Two Hundred Fifty Pounds of Stuff!

We made it back to Shanghai in one piece. Actually, more like 10 pieces. 4 boxes weighing 51 pounds each (50 is the limit, but we pushed it just a wee bit), 2 carry-on suitcases that probably weighed over 20 pounds, two overstuffed backpacks, and us, wearing as much clothing as we could put on.

You’re probably asking, what in the world did we bring back? Well, here’s the breakdown:

• 7 bottles of San-J gluten-free soy sauce
• 2 bottles of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 bottles of gluten-free oyster sauce
• 6 jars of Trader Joe’s organic peanut butter + 3 Whole Foods organic peanut butter + 1 organic almond butter
• 2 jars Kirkland mixed nuts
• 2 boxes (72 bar) of Nature Valley granola bars
• 26 cans of Trader Joe’s organic chili
• 1 box (6 pouches) Hershey’s brownie mix
• 9 board games (Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan C&K Expansion, That’s Life, Ticket to Ride, Power Grid, Ice Cream, Cluzzle, Triology, and Bohnanza)
• 6 bottles contact solution
• Nintendo Wii + 2 remote
• 25+ books (piano music, recipes, Bibles, recipes, science/medical reference, etc…)
• 2 large bags of pads (not the writing kind…)
• miscellaneous cooking spice, herbs, sauces packets, etc…
• 3 boxes of cereal
• 2 bags of rice crackers
• 12 large bars of chocolate
• 4 bags of spelt flour
• 12 small bags of yeast
• 6 weeks worth of clothing
• 4 bottles of Purel anti-bacterial gel
• 4 bottles of Curel lotion
• 1 bag of boxers
• 1 box of non-latex gloves
• 1 laptop

And we left behind 30 pounds of Legos amongst a bunch of other things that will be brought over when family visits in April. Darn United Airlines for cutting back on luggage allowance! And Jason almost didn’t make it on the flight because UA overbooked and it was a full flight. By time we checked in, there were no more seats left for Jason and he was put on standby. Susan had reserved her seat in advance but was considering, if the option was available, to be bumped to the next flight if UA bribed free upgrade and monetary compensation. And maybe, if lucky enough, the 4 already-checked boxes would make it to Shanghai without us. We’d take the next flight with 4 more boxes of stuff, and we’d make it home with 410 pounds of goodies, even if it meant arriving back in Shanghai on Sunday night and going to work super jetlagged the next day. (That’d make a perfect impression on first day of work for Susan…)

Thankfully, someone canceled their flight last minute and Jason made the flight, last row last seat – 62F! We made it back to our home (how sweet that sounds after bumming with family/friends the past 6 weeks) as did all 250 pounds and more of stuff.

Shanghai. This is home.