Thanks to everyone here for your advice on everything from flats to banking so far. Here's a piece of information I ran across today while packing up the old office and figuring out what to do with everything. Most of my books are going to my apartment here, where they will relax with my family until they get shipped along with everything else when they come next year. Presumably this will be a lot cheaper. But there are about five boxes of books that I will need on arrival -- for teaching, the book I am working on, and so forth. It turns out that this can be mighty expensive. Companies like UPS and DHL charge between $110 and $240 per box (standard book box, 30 lbs when full of books) -- but this is for quick air mail, which is unnecessary in any case. The best offer I have found so far is from the United States Postal Service, good old USPS, which allows you to ship printed matter (yes, they do have a definition of printed matter, and the important thing is that it includes books and pubs) in what they call an "M-Bag." The weight limit per "M-Bag" is up to 66 lbs, and it looks like the cost for a standard box of books would be just a bit over $80. Here are the guidelines:
http://www.usps.com/international/mbags.htmSo far, this looks like the best option for the things I will be needing in a hurry. Presumably there is some cheaper way of getting the things I will be needing in less of a hurry.
Your memories of adventures in the universe of shipping are beyond welcome, in fact they are solicited.
