List of the Month - why my packing took so long

I reckon my packing took me at least 50 hours, 5 or 6 fairly full days of effort.  (The unpacking is threatening to take many times longer - not least because I keep on succumbing to the consoling distraction of blogging about it.) I have itemised the reasons for this as follows.  Well, the basic reason, of course, is that I have too much stuff.  But what are the underlying reasons for that?  Where did all this stuff come from? Reasons Why My Packing Took So Long Too long without a move I had been in the same apartment for over 5 years.  That's about 6 or 7 times longer than I've ever lived in one place before.  Stuff just sort of builds up over time - but, like Gramsci's frog, you don't realise it until it's too late. Too much space My old apartment was very big.  And, unusually for a Chinese apartment, it had quite a lot of storage space.  Stuff breeds in unopened cupboards. Too many beds I had two double beds, a large single bed, and two sofa beds in that apartment.  I foolishly thought that I should get complete sets of bedding (including pillows) for all of them.  I have so much bedding.  A lot of it is still in the original packaging. Friends leave It's the essence of expat life - people are constantly leaving.  And bequeathing you all their stuff.  Or leaving it with you in storage, in anticipation of a possible return, which doesn't come to pass.  I found (in the spare bedroom, which I hardly ever set foot in) that I still had heaps of stuff left behind by my two short-term flatmates, and by my friend the Chairman (who left China, came back, but never got around to reclaiming most of his clothes).  I inherited a lot of kitchenware from my ex-girlfriend (and more bedding!).  And, shortly afterwards, from her flatmate too.  And A Complete Works of Shakespeare and a spare DVD player from last year's drinking buddy, Crazy Chris.  And so on and so on.  At least half of the stuff wasn't even mine. Honoured of them all I have worked for many different employers in China. I have travelled to many different cities around China.  And I have received gifts and mementos from them all.  It seems ungrateful to jettison these things, even though I scarcely need yet another China-Hater Of The Year Award from the Chongqing Bloggers' Forum.  It is particularly unfortunate that such gifts are typically: a) horribly kitschy and b) ridiculously bulky.  I think courtesy was served by not discarding this worthless tack in front of the donors; several years down the line, nobody's going to care.  I decided to keep the copy of The Art of War engraved on wooden blocks (bulky, but not too kitsch), but the commemorative stamps from Chengdu (mounted on a huge slab of perspex), etc., etc., etc. I was able to ditch without a qualm. Tea This is a special sub-set of the item above.  I have been given so many commemorative gift-boxes of tea over the years.  I gave one to my property agent as a thank-you.  I left one or two behind for the new tenants (I hope my evil ex-landlord doesn't help himself to them).  I still have several I couldn't think what to do with.  It's more tea than I could drink in a lifetime.  And damn, they take up a lot of space. Promotional carrier-bags Another special sub-set of the above.  Everyone I've ever worked for, every client I've ever worked with, every event or conference I've ever attended, every hotel I've ever stayed at has given me a carrier bag with their name on it.  For some reason, I never threw any of them away.  Some might find it an interesting collection, I suppose.  I can't remember where half of them came from now.  One, for example, bore the name 'Kerman' - I have no idea what that is (and yes, I did check to see what was written on the other side of the bag).  They all had to go, too. Thrift I grew up poor.  My parents had grown up during the Second World War.  My grandparents had grown up during the First World War.  Cheap cuts of meat, hand-down clothes, and turning off the lights whenever possible were the core of our way of life.  Nothing was ever thrown away.  So, that shoe has a hole in it?  Still perfectly serviceable when it's not raining. I am a runner Runners get particularly sentimental about their old shoes.  Even when they're falling apart so badly that you can't run in them any more, they still seem useful as work shoes or gym shoes.  I have five or six pairs of running shoes I can't quite bring myself to part with.  I find I also have umpteen commemorative shirts from the various races I've run in here in China.  Most of them aren't even proper running shirts, just regular t-shirts.  In Size M - which, in Chinese sizing, equates to a 14-year-old in the over-nourished West.  If you know anyone who collects Marathon t-shirts (or has 14-year-old children), please get in touch. I am a bibliophile I buy far fewer books here in China than I used to back home.  But I still buy quite a lot.  And, from time to time, friends have been generous enough to send me books as gifts.  I've also received from writer friends a number of free copies of their work.  In seven years, I have amassed a couple of hundred books. I am a cinephile The book acquisition pales into insignificance compared to my DVD-buying.  I long ago gave up trying to count, but I think I must have well over 1,000 titles now. I am a music-lover And I can't get into the new technology - MP3, MP4, i-Tunes: it mystifies me.  No, I still like CDs.  And I have hundreds of the bloody things. And above all, of course, I am an incorrigible accumulator I never like to throw stuff away.  I like to hang on to mementos.  I find I have posters and flyers and tickets for just about every concert and play I've ever been to in China (and for a fair few that I didn't actually go to).  A lot of that I've had to let go of.  But I still cling to a few representative items.... Oh well, back to the unpacking....