Tonight, I spend my final night in Apartment 301 of Building 9, Shenandoah Commons Apartments, Front Royal, Virginia. It's been a good run. Over the past week, I finally learned the names of my next-door neighbors, all of whom seem much nicer than I would have reckoned had I never communicated with them. In fact, it's something of a shame that we're only just getting to know each other now, but that's the price I've had to pay for both my own introversion and my weird working hours: I just haven't had the chance to interact with neighbors. Lord, how I'm looking forward to working normal, regular, human hours.
Today was another sweaty one. I probably went up and down my apartment building's stairs about fifteen times—first to load my own car with the remaining boxes, and then to load my brother David's SUV when he and his wife arrived to help. Right now, at the end of all that va-et-vient, my knees are grumbling. I'm also not looking forward to sleeping on the floor again; last night, I camped out with my sleeping bag and two foam pads (I stuffed the sleeping bag's container sack with shirts to make a pillow), and I ended up sleeping only about three-and-a-half hours. Tomorrow night, at least, I'll spend my final night in America in a real bed.
So let's talk about what happens tomorrow. Monday, August 12, is my official move-out day. Everything must go. I've got to have all my belongings packed, the apartment entirely cleaned, all the garbage thrown out, all the cleaning supplies and final possessions loaded into my car. I've got to turn in my apartment keys, wait to hear the maintenance guys' assessment of damage (they're gonna screw me out of my entire damage deposit, I just know it), then find out how much my refund check will be,* and when it'll come to my brother (whose address in Alexandria is now my forwarding address). After I leave my apartment, I'll drive to CubeSmart self-storage one final time, drop off my remaining possessions, then head over to Mike's place in Fredericksburg, where I'll abandon my Honda Fit, placing it in the care of Mike and family (I'll still be paying insurance and car-loan installments). I'll wait there a few hours until David and Patricia swoop down from their jobs in DC (they work in the same building—imagine that); they'll pick me up, I'll say my final goodbyes to Mike et al., then David will take me to one of my favorite Italian joints: Maggiano's at Tysons Corner** in McLean, Virginia. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my other brother, Sean, will also be coming to Maggiano's. I had thought that Sean was away teaching at his music camp, but I guess camp is done now.
Once my gut has been stuffed full of pasta, chicken, shellfish, and molluscs, I'll say goodbye to Sean, then drive home with David and Patricia, where I'll attempt to go to sleep early. Tuesday morning at 3AM, I've got to wake up and prep: David and I will need to leave the house by 4AM to get me to Dulles Airport by 5AM, two hours before my 7AM departure. I feel sorry for David, who has to work that day. "You might as well stay up all night," said my buddy Steve when he heard about my 3AM reveille. I imagine David will drop me off at the airport's entrance, then drive off into the sunrise (or something like that). At that point, I'll be on my own and stepping across the threshold into my new and—we hope—radically improved life.
ADDENDUM: once I pack up my Big Mac, any blogging I do will be through my laptop.
*Because I'm leaving partway through the month, I was asked to pay the full rent for August, after which I would receive a refund for the portion of August in which I was not a resident. This calculation doesn't begin until 3-4 days after I leave, because the office needs time to send in several waves of maintenance crews to spiff up the place for the next resident: painters, carpet cleaners, counter polishers, dusters, plumbers, etc. So in my case, that means a refund that covers, oh, the 16th of August to the 31st. That's about 16 days, so assuming this means a refund worth 16/31 of my $780 rent, then I ought to be getting a check for about half my rent, i.e., about $390. Since my final paycheck from YB will also be only a half pay period, YB's pay plus the refund check ought to amount to enough money to cover my debts until the end of the month. I've had to hit up my brothers and one friend for one final set of loans to push me over the fence, so to speak, but once I start earning dinero in Korea, I ought to be able to pay everyone back fairly expeditiously.
**Tysons Corner, like the store Wegmans, is often misspelled with an apostrophe. Nope: Tysons, not Tyson's; Wegmans, not Wegman's.
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Bon Voyage Kev. Looking forward to hearing of your adventures over in the land of the morning Kimchee breath. I've been skype tutoring a student and she has been saying that the temperatures have been up over the 40s. We are struggling to get over 10 here :(
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. And perhaps I'll have the wherewithal, one day, to jaunt down to Enn Zed to cavort among the kiwis. And Kiwis.
ReplyDeleteI hope all goes well moving out and moving in.
ReplyDeletegood luck, kevin! im so happy for you! cant wait to read about the next part of your life!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
ReplyDelete@John: I think your student might have been exaggerating a wee bit. There was one day last week in one part of the country (somewhere down south) that hit 40, but otherwise the temps here have been lower-to-mid 30s in Seoul and mid-to-upper 30s down south.
Of course, with the humidity here, it's way worse than a "dry" 40 in, say, Arizona or central Australia. Opening the door and going outside has felt like walking into a sauna. And, unfortunately, Daegu seems to be the hottest region in the country--they had the highest temp today(36.6), and will continue to hold that record through next week.
It's a good thing you like the heat, K.
It's a pain in the rear for you, but maybe your brother could drop you off at the airport late at night before midnight as it's doubtful that you'd get much sleep anyway before having to get up so early. At least your brother would get a decent night's sleep before he heads off to work after dropping you off, and maybe you could sleep most of the flight over to South Korea. Of course, it does suck trying to pass all that time at an airport where everything is so darn expensive.
ReplyDeleteThe very best of luck to you Kevin!
ReplyDeleteSafe travels... and may this next phase of your life be everything you want it to be.
ReplyDeleteJust don't forget to throw in a horrifyingly scatological post every so often, so we know it's you.
Good luck, my friend. It will be interesting to follow you on this next part of your journey on Planet Earth.
ReplyDelete