Moving into my new home
April 18, 2018
After almost a week training with Interac in Chiba, I was finally going to move into my new home in Showa, Yamanashi. During training, I swear everyone I met in my Koushinetsu Branch (Toyama, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi) were located everywhere else, but Yamanashi. I was beginning to think I was the only person going to be placed in this prefecture. On the last day of training, when we received more information of our journey to our new homes, I met Christine who was also based in Showa. I was ecstatic! I immediately befriended her. She had lived in Japan for 5-years before. It was reassuring to have someone nearby with prior experience.
We embarked on our jouney at 6:00 am after the completion of training and a night out. My Hawaii friend Shane left the morning before for Iwate and my other friend Nicole was leaving a few hours after me for Ibaraki. With a few other ALT's, we caught an hour bus from Hilton Narita Airport Hotel in Chiba to Tokyo Station, then took a train all the way to Kofu (capitol of Yamanashi Prefecture). At Kofu, Christine and I had split with our own Interac IC's. It was about a 30 min car ride to Showa, the town nextdoor.
There were several things I needed to complete with the help of my IC - meet with the rental agency, register my address with the town hall, open a Japan bank account, and receive some deliveries. My apartment was furnished with a refrigerator, gas stove, ceiling light, desk, chair, and a really thin futon, blanket and pillow (deliveries I received). I was supposed to receive an IH stove, however for some reason my IC told the deliverymen to take it back with them. This was a bit upsetting since I did not want to use the gas stove. Oh whale... Running out of daylight, we then went to this AWESOME Aeon Mall to buy a few things to start.
Thankfully Morgan came all the way from Yokohama to help! The IC dropped us back home around 6:30 pm. Thinking back I wish I didn't rush because I needed that IC's car... Morgan and I walked back to Aeon Mall (about 20 min walk) at 8:00 pm to buy more things and eat dinner. We didn't get home until after 10:00 pm! What a tiring day...
Anyways, I never thought thinking of things to buy for my new home would be so difficult. Luckily, I had family members help me purchase and transport some furniture and items for my home.
We embarked on our jouney at 6:00 am after the completion of training and a night out. My Hawaii friend Shane left the morning before for Iwate and my other friend Nicole was leaving a few hours after me for Ibaraki. With a few other ALT's, we caught an hour bus from Hilton Narita Airport Hotel in Chiba to Tokyo Station, then took a train all the way to Kofu (capitol of Yamanashi Prefecture). At Kofu, Christine and I had split with our own Interac IC's. It was about a 30 min car ride to Showa, the town nextdoor.
There were several things I needed to complete with the help of my IC - meet with the rental agency, register my address with the town hall, open a Japan bank account, and receive some deliveries. My apartment was furnished with a refrigerator, gas stove, ceiling light, desk, chair, and a really thin futon, blanket and pillow (deliveries I received). I was supposed to receive an IH stove, however for some reason my IC told the deliverymen to take it back with them. This was a bit upsetting since I did not want to use the gas stove. Oh whale... Running out of daylight, we then went to this AWESOME Aeon Mall to buy a few things to start.
Thankfully Morgan came all the way from Yokohama to help! The IC dropped us back home around 6:30 pm. Thinking back I wish I didn't rush because I needed that IC's car... Morgan and I walked back to Aeon Mall (about 20 min walk) at 8:00 pm to buy more things and eat dinner. We didn't get home until after 10:00 pm! What a tiring day...
Anyways, I never thought thinking of things to buy for my new home would be so difficult. Luckily, I had family members help me purchase and transport some furniture and items for my home.
Some items I needed to buy that I wouldn't usually need to buy were:
- Bicycle
- Kotatsu (never thought I'd ever get to own one - my dream come true! ♡)
- Another Futon/ Couch
- Water Filter
- Humidifier
- Rods (to hang items for storage)
- Aluminum Foil Insulation Foam
- Electric Rug
After buying my bicycle, transporting things became much easier. However, having a car in my town is much more convenient. I bought the most important necessities such as toilet paper, cooking and cleaning supplies first. Then I needed to buy shelves for storage. I shopped at Nitori, an affordable furnishing chain store in Japan. I bought some shelves for clothes to put in my tiny closet and a small shelf that I would put my non-existent TV on. I also got a shelf on wheels to put near my kitchen area since there is no counter space whatsoever.
My home has a living area and a bedroom area, so I could buy junks to fill it with lol. The biggest struggle was to find a table for my vanity area (one corner of my bedroom). I did not want to buy a lot since I am contracted for only a year (for now), so I was trying to find the cheapest and smallest table and shelf to put my makeup on. I found a mini ghetto diy shelf from Daiso. I am still not satisfied with the setup at all, therefore I barely use that area of my room. I probably will re-do that area, so it is under-construction until further notice.
I will make another post of the inside of my home when I am ready to show it.
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