Japan_Bound
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Home Sweet Home . . .
I finally managed to get in touch with the landlady and met her this morning in Kyoto. Although I really didn't enjoy getting up at 7:30 on my day off, I was really relieved that she finally returned my messages and was willing to meet me to discuss the house. So that's precisely what we did. We met at JR Kyoto Station at 10 and she bought me coffee, over which we talked about the house and the contract. At the end of the meeting I signed the contract and we're getting the house on September 1st. The only down side was the fact that they raised the rent to 70000 yen per month and the deposit is now non-refundable (as Erin, the current tenant, suggested that the upstairs room needs new tatami mats, the owners are willing to replace them) due to incidental repairs and such that they do throughout a contract term. On the bright side, I did not have to sign a lease for any length of time; I told her Jesse wants to stay for about a year and she was happy with that. If, however, we decide to leave Japan earlier than September it won't be a problem as we can get out of the contract whenever we like. Phew!! ~wipes brow~ I'm really happy it's overwith and taken care of, so now we don't have to worry about where we're going to live! As soon as I get over to the house to see it I'll take some pictures and send them as promised.
Eloisa is on her way to Quebec with her boyfriend as of this afternoon, to meet his Chinese parents who are dead-set against his having a non-Chinese girlfriend. They are in their early 30s and not allowed to share a room; in fact, his parents call him almost every day to beg him to "wait for marriage." Sounds like a healthy situation she's getting herself into. Anyway, it will be a nice 10-day's respite for me as we haven't been getting along lately; that is to say, I no longer put up with her shit and she doesn't like it. It's definitely good to experience having room mates, I think, but that doesn't mean it's a good experience. Things started out really positively and have rapidly deteriorated. Oh well, I try to be diplomatic about it and not sweat the small stuff, especially since I'll be out of here in 5 1/2 weeks. Woo hoo!!
I haven't been hearing much from any of you - I know summer's a busy time and I haven't been so good with the correspondence thing either. Hope all is well and know that I love and miss you very much. Take care! Ciao for now.
I finally managed to get in touch with the landlady and met her this morning in Kyoto. Although I really didn't enjoy getting up at 7:30 on my day off, I was really relieved that she finally returned my messages and was willing to meet me to discuss the house. So that's precisely what we did. We met at JR Kyoto Station at 10 and she bought me coffee, over which we talked about the house and the contract. At the end of the meeting I signed the contract and we're getting the house on September 1st. The only down side was the fact that they raised the rent to 70000 yen per month and the deposit is now non-refundable (as Erin, the current tenant, suggested that the upstairs room needs new tatami mats, the owners are willing to replace them) due to incidental repairs and such that they do throughout a contract term. On the bright side, I did not have to sign a lease for any length of time; I told her Jesse wants to stay for about a year and she was happy with that. If, however, we decide to leave Japan earlier than September it won't be a problem as we can get out of the contract whenever we like. Phew!! ~wipes brow~ I'm really happy it's overwith and taken care of, so now we don't have to worry about where we're going to live! As soon as I get over to the house to see it I'll take some pictures and send them as promised.
Eloisa is on her way to Quebec with her boyfriend as of this afternoon, to meet his Chinese parents who are dead-set against his having a non-Chinese girlfriend. They are in their early 30s and not allowed to share a room; in fact, his parents call him almost every day to beg him to "wait for marriage." Sounds like a healthy situation she's getting herself into. Anyway, it will be a nice 10-day's respite for me as we haven't been getting along lately; that is to say, I no longer put up with her shit and she doesn't like it. It's definitely good to experience having room mates, I think, but that doesn't mean it's a good experience. Things started out really positively and have rapidly deteriorated. Oh well, I try to be diplomatic about it and not sweat the small stuff, especially since I'll be out of here in 5 1/2 weeks. Woo hoo!!
I haven't been hearing much from any of you - I know summer's a busy time and I haven't been so good with the correspondence thing either. Hope all is well and know that I love and miss you very much. Take care! Ciao for now.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Dante's . . . er . . . Meegan's Inferno
Greetings all! It's a frosty 32 degrees right now and fixing to go even higher. This morning at 2:30 AM it was 30 degrees, so you can imagine what the days are like here. Because of the heat and humidity I haven't really been doing much, other than going to work and vegging in front of the air conditioner trying to survive!
Apart from this miserable heat, I haven't much excitement to mention. I still can't get in touch with the landlady from the new place so I'm starting to worry that she's rented it to someone else and afraid to tell me. Jesse's in the midst of moving and packing everything and I still can't believe that in 10 days the house will no longer be ours. Recently I was given a Kinder class at work (3+ year olds) with 5 students and I am really really happy - you know me and kids; I'll try to get a picture next week if it's allowed. Natsue and I are planning a surprise birthday dinner for Yumi (they're the girls who took me to the expensive restaurant for my birthday) to be held at my favourite Thai restaurant - yum, Pad Thai here I come!! I'm continuing to follow my health regiment and am steadily losing weight (not sure if I should attribute this weight loss to eating well, walking so much, taking Nigari, or sweating like a pig 24 hours a day, but more than likely it's a combination of everything) which makes Meegan a very happy camper!
And that's all she wrote, for now!
Greetings all! It's a frosty 32 degrees right now and fixing to go even higher. This morning at 2:30 AM it was 30 degrees, so you can imagine what the days are like here. Because of the heat and humidity I haven't really been doing much, other than going to work and vegging in front of the air conditioner trying to survive!
Apart from this miserable heat, I haven't much excitement to mention. I still can't get in touch with the landlady from the new place so I'm starting to worry that she's rented it to someone else and afraid to tell me. Jesse's in the midst of moving and packing everything and I still can't believe that in 10 days the house will no longer be ours. Recently I was given a Kinder class at work (3+ year olds) with 5 students and I am really really happy - you know me and kids; I'll try to get a picture next week if it's allowed. Natsue and I are planning a surprise birthday dinner for Yumi (they're the girls who took me to the expensive restaurant for my birthday) to be held at my favourite Thai restaurant - yum, Pad Thai here I come!! I'm continuing to follow my health regiment and am steadily losing weight (not sure if I should attribute this weight loss to eating well, walking so much, taking Nigari, or sweating like a pig 24 hours a day, but more than likely it's a combination of everything) which makes Meegan a very happy camper!
And that's all she wrote, for now!
Monday, July 05, 2004
Home sweet home . . .
As you know, Jesse is moving here in September, so I've been searching high and low for a place for us. Fortunately a girl from my work is moving home at the end of August and heard from a mutual friend that I was looking for a place; the timing couldn't have been better as we're getting the best possible place at the best possible deal.
It's a two storey house in Kyoto with two bedrooms and two kitchens, complete with 2 fridges, washer, dryer, 2 stoves, 2 airconditioners, TV/VCR, vacuum cleaner, cabinets and shelves, large closets, 2 balconies, coffee maker, iron, rice cooker, air purifier, extra folding chairs and stools, plates, crockery, utensils, small garden, etc.
PLUS, for 50000 yen ($550) they're selling us: a TV/VCR, table and 2 chairs, 2 bikes, sofa, kenwood home stereo, guitar, microwave, playstation and games, coffee table, 2 sets of drawers, heater, fan, hair dryer and straightener (this is of course for Jesse), blender, full length mirror, lamp, scales, phone with answering machine, 2 portable cd players, handheld vacuum cleaner, iron and ironing board, bookshelf, toaster oven, plates, cutlery, pots and pans, storage baskets, cleaning supplies like mop and buckets, gardening tools, and bike accessories (pump, repair kit, locks). Holy crap!!! What a deal.
I know it all seems too good to be true, but it is true. She told me she felt the same way when she moved in there and still can't believe how well they lucked out. Plus it's in Kyoto, which is my favourite place so far. I can just picture Jess and I biking around Kyoto, checking out all the temples and gardens. And the clincher is that the rent is 60000 yen - the same price I'm paying for one room in my crappy, leaky Nova apartment!!! AND the landlady speaks English! Seriously, I can't believe our luck and feel so fortunate that the timing was so good - apparently even though we're taking it they're still getting daily calls for the ad in last month's papers. I get to go and sign the lease agreement some time in the next week (time allowing - I'm constantly on trains now because of having to take care of my friend's place).
Woo hoo!! Things just couldn't be better. I can't wait to move in and have Jesse here and start the next leg of our adventure.
As you know, Jesse is moving here in September, so I've been searching high and low for a place for us. Fortunately a girl from my work is moving home at the end of August and heard from a mutual friend that I was looking for a place; the timing couldn't have been better as we're getting the best possible place at the best possible deal.
It's a two storey house in Kyoto with two bedrooms and two kitchens, complete with 2 fridges, washer, dryer, 2 stoves, 2 airconditioners, TV/VCR, vacuum cleaner, cabinets and shelves, large closets, 2 balconies, coffee maker, iron, rice cooker, air purifier, extra folding chairs and stools, plates, crockery, utensils, small garden, etc.
PLUS, for 50000 yen ($550) they're selling us: a TV/VCR, table and 2 chairs, 2 bikes, sofa, kenwood home stereo, guitar, microwave, playstation and games, coffee table, 2 sets of drawers, heater, fan, hair dryer and straightener (this is of course for Jesse), blender, full length mirror, lamp, scales, phone with answering machine, 2 portable cd players, handheld vacuum cleaner, iron and ironing board, bookshelf, toaster oven, plates, cutlery, pots and pans, storage baskets, cleaning supplies like mop and buckets, gardening tools, and bike accessories (pump, repair kit, locks). Holy crap!!! What a deal.
I know it all seems too good to be true, but it is true. She told me she felt the same way when she moved in there and still can't believe how well they lucked out. Plus it's in Kyoto, which is my favourite place so far. I can just picture Jess and I biking around Kyoto, checking out all the temples and gardens. And the clincher is that the rent is 60000 yen - the same price I'm paying for one room in my crappy, leaky Nova apartment!!! AND the landlady speaks English! Seriously, I can't believe our luck and feel so fortunate that the timing was so good - apparently even though we're taking it they're still getting daily calls for the ad in last month's papers. I get to go and sign the lease agreement some time in the next week (time allowing - I'm constantly on trains now because of having to take care of my friend's place).
Woo hoo!! Things just couldn't be better. I can't wait to move in and have Jesse here and start the next leg of our adventure.
Friday, July 02, 2004
HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! . . .
I don't have any plans for the big day, other than finally going shopping with my birthday money and getting my hair cut (going much shorter and getting bangs - can't stand long hair in this heat!). I will, however, wear my Canada t-shirt in honour of the big day. As much as I love it here, the things that piss me off have only served to better my appreciation of what it means to be Canadian and, for that matter, how lucky I am to have been born as such.
I have a request: I am desperately in need of summer PJ's as I only have one pair that isn't for winter. I can't find any here that would fit! Can someone PLEASE buy a few pairs of cheap tank and short PJ sets (L size) from Wal-Mart or something and send them? I'd reimburse you right away - I swear. And I hate to ask but I'm really desperate.
That's all for now! I'll be in touch (er, I guess that seems like a big old lie, since I've been so pathetic about correspondence lately - but I will, er soon).
I don't have any plans for the big day, other than finally going shopping with my birthday money and getting my hair cut (going much shorter and getting bangs - can't stand long hair in this heat!). I will, however, wear my Canada t-shirt in honour of the big day. As much as I love it here, the things that piss me off have only served to better my appreciation of what it means to be Canadian and, for that matter, how lucky I am to have been born as such.
I have a request: I am desperately in need of summer PJ's as I only have one pair that isn't for winter. I can't find any here that would fit! Can someone PLEASE buy a few pairs of cheap tank and short PJ sets (L size) from Wal-Mart or something and send them? I'd reimburse you right away - I swear. And I hate to ask but I'm really desperate.
That's all for now! I'll be in touch (er, I guess that seems like a big old lie, since I've been so pathetic about correspondence lately - but I will, er soon).
