Update: I've been in contact with my school and the different branches of the shipping company daily since I first posted this topic. Long story short, I refused to pay any additional costs and asked the shipping company to only pack what I could take with the allowance provided by my school.

The guy from the shipping company said he would tell the U.S. branch to pack things tightly, but there might still be overages and they probably couldn't insure everything if they did not pack to the company's standards. I said that was fine and that I didn't have many fragile things anyhow. Additionally, I told him I approved the proposal, with the exception of overages and restated the fact that I did not want to pay any additional costs.

We'll see what happens.

Oh yeah, I'm leaving August 1 and I was told the earliest packing date they had was August 10, which is awesome. So that's a whole new issue.

I think my parents have fully cycled through the five stages of grief at this point. In the early stages, they didn't think I was really going to do it, but then I went to Cambridge, got an offer, and announced that I would be moving to China. They were in shock.

My mother, in particular, was semi-scared, thinking I'd be moving to the China that she had heard of when she was younger. I think a lot of people growing up in the 50s and 60s were conditioned to fear communism, so the idea of going to a communist nation to work freaked her out; however, prior to taking the China job, I was throwing around the possibility if going to India or the Middle East, so she was somewhat relieved when she realized I wasn't going to either of those places. I emphasized that, despite the all the governmental control, or because of it, Beijing was safer then most large cities in the U.S. She also needed to be convinced that Beijing had many of the modern conveniences we had back home, and that I could buy socks if I needed to.

My mom isn't exactly a control freak, but she is comfortable in the life she has built over the last forty years, since she and my dad moved into their first and only house. My parents have never traveled outside of the Eastern U.S. and Canada and I would be surprised if they actually visited me in Beijing, but all of their friends are trying to convince them to go. I sometimes feel like my dad is living vicariously through me, though he won't admit it.

Overall, I think they were/are surprised and happy for me, but they could never imagine doing what I'm doing. If I had kids, things would be totally different; there would be MUCH more opposition. The other day my mom also commented that she would like to have me back in the U.S. within the next ten years.

Classic mom guilt!

Thanks. I did email my school and my shipper, but unfortunately it's Saturday in Beijing. I didn't find this out until Friday at midnight Beijing time. The chairs can be put on top of one another, but they aren't very big to begin with. Certainly not big enough to require an additional 2.5 cbm of space.

I honestly would be fine leaving them.

A surveyor came out a while ago to make an estimate about how much space I would need, and he commented that I was shipping so little that I wouldn't even need a standard shipping container and that they would be able to fit all of my stuff in a large crate.

If they tell me the quote is not a mistake, I wll probably just try to take whatever I need in my checked baggage and grab the rest the next time I come back to the states. I'm not shipping anything that's terribly important, but I thought I could ship SOMETHING with the amount provided.

So I'm scheduled to leave for Beijing in less than two weeks and the shipping company hired by my school still has not contacted regarding a packing date for my shipment. I got an email this morning, which said I need to approve the costs before they proceed, but when I looked at the quote, it had me paying over RMB 9,200 (USD $1400+) out-of-pocket!

My school provides 3.5 cbm / RMB 16,900, which I thought was more than enough, but the quote estimated I would need 5.0 cbm. Here's the thing: I'm a single male with NO furniture besides 2 office chairs. I will be shipping like six or seven boxes and two office chairs.

That's it. All my stuff is in a storage unit that's less than 3.5 cbm and I'm probably using 20% of the space.

What is going on!?

@dreamgiver YIKES. Good luck!
Let me know how things turn out.

Thanks for all the great tips!

@Gipper, you especially made me feel better about this situation. My family is right here, and I'm sure they'd help out. I think I'm going to continue to list it on Craigslist and Autotrader.com for a couple of weeks and see if I get any hits. If not, I'll have to decide what I want to do.

Have a great summer everyone!

I really have no idea how much I'll need that first month.
It's difficult to estimate such expenses.

My school gives us a flexible spending account (163000 RMB) that can be used toward housing, medical expenses, and travel, but I'm still not sure how it's distributed. We're provided housing for the first two months and then we can chose our own living spaces. From what I hear, it's preferable to school owned housing because we get to decide where we want to live and how much we want to spend. Some people choose to live in modest apartments and use the leftover funds for nice vacations at the end of the year.

Airfare is also provided.

I guess it's just food, cell phone, and those random things that I'll probably decide I need on our field trip to Ikea... not that much $, but I'd still like some sort of cushion.

I wasn't thinking about storing the car, just seeing if I could sell it privately before jumping at the first offer. Thanks for the perspective PsyGuy.

Hey Guys,

I'm currently in the process of selling all my worldly possessions in preparation for my upcoming move to Beijing and I'm starting to freak out. While I've sold most of my furniture, I have yet to sell my one big ticket item - my car. I went to a dealership today and they offered me a ridiculously low figure, which Is barely enough to pay off what I still owe on it.

But time is running out.

My question: has anyone else had difficulty selling major items (house, car, etc.) before their overseas move? If so, how did things turn out?

My main concern is that I won't have enough money to last me the month in China before I start getting paid. The money I thought I'd make from my car was supposed to cover that. I can request up to a one-month advance from my school, but I'd like to avoid that if at all possible.

I know these little money issues won't seem significant in a few months, but they are now. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Yeah, Rochester (and all of western NY) is a wasteland right now. I know from experience. I'd say your chances are better overseas than they are here, but don't expect anything too awesome with your lack of experience and non-teaching spouse. Being a male elementary Ed teacher with sped certification is a plus though.

Have you considered the middle east?

If i were you, I'd join Search and see if anyone's interested at the fair.

Well PsyGuy, the finger crossing must have worked. My principal responded and said I am allowed to take up to three days unpaid leave to attend weddings. I wish I was getting paid, but I'll get over it.

I just emailed my principal about it. I feel like my new school should have a pretty cut and dry policy regarding this sort of matter. It's a decent school and my administrators seem understanding, so I'm expecting them to be honest when it comes to their expectations of me in my first month of employment.

Any answer will make things less stressful at this point.

Well, it looks like I'm going to try to make it.

I was just at their bridal shower and I felt like a jerk saying no whenever someone asked me if I would be at the wedding after hearing I was moving. Psyguy, you're right, I WOULD be the D-bag. Thank you everyone for helping me decide! You guys have been so helpful on multiple occasions.

I really appreciate it.

@Overhere So you think I should book my tickets prior to clearing it with my school?

Also, why is everyone recommending that I don't let my school know before I arrive in Beijing? Won't they want as much forewarning as possible?

@psyguy I was supposed to be in the wedding. Groomsman, not best man.

@liketotravel Classic pun.

I wish there were more of a consensus on this one. Maybe I'll contact my new principal to see if it's even okay before I start really stressing out about it.

Thanks for the input!

So here's the situation: I am scheduled to ship off to Beijing on August 1 for new teacher orientation and begin the school year on August 16. My best friend from home is getting married on September 15, a Saturday. He asked me to be in his wedding, but I told him I couldn't shortly after I secured my overseas position. It will be early in the school year and I won't really have any money yet, though I guess I can put the flight on my credit card.

My question is: should I even consider trying to fly back for the wedding, or is that absolutely insane? I figure I can fly out Thursday night, get there Friday, go to the wedding Saturday, and fly back to Beijing on Sunday.

Has anyone made such a whirlwind trip before? If so, was it worth it?

I'm starting to feel bad about saying no, but a weekend trip home from Beijing seems a little extreme.

@vettievette - I just got a chance to check out your blog. Nice work! I really enjoyed the posts regarding your first days in Tashkent and your first day of school.