Today is the second day of August 2023, and now I feel like I can go back to my normal life to some extent from tomorrow. For a week before leaving Korea, I was busy preparing to leave the country, and even after entering the U.S., I had to spend eight night in New York as a traveler, so I could not erase the feeling of lack of foundation. New York was a more colorful city than I thought, full of vitality, and the buildings were so shiny that I couldn't drop my head for a few days after arriving in New York. At the same time, however, this city was not yet my permanent city, and the to-do list items that still remain at the final destination have sometimes crossed my mind. And finally, on the ninth day in New York, I was a little relieved to be able to leave for Pittsburgh. It was a relief that I could go to the place where the school is. Although it cost a stupid money to get on the plane, it was not a very big blow. I only realized the unchanging truth that nothing can be solved with money and a passport.
I finally arrived at Pittsburgh Airport after a short flight of 1 hour and 40 minutes. Compared to New York's JFK airport, which was very shabby, Pittsburgh Airport was fairly descent. The problem was that the hotel check-in was 4:00 pm. I asked for an early check-in at 12 o'clock from the time of the hotel reservation, but they said they could only find out if it is possible on the day. So the condition of the airport was very important to me, as I had some degree of being air port homeless in mind. After finding the luggage, I sat in a nearby chair, put my legs on a large carrier, and began to be a homeless in earnest. Don't they say that review is important? So I searched for videos related to New York on YouTube. In one video, it explained the background era of New York in the movie Joker, and watching the video made me want to see the movie Joker again. So I looked it up whether it is on Netflix, but it wasn't. I'm can't find anything I want to watch on Netflix. Being devastated, I was a little hungry, so I bought a Turkish sandwich and cheese cracker at 7 Eleven. What time is it? When I checked my cell phone, there was an email from the hotel asking me to check in that my room was ready. I couldn't believe I watched this now. I hurriedly packed up and called Uber and headed to the hotel.
The Uber app displays the driver's characteristics along with the rating of the assigned driver. The driver assigned to me says, "Good story teller." I had a conversation with the driver, thinking it was a speaking practice. My English skills are far below considering the natural connection of the story, so I had to work hard to find the next topic after one conversation topic ends. Thanks to the driver, I learned some interesting information. If we go to Mt. Washington, we can overlook Pittsburgh at a glance and it is a great place to experience the city of Pittsburgh. And there's a Pittsburgh accent called "Ings." Ings is used to refer to a group of two or more people, for example. "What are ings doing?" Finally, the headquarters of a language learning app called Duolingo is in Pittsburgh! And it's even right next to the hotel I'm staying at. Duolingo is a company that I heard a lot while preparing for graduate school. There were schools that gave the option that if TOEFL scores were insufficient, they could be supplemented with Duolingo scores. It was a little surprising that the headquarters of an IT company was in Pittsburgh, and I thought it would be a cheap option for the company.
I was really happy to use a room with a king sized bed by myself after staying in a dormitory where four people used the same room. I thought I can rest comfortably until tomorrow like this, but life doesn't go its way. Ikea sent me a miserable delivery message. "Order number xxxxxx scheduled to be delivered on August 1st 10:00 - 14:00." The IKEA delivery system can only specify the delivery date at the time of order, and the delivery time is from 09:00 am to 09:00 pm. And the detailed time slot tells you the day before delivery. The problem was that the house contract starts at 12:00 pm, so I can only enter the house after that. It was a situation that I was worried about since I ordered the furniture. However, I thought the delivery time could be adjusted to some extent, so I designated the furniture delivery date as the day of the move. The problem was that neither the delivery company nor the real estate company had any intention of adjusting the delivery time or occupancy time. When they said "No" and "That's the only thing we cannot do", without even a little room for concern, I was slowly annoyed. When I asked if I wanted to solve it well as a tenant, I was told, "You haven't started the contract yet, so you're not a tenant." Is this principleism or just defenseism for one's convenience? Does the idea that the situation can be solved in a flexible manner not fit with the US? I called the shipping company five times, and I weighed in English with the real estate company, but it was my defeat. When things went wrong, I look back on where it went wrong. Would it have been right to ship furniture on the 2nd if I had prepared for the worst situation? Should I have stayed at the hotel for another day? Why didn't I focus more on the worst? The reason was clear. Adding one night to the hotel is less cost-effective. Accommodation costs are expensive, but if I coordinate well, I can save $200.
Expecting perfect control and weighing cost-effectiveness are conflicting mindsets. If you want perfect control, you have to endure the cost. When it comes to cost-effectiveness, expectations for perfect control should be abandoned and they should be good at adapting to the situation. And it didn't take much time for me to confirm this realization. The hotel's check-out time is 11:00 am, but I have to pick up my apartment key at 12:00 pm. Since I don't want to lose mobility considering I don't know when the furniture will come, I decided to apply for a late check-out so I can leave my luggage. Late check-out options include 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm There is an additional charge of $50 at 3:00 pm and $110 at 8:00 pm. The furniture may come late, so I feel comfortable checking out at 8:00 pm, but it's too expensive! If furniture only comes before 2:00 pm, 3:00 pm check-out is not a very tight time. All right. I'll choose the cost-effectiveness. And what's going to happen is now a real whim!
Unlike many worries and simulations, the process of finding the key on the day of August 1st, and the furniture coming in, was so smooth. As planned, I left my luggage at the accommodation, went to pick up my key at 12:00, and when I arrived at the apartment, I received a call that a IKEA driver would visit five minutes later. All the furniture was delivered at 1:30 pm, and when I took a picture while checking for abnormalities or scratches at home, it was time to pick up my luggage at the hotel. I checked out the hotel exactly at 3 pm.
Walking 20-30 minutes with a large 32-kilogram carrier and a small 18 kilogram carrier was a piece of cake compared to putting a 32-kilogram carrier in a four-story apartment without an elevator. As I was moving my suitcase one by one on the narrow stone steps with a lot of sweat, I wondered what am I doing here. The neighbors cheered warmly. Like a turtle's race, I arrived on the 4th floor, which I didn't think I could reach. I sweated so much that I took a shower right away and went grocery shopping at a nearby mart with a slightly healthier mind and body. There were no cooking utensils or tableware at all, so I bought rye bread and sliced cheese. It's a happy fact that I can eat them all without any leftovers. Ikea furniture assembly began in the evening. Once there was no place to sit, I started assembling the desk chair. I wanted to sleep soundly, but the only thing I had was an iron bed frame because the mattress was not delivered yet. I lay down with as many bed sheets and blankets on it, but it was incredibly hard. I thought I couldn't be happier when the mattress came tomorrow.
I woke up at 5 a.m. because the bed was so uncomfortable. Sitting in an assembled chair yesterday, I sorted out inspection photos and delivered them to the real estate company. Something about this real estate company is annoying. I can see that you're trying so hard not to lose money at all, so I feel like I don't want to get any more money taken away. As I slowly assembled the remaining furniture, it seemed to be slightly being organized. I rushed down the first floor at the news that the long awaited mattress had arrived. But Mattress was the final boss of the entire moving process. I thought the Zinus mattress could be moved to the fourth floor because it was highly compressed and packaged. But when I saw it in real, it was really not an ordinary size. It was a little shorter than me, but it was so heavy. It was so bulky that it was difficult to move the stairs one by one like yesterday. I tried various methods, but in the end, it was best to lift and move it. I lifted it until the stairwell came out, took a short rest at the stairwell, and finally completed the delivery of the mattress. I had a back pain afterwards. I thought it was a relief that I worked out hard before leaving the country. I think people with weak strength can't even come to study abroad.
When I saw things are getting organized, I went back to the Target and bought cleaning tools, shower curtains, foot mats, and fruits. When I got home, I ate a box of cherries, put on shower curtains, and sprayed mold removal gel in every corner of the shower booth. After doing all these things, I feel a little relaxed. There is nothing wrong with the old saying. It's a real pain to leave the house. Still, I feel more comfortable now that I have a house where I can settle down. Tomorrow, I will go to the bank, buy a tennis racket, and catch up my school work closely.
