Today the GF and I distributed chocolates to all our future neighbours, with a card carefully written in Turkish (translated by a friend) apologising for inconvenience due to the noise and work going on in the flat. It was rather satisfying, even though we just left the box and card at each door instead of handing them over in person. We then had one box left, which we dropped off with a card and a small fee to the estate agent who provided us with some advice on the house-buying process, and so it was a rather satisfying day, with a few missions that had felt like they had been hanging overhead for a while, completed.
Gift giving and exchange is such an important part of the culture here – I suppose it is in Pakistan as well, but there I was not the adult usually, and besides it was the oxygen I breathed.
We received a couple of nice messages from neighbours (the card had my phone number on it) but happily all by text rather than phone calls, which would have distressed all concerned.