2. Wait and wait for the table to arrive. Email the company to see if they were actually going to ship the table after several months passed. One month delay to due Ramadan.
3. DHL arrives at my house in November. Is my table here? No, just an envelope of paperwork.
4. Stare at the Bill of Lading for a few days, trying to figure out what it is.
5. Call the 'Delivery Agent' list on the paperwork. Wrong number.6. Stop by Fleet and Family Service Center on base and have a native Japanese speaker call around and find the correct number.
7. Finally give Shimamura-san my email address and wait for an email with arrival notice information.
8. Figure out what a custom clearance agent is.
9. Decide to let Shimamura-san act as my clearance agent.
10. Make a trip to Tokyo to drop off the Bill of Lading paperwork.
11. Receive the Customs Bill. Yell obscenities a few times. Must pay by Japanese bank account wire transfer. Are they SURE it costs this much to import something that costs this much?
12. Gather a ridiculous amount of cash and make a trip to a Japanese friend's house so she can transfer the cash from her account and I can give her cash.
13. In the mean time, contact a shipping company that speaks English and can deliver to Atsugi base. I contacted a company that was also making a delivery the same day for our annual bazaar. I already had the gate access passes for the bazaar so I knew the process.
14. The day of delivery, Glenn and I contacted 6 friends to meet at our house to help unpack the 4 crates.
15. Destroy 4 crates, pack two in to a van, attempt to get the other two up the stairs. This might take awhile.
16. Let the table hang out in the dining room til we get more friends to help us set it up (after we unwrap and wipe it down).
17. Enjoy my beautiful new table! Finally!
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