A Broad {Teaches} Abroad: Let's Start at the Very Beginning, Part 2

House Hunting
Prior to arriving in Tokyo the Head of School's Assistant provided all of the incoming teachers a map of the surrounding area and possible areas where we may be interested in living. Not knowing anything about the area or what the map even meant in terms of reality made it very hard to do any prior planning. I decided to forgo any research and just wait until I was here and could . Maybe not the best of plans especially considering how jet-lagged I was the first few days and how busy they kept us, but oh well. The first morning after arriving we headed over to school to fill out some paperwork and then met up with the Housing Specialist, Toshi. He took a few of us around to see a couple of small, modern places and then to see some more Japanese-style places as well.

There were 4 of us looking at about the same number of apartments. So began the process of elimination. I tried to imagine myself in each of the 4 contenders. I did not bring any furniture with me so I knew whatever I bought would be bought with the intent of filling a particular space so that made it a bit easier. The first apartment was just too small. The second apartment was over-budget slightly, but had spacious storage, lots of natural light and a separate room for guests. (hint, hint) The 3rd and 4th places were traditional Japanese with tatami mat rooms, beautiful wood details and plenty of space.

To make a long story short I went with.......

Apartment #2!

It seemed to suit me best and I feel so lucky to have as much space as I do. It is only about a 10 minute walk to a train and a 15 minute bike ride to school. I feel safe and sound and secure.

The whole process overall was very different than what I'm used to. A lot of Japanese landlords don't want to rent to Americans. (They think we're too messy.) There were some delays and setbacks because of Japanese holidays and applications but in general it was a smooth system.