The Bugs are Coming!

Today the movers came bright and early two hours earlier than expected. Thankfully, I had just arrived at my new place so didn't keep them waiting. As was the case the last time this company moved me in 5 years ago, they did their work quickly and effectively. However, they were not quick enough to enable me to avoid what I had feared the most!
Yesterday I had joked with my coworkers that maybe they come over to lure the neighbors away as a diversion before the moving truck came.

As it turned out, sure enough the friendly elderly woman next door was on hand (she and a group of kids and other neighbors have already let themselves into the first floor of the house 3 or 4 times without knocking-- it's the norm in the countryside to do this apparently, at least with foreigners!). This time she wouldn't stop repeating over and over again how much stuff I had. As foreigners here in Taiwan my coworkers and I are used to hearing this sort of thing even though our possessions probably aren't any more in number than the locals, but this lady's rendition was even more than I had expected. I asked her if they had much stuff in their place, and made sure she knew that after all I had been in Taiwan for 10 years already.

Shortly after the movers arrived, the kitchen guy came and started installing my cabinets, stove range and fan, and kitchen sink. However, I'm still waiting on a hot water heater and faucet for the sink, the hook-up and washer and dryer connections. I'm also still waiting on the landlord for a long-term solution for my second floor (has at least three known problems).

Last night I was planning on spending the night... but then the bugs came. Not mosquitos like I expected, but little beatles. Dozens or maybe hundreds of them (there's nothing but fields across from my house). Since it was already dark and I wanted to get a good night's sleep, I surrendered. I retreated to my coworker's house and will try to deal with the problem today, along with getting another screen window for downstairs and a sliding room divider. And maybe I'll put out a few sticky rat traps... just in case.