U.S. Campus Life Getting movin' By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
引っ越し準備と論文作業の同時進行 筆者のクローゼット。

The start date for my new job is nearing, and I'm finding that there are a surprising number of things to get settled before I move. I've lived in the Boston area for almost 10 years — and the same apartment for five years — so I've forgotten what it's like to uproot oneself.

The number of things I must get ready on the Albany side is increasing. At the same time, I'm also getting busier around the lab, since I'm trying to finish writing my dissertation.

This week, I've finally started making concrete plans for my move. I've talked with a real estate broker over the phone, telling her that although I'm interested in buying a home in New York state, I don't want to start looking around until I actually live there. I want to have a better feeling for the place. House-hunting is a serious deal, and I don't have the time to visit different houses and arrange the finances right now.

In fact, I don't even have the time to take a two-day trip to find a rental apartment. I asked the broker to help find a place for me. It looks like my new home in Albany will be an apartment that I've chosen just on the basis of what I found on the Internet. I'm not too concerned about finding the perfect apartment, but I do hope that I'm not unpleasantly surprised when I show up at the doorstep.

I've also talked with the relocation consultant that my company has assigned me. This consultant oversees all facets of relocation, including moving, plane tickets, temporary housing and rental cars. All of my moving expenses are covered, but I have to make sure that I fill out all of the required paperwork so that I get reimbursed properly.

I've talked with the moving company that my relocation consultant has assigned me. The moving company will be packing all of my things into boxes for me, so I can leave my room as is, and they will move everything for me. The moving company asked me to list all of the things I own. They seemed a bit surprised that I don't have that much stuff. The thing is, my roommates and I share a living room and kitchen, so I don't have any large furniture. All of our large items are shared. The largest items I have are a bed, a bicycle and, oh yes, a car.

I will certainly be moving my car with me. The car will probably be moved by a moving company that is different from the one that will be moving the rest of my things. I had a fleeting notion of driving the car out to Albany, but I decided to have it shipped by truck. I'm embarrassed to admit that months after buying the car, I still haven't tried driving it. I suppose that it would not be a good idea for my debut drive to be a cross-state trip.

The relocation consultant that I've been assigned is not an employee of my company. My company outsources "non-essential" tasks to subcontractors. The relocation company, in turn, outsources their tasks to other subcontractors. I can't choose these subcontractors myself, since I won't be reimbursed unless I choose the affiliated companies. The relocation consultant oversees my interaction with the many companies, and collects all the information on a single Web page so I can keep track of which companies are handling which tasks. I can also keep track of the different expenses via the Web page.

I'm glad that everything can be handled via e-mail and Web pages. However, I've had to click at least five links leading to 10 different downloadable files that I have to print out in the end. I suspect that the total amount of paperwork is no less than if the Internet didn't exist. The good thing, however, is that all the paperwork is located in one place on the Internet. Even if I lose the printed copies, I can always download another copy from any computer.

I haven't ordered my plane ticket for my final move yet. I don't have any doubt that I'll be ordering my plane ticket from another company that my relocation consultant assigns. It's another step in the maze of things to do, but I'm happy to say "Yes, ma'am" and follow those orders. Somebody else is overseeing the process, and somebody else is paying for it. This gives me a bit more time to worry about my thesis.

Shukan ST: July 28, 2002

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