didn't have a problem on the trip out. This includes all the rest of our off season clothes, items I don't want sitting in a sea container like my electronic sewing machine or family heirlooms, plus tools and equipment that we will need to work on our house and get it move-in ready, home office furniture and printer, and odds and ends of a few kitchen items needed for making a life comfortable in a temp apartment.

Finally the sea shipment is everything else. That arrives in 6 - 8 weeks but more likely 8 weeks is what they are telling me now.

Oh, and we can't forget the things that we already have in storage we didn't bring to Italy in the first place. We don't even remember what most of that is and will probably wonder why in the world we have it at all! I think the garage sale is at the Coss house in about 8 weeks!

A few more things I don't like about living in Italy

Furniture without ergonomics

The offices I have worked in were very austere and the furniture pre-ergonomic. The desks were not adjustable heights, no adjustable keyboards, lighting is harsh overhead fluorescent without adjustments, and many chairs are so uncomfortable that in long meetings you are guaranteed a back ache. 

We just finished doing a workshop where the chairs we had were plastic molded type with the swing arm writing surfaces, reminescent of high school. Trying sitting in those for 2 days!

Even the 5 star hotels I have stayed in preferred furniture that looks good rather than fits good.

Smoking

Italians still smoke in total disregard to the health issues. I have seen very few advertisements warning about the dangers of smoking and it doesn't seem to be a priority at all in this culture. In many restaurants and public places they are not supposed to smoke, however they stand at an open door or window and smoke, and then all the smoke drifts back into the building anyway. Coming through a door there is a cloud of smoke where a dozen people are gathered around smoking. It is pretty obnoxious and in general, there is little respect for the non-smoker's comfort.

Vending machine in case the Tabacchi shop is closed and you need cigarettes

All the popular brands

Loosing Electricitiy
We have had numerous problems with electricity in our villa. Many of the issues had to do with the problems with the wiring in the house itself, which was cobbled together by 'shade tree' electricians and is an impossible mass of wiring running in hundreds of directions.

In addition to problems with the wiring in the house itself, we are limited to 6 kw per house (most Italian homes only have 3 kw). When you hit that, the breaker at the road kicks and everything goes dark. This has happened to me several times. Recently I have figured out we can't turn on the heat pumps and the microwave oven at the same time. Sometimes it is the oven and the microwave, or the washer and the heat pumps, etc. In other words, it is a dice roll what you can turn on at the same time.

Multi-tasking, Phone etiquette and  Voicemail
 I am in a work environment where voicemail is standard and expected. If you don't reach someone, you leave a message. In Italy, the business culture doesn't do that. Many have voicemail capability but never use it or even set it up. Instead they call and call and call. Sometimes they will call you right back and keep calling. It is quite annoying to see four calls in a row from someone and they didn't leave a message. Obviously if I could answer the phone, I would. Not sure what is the thinking about this. I have challenged a few people when they say "I called you but you didn't answer". I say really, "Did you leave a message?" They get a very guilty looking grin on their faces. So I am beginning to believe it is part of the game that is played to make people feel very important that you have to call them multiple times to reach them.

The other annoying thing is the status of getting cell phone calls in a meeting. I have been in many meetings where the Italians sit at the table and answer calls and sit there talking, right in the middle of the meeting. They don't silence their phones, they don't get up and leave the meeting to have a private conversation either. It is clearly a powerplay that says "I am so important I get many calls and those calls take priority of you and this meeting". It is not just working meetings either, it is in Executive reviews with the CEO and VP; they all do the same thing. Finally the US VP told them to get up and leave the meeting, and they do, but they still make a big show of letting the phone ring loudly, and answering, and then getting up to slowly leave the room.

More Things I love about living in Italy

People Still Make House Calls and Give Free Delivery
This includes all kinds of service people as well as stores that make deliveries. It is so surprising to me that people come to the house to bring you things, that I always forget to calculate that into my plans. Here are some examples:

• The grocery store will deliver your groceries (remember many people don't have cars, they walk everywhere or take the bus)
• Drs. will come after 8pm and before 8am on a house call.
• The mechanic will come to the house, change your tires, pick up your car and take it to the shop, and then later return it
• The nurseries, furniture stores, any number of businesses will all deliver for free; the only thing you should do is invite them in and offer them coffee (Italian coffee)
• The wood for the fireplace was delivered and stacked expertly at no charge
• The farmacia delivers medicines

Men Still Do Chivalrous Things for Women
Men in Italy usually open doors for women, give women their seat, open car doors, help you in and out of the car (which at my stage of life I really need!), offer you a hand to step up or down, unlock doors, carry heavy parcels, buy you coffee, take your coat, help you on/off with your coat, lift and carry heavy things, get things down off the top shelf, open your water bottle for you (those plastic lids are welded on), scrape your windshield of ice, etc, etc.

There are many men in the US, especially the older generation, that do these acts of kindness also. It is mainly the younger generation of men that are not being taught. Or perhaps it is the younger women who view it as "unequal" to receive these courties where as I view it as just that, courtesies and kindness and I am always happy for the help!

Use the 5 min. Rule for Parking Anywhere
So you remember the 5 second rule when you drop some tasty morsel on the floor? Well, the Italians have taken that to another level. You can park anywhere you want, I mean anywhere -- in the middle of the street, going the wrong direction, on the sidewalk, across a driveway, sticking out in the street, or in Mercogliano, double or triple parked and blocking the entire road -- all you do is put on your flashers and run into the store to get something! I love it! The basic problem is the streets are very narrow and there isn't enough parking so people do this and you don't get a ticket. People just drive around you.

Prescription Medicine is Cheap
I am still baffled by the huge difference in the price of prescription medicines. Things like Omeprazol (Prilosec) and Fexophenadine (Allegra) that are not even prescription drugs in the US any more but they are still relatively expensive. I pay more than most Italians because I am getting the prescription from a private doctor instead of a public health doctor, but what I pay is dirt cheap compared to what I pay in the US. This is strictly a situation of pricing the drugs to what the market will bear. In Italy people would never pay what people in the US pay for medicines.

Really Fresh, Locally Grown Natural Food
The Italians would be amused by the CSA/locally grown food emphasis in the past few years; they have always done that and can't imagine why anyone would sacrifice flavor and quality by picking food green, spraying it with chemicals and shipping food thousands of miles. They are so picky about fish and vegetables and fruit being fresh, they turn up their noses at anything more than a couple days from the vine.

In addition they typically use very little pesticides, fungicides, hormones or antibiotics in their meat, no genetically altered hybrids, and all their chickens are free range -- what other kind is there?

The drawback to some might be a more limited variety of fruits and vegetables out of season. They do import somethings from Africa, so you can get fresh pineapple, for example, in Italy and yet none is grown here. Other things that are imported are avocados (which I dearly love), berries, aged beef (they don't age their meat in Italy), cold water fish such as salmon that come from the northern Atlantic waters, and limes (from Brazil). You pay more for these but they are available.