A Latvian once told me a joke about a Russian family on vacation. The Russian family went far over the baggage allowance, but somehow everything fit on the plane.
When they arrived in New York City, the customs people looked at all their suitcases and said to the head of the household, “It looks like you’ve taken everything except the kitchen sink.”
On hearing this, the matriarch hit her husband on the head with her purse and exclaimed, “I told you we forgot to pack something!”
I have not seen any flights from Russia to confirm or negate this stereotype. Most of us are not like the Russian stereotype. Many expats are in Cluj for a while before they move their goods over.
But, after a few years in Cluj, you might feel more permanent. Perhaps you miss your old clothes or toys. Or you need your old documents to prove competency. Maybe keeping things in storage in your home country is getting expensive.
In any case, you move your goods over. Now, if you are moving from one EU country to another, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. But, even then, over zealous border guards will want you to declare your old papers in thirteen languages because it is easier for them to do that than to stop actual drug traffickers and people smugglers.
Yes, we all remember what it was like crossing into Romania before Schengen. Romanian border guards used to keep families and tour buses waiting for hours on end, perhaps in league with the beggars who sold crosses to parked cars. Meanwhile, stolen artefacts were reported to having left the country in almost every newspaper. Every five year old was a suspect, while the obvious criminal was allowed to cross undisturbed.
And as the post office continues to stop birthday cards from reaching their destination, we can expect some things to get lost in the post. But, if a wrongful tariff accompanies the box of birthday chocolates or the long awaited heirloom, perhaps that will motivate more people at the post office to actually do their job.
The Center for US voters abroad has started a campaign called “stop taxing our packages.”
https://usvotersabroad.org/fixmail/ The petition is against tariffs going to sending little items home, like Christmas presents. Tariffs are affecting expats either way. If you move your goods to Europe, or away from it, even if you paid for those goods before, they could be taxed.
Not only Americans are affected by this. Apparently, people moving their goods via UPS from the UK also had to pay an extortionate tax and other fees that didn’t make sense. We hear there is a little plot for “revenge” being planned, more on this story as it develops.
The Center for US voters abroad’s main purpose is to get Americans abroad to vote in US elections. If Americans abroad would some how create a fifty first state, that state would have a larger population than fifteen existing states. But, the Center claims that less than eight percent of these Americans vote.
That is probably was silly laws like Fbar and the tariffs are on the books. Americans abroad do not use their vote to change the government, so the government doesn’t care.
And other countries are also playing the tariff game.
There are things you can do besides vote, of course. Noel Godin once threw a pie in the face of Bill Gates. The exact reason is unknown, Godin is an anarchist who likes to throw pies at people.
We also know of Muntadhar al-Zaidi who threw a shoe at George W Bush to protest against elements of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
There is a long standing tradition of throwing eggs at British and Australian prime ministers. American and Russian malcontents seem to prefer shooting their politicians with bullets. Eggs get the message across in a better way. I mean, Abraham Lincoln never even really got to know that someone was mad at him or why. Also, those who throw eggs seem to have better aim.
Why is the above video banned? It shows a politician fighting back after an egg throwing incident.
Anyway, remember, assassinations and egg throwing change nothing. The American revolution did not require any assassinations, and the French and Russian revolutions did not acheive their aims for long. A vote, however, and even a petition, can change things.