shipping overseas 411

The months of October & November brought the arrival of our first packages since living abroad. Thank you AmySue! Thank you mom! Thank you Trish & Pat! Thank you Karen! I have always loved receiving mail, but I believe that moving to a different country is definitely the way to make mail of all shapes and sizes the best thing ever. All of the North Americans working at LCC appear to have similar feelings about getting mail in Lithuania, demonstrated by the large smiles pasted on faces when you see someone walking around with a highly coveted package. A Lithuanian student asked me one day, "What do you get in those packages? I can't understand what is so exciting about the stuff you get in those packages that you couldn't possible get here (Lithuania)." I had to laugh as I tried to explain that people are excited about the contents of their mail because it often includes food items or baking ingredients that we use a lot back home, but doesn't seem to exist in the stores over here. I listed off the things that first came to mind, "Well, of course there's peanut butter, baking powder, chocolate chips, brown sugar, American candy...I know there are others too," but I couldn't seem to come up with a very impressive list of our needs that aren't getting met here in Lithuania. Although my answer may not have satisfied this girl, it made me realize that the best thing about getting mail in a foreign country is that it helps me feel remembered. My absence is noticed and I am being thoughtfully and physically considered by the people I left behind.

The following is in no way intended to be a desperate plea for packages, but a mere mention of some simple, yet helpful information for sending packages overseas to your loved ones. Please keep this in mind. Declare the value of the package to be less than $50 for customs purposes. If the stated value of the package is greater than $50, it requires a lot of money for the person picking it up (us!) from the post office on the other end. Believe me, we found this out the hard way. You are already spending an arm and a leg to mail something in the first place, so keep this in mind to help prevent the pain of another leg on the other side. It will make the arrival of your package an experience of pure bliss and anticipation. And guarantees that your recipient will thank you.