Apartments, money and cups of tea
I've been gone for a while, ne.
The past few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster, made all the worse but not knowing when I had to move out of my apartment. Eventually, I moved out last Tuesday and am currently staying at my friend's place in Kamiooka, just south of Yokohama. Though I've been given no deadline, I wanted to leave because just living there was causing me untold amounts of anxiety, due to it being a company apartment, and all the attendant bad feelings that come with living there. Every time I heard male voices outside the door I thought someone was coming to evict me.
Once I was out, things settled for a day or two, and it was pleasant just to be able to relax a little bit. However, on Friday I went apartment hunting and since then I've been crazy busy with trying to get money sorted out. I went to look at a number of apartments in Asagaya, just west of Shinjuku. The second apartment I found had my name written on it, and so I decided that despite being slightly more than I wanted to pay in rent, it would suit me much better than my second choice apartment. I'll tell you all about it once I move in.
So, I signed the contract to move in on May 31st, and had to pay half of the money today. However, I had to teach today, and have a meeting with a guy from a removal company. I met him at 10.30am, and his first quote was for 120 000yen to move (you do the maths, it's horrific). I think he saw me go pale, so he recalculated a few things, phoned his boss and got it down to 70 000yen, but that's still a month's rent I'm paying to move house. The reason things are a little expensive is that I'm planning on taking the washing machine and fridge with me when I move. They're not mine, but I figure the company owes me a boat-load of money and has caused all kinds of anguish, so it's my compensation. I spoke to my friend, who is also my guarantor on the house, and she told me that she had already called the estate agent to see if we could renegotiate the move-in date to this weekend, which wouldn't save me a lot of money, but it would save some. We're still waiting to hear back from them.
So, after that meeting I had to rush off and teach 2 private lessons, and so by the time I got back to Kamiooka the banks had shut. Which means I missed the deadline for the deposit. I'm not sure where this leaves me - probably not in good position. I'm climbing the walls at the moment.
In an attempt to try and do something other than freak out, I'm gonna show you all of my Japanese apartments:
This was my first apartment in Ina. Pretty bare, and full of the remnants of previous tenants. It was also absolutely freezing.
The tatami room was depressing:
Note the broken shutters which revealed all to the mechanics beneath, and the black mold creeping up the wall on the right.
It's not wonder they couldn't keep teachers very long.
Thankfully, I only lived there for a month before being moved to a brand-spanking new Leopalace, pictures of which I seem not to have.
Then I moved to Tokyo, and was placed in a miserable, grey, cockroach ridden apartment in Omori.
I did my best to brighten things up by investing in pink.
This bureau was depressingly brown.
But I did up the fridge in the kitchen:
I still have some of that wrapping paper, so I will put it to good use in the new place.
Then, I moved to Yokohama. Cockroach free, perfectly located and not in too bad nick:
Well, that's all bare and sad-looking now. Still full of other people's tat too.
I'll update you on the apartment when I know more.
The past few weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster, made all the worse but not knowing when I had to move out of my apartment. Eventually, I moved out last Tuesday and am currently staying at my friend's place in Kamiooka, just south of Yokohama. Though I've been given no deadline, I wanted to leave because just living there was causing me untold amounts of anxiety, due to it being a company apartment, and all the attendant bad feelings that come with living there. Every time I heard male voices outside the door I thought someone was coming to evict me.
Once I was out, things settled for a day or two, and it was pleasant just to be able to relax a little bit. However, on Friday I went apartment hunting and since then I've been crazy busy with trying to get money sorted out. I went to look at a number of apartments in Asagaya, just west of Shinjuku. The second apartment I found had my name written on it, and so I decided that despite being slightly more than I wanted to pay in rent, it would suit me much better than my second choice apartment. I'll tell you all about it once I move in.
So, I signed the contract to move in on May 31st, and had to pay half of the money today. However, I had to teach today, and have a meeting with a guy from a removal company. I met him at 10.30am, and his first quote was for 120 000yen to move (you do the maths, it's horrific). I think he saw me go pale, so he recalculated a few things, phoned his boss and got it down to 70 000yen, but that's still a month's rent I'm paying to move house. The reason things are a little expensive is that I'm planning on taking the washing machine and fridge with me when I move. They're not mine, but I figure the company owes me a boat-load of money and has caused all kinds of anguish, so it's my compensation. I spoke to my friend, who is also my guarantor on the house, and she told me that she had already called the estate agent to see if we could renegotiate the move-in date to this weekend, which wouldn't save me a lot of money, but it would save some. We're still waiting to hear back from them.
So, after that meeting I had to rush off and teach 2 private lessons, and so by the time I got back to Kamiooka the banks had shut. Which means I missed the deadline for the deposit. I'm not sure where this leaves me - probably not in good position. I'm climbing the walls at the moment.
In an attempt to try and do something other than freak out, I'm gonna show you all of my Japanese apartments:
This was my first apartment in Ina. Pretty bare, and full of the remnants of previous tenants. It was also absolutely freezing.
The tatami room was depressing:
Note the broken shutters which revealed all to the mechanics beneath, and the black mold creeping up the wall on the right.
It's not wonder they couldn't keep teachers very long.
Thankfully, I only lived there for a month before being moved to a brand-spanking new Leopalace, pictures of which I seem not to have.
Then I moved to Tokyo, and was placed in a miserable, grey, cockroach ridden apartment in Omori.
I did my best to brighten things up by investing in pink.
This bureau was depressingly brown.
But I did up the fridge in the kitchen:
I still have some of that wrapping paper, so I will put it to good use in the new place.
Then, I moved to Yokohama. Cockroach free, perfectly located and not in too bad nick:
Well, that's all bare and sad-looking now. Still full of other people's tat too.
I'll update you on the apartment when I know more.