Tsukuba Monogatari: Second post
Because I would be staying in Tsukuba for three months, I offered to stay in a Japanese-style apartment rather than in a hotel. (This was long before the advent of airbnb). In reality, it was all part of my dream to once again live Japanese style. My company, ever eager to manage expenses, agreed.
As a result, I found myself, two days after my arrival in Tsukuba, moving into an unfurnished apartment.
Objective for Day 1: To be able to take a bath and sleep
In order to achieve this objective, you have to:
- Have the gas turned on
- Purchase a bathboard, basin, soap, stool, towel, etc.
- Purchase bedding: a futon, sheet, and taweru (towel) blanket
- Purchase lights, so you can see what you’re doing at night
- Purchase curtains, so your neighbors can’t see what you’re doing at night
- Purchase gokiburi hoi-hois (cockroach motels) so you can sleep without worrying about little feet running over you in the night
Objective for Day 2: To be able to unpack your suitcase and get the kitchen into shape so you don’t have to run to the neighborhood 7-11 every time you get hungry or thirsty.
This is when you hit the second-hand shop, get the mini-refrigerator, the 2-burner stove, the pole for your closet so you can hang things up. It’s also nice at this point to have a table or kotatsu and chair so that you don’t feel as though you’re sitting in the middle of the Sahara Desert in your totally Zen-like surroundings.
Objective for Day 3: To be able to sit down and have a cup of coffee. All you need to do is to go out and buy the coffee. And the cup. And so on.
Only in Japan can you spend $500 and have what still appears to be an unfurnished apartment.
“Japanese apartment“: Courtesy of ORAZ Studio. Licensed under cc by NC 2.0
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