Differing strategies

When I contemplate moving to Berlin, I think about things like furniture, health insurance, doctors (especially with my chronic illness and getting older), appliances, how we'll watch our DVDs (since PAL and NTSC aren't friends), where to get food, and that sort of thing.

Ben thinks about whether it's cost-effective to ship our furniture, dishes, etc overseas.

ESXJ meets INTP.

Whereas I like our dishes (they match, and they were wedding gifts), and several of our pieces of furniture (like the dresser and hutch, which were both wedding gifts from his family). I don't generally get sentimentally attached to stuff, but I'd feel guilty about abandoning these gifts (which we picked out ourselves). I felt bad enough selling my old desk & dresser set last year.

It's true, there's a lot of cool old shit available at the massive flea market every Sunday, but we won't have a car to haul shit. (That's one way we could keep costs lower. Parking fees, insurance, maintenance, and gas add up in a city, especially one where gas prices are twice as high as in the US.)

Other things I think about are whether I want to stay there permanently. I can't imagine moving back stateside at 75 or 80 or older. And our parents aren't getting any younger; driving 5 hours to Maryland, or finding a flight to St Louis, is a far different story than flying back from Europe. I don't have much emotional attachment to my family, but that doesn't mean I want to cut them out, you know?

And it's not like my mom would ever come visit me in Germany. She didn't while I was in Marburg for a year. She freaks out when faced with new things, and she's terrified of airplanes (and smokes, but Nicorette can help on planes I hear). Well, and she can't really afford airfare. If I could get both her and my sister to go, there's a chance it'd work, but I'm doubtful. Dad would probably come visit, if he can get airfare together. Ben's folks, assuming no physical issues, would come no problem. They're living in Basel right now while his mom teaches/does research there, and they spent a year in England (another sabbatical).

There's a part of my mind that's already separated itself from living here.

I love when things come together.

In my revision notes, I had a rough for a scene that had Azar and Sahar talking about politics and who they think is behind the "humanitarian" aid, but it wasn't working for me. Then I realized that Atesh needed to get caught up on the local politics, and since he was over there for dinner anyway, I could work that in there. (It's also a slightly cheating way to get a bit of exposition in there that I mainly alluded to prior.) I can still have them talk about their suspicions for the aid group, after Atesh leaves.

Shiny.

Kaya nodded. “I was too young to understand what was going on during the…” He paused as if choosing his words carefully. “The coup, but everything on the net from the diaspora, and even from the aid groups who came in the past, paints a much different picture than Eskandari’s press releases.”

Sahar smiled. “I’m glad to hear his [propaganda] isn’t working.”

Azar sat back down beside her mother. “What can we do about it from here? We can’t send messages out, and we can’t leave. The last time we tried a real protest, hundreds were killed.”

Heydar looked Atesh in the eyes. “About fifteen years ago, a fraction of the resistance decided to have a sit-in outside his office. There were speeches and marches, all peaceful. The third morning, he had his thugs open fire on the crowd.”