More about our stuff

Jennifer
It is of course a great relief to have all our stuff at last; everything arrived in order and unbroken. I had cheated on the shoe front by having a pair of sneakers sent in the mail a month ago, but Joe had been suffering in winter boots and shoes up until now. Seasonally-appropriate footwear has been a very welcome addition to the household.



On the other hand, my reaction to the arrival of more clothes has surprised me. I have been wearing exactly the same three pairs of pants and maybe 10-15 shirts that I arrived with, every day, since January, and I have gotten used to it. At work, everybody wears more-or-less the same thing all the time. To repeat and clarify: I have seen colleagues literally wear the same shirt and pants every day of the week, and while that's an extreme example, wearing the same shirt two or three times in the same week is very common, for women and men, students and professors. Whether this is a Swedish thing or a computer guy thing is a question I cannot answer yet. But it was really kind of nice, not having to think so much about what to wear every day. My thought process in the morning amounted to little more than "Those pants are clean; pick the clean shirt that goes best with those pants, and that is what I will wear today." End thinking.

The shipment approximately doubled my amount of clothing. Now when I go to my all-in-one wardrobe/closet/chest-of-drawers, I am confronted with a bewildering array of choices. It's oddly stressful!

Can't figure out why we sent: About 5 water bottles.
We sent some camping gear: So why didn't we send our little tent too?
So funny it bears repeating: We sent the iPod car charger. Why???
I really wish I had sent: My kite. Lots of big empty fields around, plenty of strong breezes.
You should come and visit us because: We now have a spare set of sheets!