Sunday, October 22, 2006

In mid-move

I just have a second but wanted to let everyone know that I might not have access to the Internet for a week or two. Getting hooked up in Tokyo very often takes a month, from my past experience, so I'm being optimistic saying it will only be a week or two. If it looks like it's going to be a while, I'll try to post from an Internet cafe.

For having such a small room (but with one large--by Japanese standards--closet), it sure seems to be taking me a long time to get moved! I've tried to sort and clean things as I went, so maybe that's caused some delays. My bed, sofa (very tiny!), TV (big, bulky and ugly, but hey, it was free!) and nightstand will be picked up and delivered to the new place today. Everything else has been moved 5 blocks either on a hand-cart, or in the back seat and trunk of a friend's car. She had an hour to help me yesterday, so that was great. Unfortunately, today it's raining, so I don't know how I'll get the rest of the things moved, including my futon, comforter, curtains, bathroom stuff and dishes. Since I have a few more days before the demolition starts on the house, I can take a few cart-loads if the rain stops soon. Then it's back to work with a very full schedule this week and working two days from 8:30am to 9:15pm. Ugh!

So, that's about it for now. Again, I promise pictures soon!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Feeling uninspired

I know it's been a while since I've written anything, but besides being busy cleaning, sorting, and packing my things for the move this weekend, I just haven't felt inspired to write anything. Call it writer's block or whatever, but I can't seem to think of anything to write about. Well, actually that's not entirely true. I've thought of a few things, but by the time I get home from work, I've forgotten what it was I thought was so important to write about!

So, I'll bring you up to date with my move. During this whole mess I've discovered that I'm a pig! Yes, a pig! The room that I thought was clean has turned out to be encrusted with a thick layer of dust and alien life forms! I've been coughing and choking on all the dust bunnies and beating myself up because I haven't kept them in tow.

In Tokyo, it's easy to grow dust bunnies as the air here is heavy with pollution--although people tell me that it's so much better now than it was ten years ago. Even if that's true, I could dust and clean every single day and still have to fight my way through an accumulation of dust at the end of the day! I leave my windows open almost all the time, or in the heat of summer, use my A/C. Right now, my A/C is thick with a greasy-feeling layer of dust. It's disgusting.

Having tatami mats makes me also wonder what life forms might be proliferating between the fibers. Many people change their tatami yearly, but I'm sure mine have been in this apartment for many years. While soft and luxurious to walk on, it's got to be a haven for dust and mites. Hence, probably the reason why I developed asthma since living in Japan (which is now, fortunately under control--except that over the past few days I've begun coughing again, probably from pushing around so much dust).

My new digs have wood floors, so that will help a little, but they won't feel nearly as soft to walk on. At least I'll be able to Swiffer the dust away.

I'll post some pictures of my new place tomorrow. I measured it and it's about 140 square feet, so slightly bigger than the place I have now, but with only HALF the closet space! What's a gal to do with so little closet space? Here's a newly remodeled apartment, and there are absolutely NO DRAWERS or CABINETS in the bathroom! Could somebody please explain to me how anybody can live without drawers or cabinets in a bathroom? And how can you have a single closet that's only about 3 feet wide?

Fortunately, the kitchen has 3 cabinets, so that will be nice, but the main dishes/glasses cabinet is so high that I'll need a step stool every time I want to use something. This, in a country of people who are on average about 5 feet tall!

Apparently I found things to write about. More later.