Waiting to move house is a tough job. You are itching to make the necessary arrangements and the only thing you can do is to sit back and be patient. The uncertainty is the worst. Because you have no idea when you will finally get the key of your house, you can’t make any definite plans, not just for moving house but for any other activity as well. After all, you may receive the sudden notice to pack up and get going.
If there is one thing I have learned during the past six months, it is that assurances of house builders do not count for much. One of their promises was that we could surely start moving house before Christmas. As matters stand now, we shall be happy if we are reasonably installed by Easter. If you are that far out in your timing, I feel justified to say: ‘You don’t really know what you are talking about, do you?’, hoping that my impatience does not come through too clearly. In England you have to keep your feelings in check and you have to learn the art of expressing your annoyance in a polite way.
A horrible thought struck me: moving into Aston may not be the end of our waiting, but actually the beginning. The problem is our ministry of presence. It turns on seeking to establish contact with our neighbours and other people nearby and then waiting for their response. Without gaining their trust we shall never get beyond small talk and sterile conversation. Trust takes time to develop; it depends on many fleeting encounters, in which gradually familiarity puts us at ease with one another. Unfortunately for me, there is no way of hurrying up the process.
Ton Zwart msc
