Key Day!

My family woke up with enthusiasm today.  It was pretty surprising since my husband and I were unable to sleep after the earthquake just before midnight last night.  We were laying in bed, heading off to dreamland when the whole room shook a little too much for my taste.  We hurried to our son's room to find him snoozing away, peaceful as ever.  I was a bit unsettled and grabbed him to sleep in our bed (just in case, you know) and my husband watched TV to see where it was centered.  We then ended up doing laundry, of all things, and didn't actually go to bed until close to 1.  As we laid in bed a second time, we suddenly recalled that you sway a lot more when you're on the 11th floor of a building.  It really wasn't a big deal at all.  Nothing even fell off a counter.

The late night did not deter from the excitement of getting the keys to our new house.  I had packed several boxes (it's amazing how quickly one acquires new things) and 2 suitcases to take a load over to the new house since the leasing agent was bringing a car to pick us up.  I prearranged with him that my husband and our stuff would go sign paperwork, while my son and I followed on the subway and met them at the new house.  That way we would have to take less stuff on the train later.

He arrived right at 9am, and the guys loaded his car.  As they drove off, my son and I headed for the subway station.  We knew we could meander because the paperwork would take at least an hour.  So, we paused at the shrine right next to the subway entrance.  My son loves to stop here and spend a moment paying respect to the gods and the frog statues.  Before too long, we were on the subway for the 35 minute commute to the new house. 

Once we arrived at the station, we took the stairs up to the street.  We were immediately greeted with a craft store and a Daiso (¥100 shop or dollar store).  I loved seeing all the beautiful fabrics and huge jewelry making department.  I immediately thought of my sewing machine back in the US, left there because the electrical plug wouldn't work in Japan and I worried about using it with the converter for extended periods of time.  Daiso had 3 large aisles of Halloween stuff, which really surprised me.  As a matter of fact, I've been really surprised with the huge increase of Halloween merchandise I've seen in the past few weeks.  In Osaka in 2002, there was basically nothing.  Just the random weird Christmas ornament decorated for Halloween. 

After wandering through these shops, we headed toward the large department store to pick up a few items for the house.  We crossed the major street, and went up the stairs to the pedestrian promenade and were greeted with a festival in full swing.  There were dancers, food booths, and kid games.  I almost started crying.  This was our future neighborhood!  My family is really active in our community, often attending and participating in festivals and events as much as we can.  So to be welcomed (coincidently) by this festival just felt so right. 

My son and I wondered around for a bit.  I bought some grilled squid to munch on, as it is one of my favorite things to eat at festivals, especially when it is grilled over hot coals!

We then found our way into the department store and bought the couple things we needed.  Just then we received a text from my husband that the paperwork was all done and we could head to the house.  We walked past a huge park and in about 10 minutes we were there!  My husband was already busy unloading the car.  We happily helped by taking boxes into the appropriate room and unpacking what we could.  After unloading the car, my husband quickly got to work installing light fixtures and taking final measurements so we could order appliances tomorrow morning. 

Inside of LED light fixture as it is attached to the ceiling.

We sat down for a bento picnic lunch in our living room, purchased from the department store.  It was quite delicious and very filling.

Once the gas guy came and turned on our gas, we were ready for more shopping and exploring.  We headed back to the promenade next to the station and the festival.  It was even more fun attending the festival with my husband because he could explain things to me and I enjoyed showing him what I had stumbled upon.  We bought some dango with a sweet miso paste on it that were warmed over coals.  They were also selling roasted fish on a stick, but since we had just eaten lunch I didn't want fish.  But it looked really neat cooking!

We took our time wandering around the festival and purchasing the things we needed from the department store and headed back to the house.  We then finished up a couple things, and headed back to the apartment.  As we left the house, my son introduced himself to a little girl playing near our house.  Maybe he just made his first friend in our new neighborhood.  That would be nice.

Before we left I remembered to take photos of the toilet for my friend who was disappointed that I didn't share pictures of our loo previously.  It is basically a closet with a "western" toilet.  There are some buttons for bidet and so forth.  And you can wash your hands in the water that streams down to fill the tank.

It was an exciting, but exhausting day.  We shall all go to bed with smiles on our faces, as we dream about what is to come in our new abode and community.