1 post tagged “moving”
After the initial shock of moving to Japan, do you know what excited me the most?
Sounds absolutely stupid, but it was the prospect of living in a pagoda-like house. I so wanted my own little koi pond, a little Japanese zen garden with stones and a lantern or a fountain where I could meditate daily.
Do I meditate now, or have I ever? Absolutely not, but I like to think that if I'd managed to get my hands on one of those zen gardens, I'd be a meditating fool.
For once, however, the advisors in San Diego told us true--it really is hard to live in Japan with pets. Finding a home in Japan that allows a pet is difficult, but should you manage to leap that hurdle, there's the thought of paying for six months of quarantine in a kennel on-base at $400 a month that will make you blink twice. In the end, we chose to live on-base because of the furry brats and so moved into a building that looks remarkably like my first dorm in college.
The moving experience was amazing, to be quite honest. We were warned that at least one of us (guess who the one was) had to be there for the movers' arrival between 8 am and 5 pm. In the States, with that schedule, I'd anticipate seeing no one until at least 10 am. However, promptly at 8 o'clock, my doorbell rang, and the cutest set of five young Japanese guys in matching blue coveralls with shaggy haircuts stood bowing outside my door. Each time they needed anything, they asked my permission (including bathroom breaks), and while we'd been advised to absolutely not tip anyone (it's considered an insult--as if to say they don't make enough money or are so bad at their jobs that they need to buy further training, etc.), I couldn't help but offer drinks. Even though every one of them took a Coke, and seem surprised that they were cold rather than warm, they one-by-one refused to drink them until they finished the move.
The most unusual part of the day came during the unpacking process. These guys are so great at their jobs that they will not only haul it into your house, but they unpack everything for you and put it away where you point. Having been told that our oversized leather sofa and loveseat would not fit into a Japanese house, we opted to buy a couch and a chaise lounge from Ikea but hadn't put them together so they could be shipped in the wrapping they came with. Now, being that Ikea is a global store, they don't use words to tell you how to put the products together but instead show a series of pictures where a little man does everything that you are meant to emulate. When the movers got to the section where it tells you what not to do, I thought each of them would fall over laughing at the pictures. After they finished, they even asked to take the instructions with them because they enjoyed it so much! Of course, I sent them on their way with the paper, I'm sure looking extremely bewildered.
So...even without all the normal trappings and with everything being standard military issue in the home, with our things inside....it's finally home. *sigh of happiness*
Sounds absolutely stupid, but it was the prospect of living in a pagoda-like house. I so wanted my own little koi pond, a little Japanese zen garden with stones and a lantern or a fountain where I could meditate daily.
Do I meditate now, or have I ever? Absolutely not, but I like to think that if I'd managed to get my hands on one of those zen gardens, I'd be a meditating fool.
For once, however, the advisors in San Diego told us true--it really is hard to live in Japan with pets. Finding a home in Japan that allows a pet is difficult, but should you manage to leap that hurdle, there's the thought of paying for six months of quarantine in a kennel on-base at $400 a month that will make you blink twice. In the end, we chose to live on-base because of the furry brats and so moved into a building that looks remarkably like my first dorm in college.
The moving experience was amazing, to be quite honest. We were warned that at least one of us (guess who the one was) had to be there for the movers' arrival between 8 am and 5 pm. In the States, with that schedule, I'd anticipate seeing no one until at least 10 am. However, promptly at 8 o'clock, my doorbell rang, and the cutest set of five young Japanese guys in matching blue coveralls with shaggy haircuts stood bowing outside my door. Each time they needed anything, they asked my permission (including bathroom breaks), and while we'd been advised to absolutely not tip anyone (it's considered an insult--as if to say they don't make enough money or are so bad at their jobs that they need to buy further training, etc.), I couldn't help but offer drinks. Even though every one of them took a Coke, and seem surprised that they were cold rather than warm, they one-by-one refused to drink them until they finished the move.
The most unusual part of the day came during the unpacking process. These guys are so great at their jobs that they will not only haul it into your house, but they unpack everything for you and put it away where you point. Having been told that our oversized leather sofa and loveseat would not fit into a Japanese house, we opted to buy a couch and a chaise lounge from Ikea but hadn't put them together so they could be shipped in the wrapping they came with. Now, being that Ikea is a global store, they don't use words to tell you how to put the products together but instead show a series of pictures where a little man does everything that you are meant to emulate. When the movers got to the section where it tells you what not to do, I thought each of them would fall over laughing at the pictures. After they finished, they even asked to take the instructions with them because they enjoyed it so much! Of course, I sent them on their way with the paper, I'm sure looking extremely bewildered.
So...even without all the normal trappings and with everything being standard military issue in the home, with our things inside....it's finally home. *sigh of happiness*
