Packout, Consultations, Moving

There's a lot of paperwork involved. The key document for transferring to a new post is something called the TM-4, or "travel orders". It takes the form of a cable and specifies who is going where for what job and for how long, how to get there, and what resources are available to take care of people and property before, during and after the transfer. Any time you try to tap into those resources, you need to fill out a form and provide a copy of the travel orders.

Our travel orders allowed us to have the movers come on September 18, pack up all of our stuff and put it in two categories: four huge boxes to send by airplane, and three giant shipping crates with the furniture and other things we can live without for a while, to send by boat. Then the orders let us stay in a hotel in DC for ten days, which was a mixed experience - I had reserved a room at a boutique hotel thinking it would be nicer than one of the big chains, but we were disappointed and ended up going through a lot of hassle to move to a Hilton. On the other hand, we did enjoy being right in the District with access to restaurants and things.

The next thing our orders allowed us to do was to spend two days in New York City, because we have "consultations" (State Department lingo for "meetings") with the Department of Homeland Security before going to a first tour as a consular officer. Those who go to Europe have the DHS consultations in the Big Apple. The meetings themselves didn't take up too much time, so it was a lovely trip for me and Bongsu. Then, finally, the magic travel orders had us board a flying machine in New York and get off the following day in Copenhagen, where we were met at the airport by our Embassy sponsor and driven through the rain to a hotel where we stayed for the first two weeks here.

After our own apartment was ready, we moved in and a couple days later received our UAB ("unaccompanied air baggage" - the four sarcophagi of air freight mentioned above), followed a few weeks later by the HHE ("household effects" - the sea freight). When the HHE arrived, the delivery truck had one of those elevator vehicles which they used to hoist everything up to our third-floor apartment. Luckily we have one large window that opens and everything was able to fit in there. And thus we arrive at the beginning of our adventure.