We put a date in the calendar and went shopping. In preparation, my husband found a deal online for a couch that converts to a bed that fit our size requirements. After looking at the photos online, we agreed it was probably the right couch. We knew we could find the shelves and desk we wanted at the same store. So, we headed out to Shimachu and found what we were looking for in record time.
The furniture was delivered today. They gave us a window of delivery between 11 am and 1 pm, so I was able to drop my son off at the park with the park moms and kids and return to a quiet house to wait. However, they arrived 15 minutes early, just as I was riding my bike up to the house.
One of the delivery guys spoke English, so it made things much easier. I was able to show him where everything should go and explain how we wanted things set up. They brought the couch in first, which was delivered to the spare room. It feels a little odd calling it a couch since it sits directly on the floor. It doesn't have any legs. Many couches in Japan are super low or sit directly on the floor. After all, sitting on the floor is totally normal here. I'm sure it will take some getting used to and then I won't notice the height at all. Also, since it isn't in the living room, it isn't going to be a focal point.
Second, they assembled the desk in our bedroom. At first we were going to put the desk in the spare room so it could be our office, but we realized that having a desk in there along with some furniture for guests would be pretty cramped. In addition, we would loose our office anytime someone stayed with us! Since we had plenty of room for it in our bedroom, it was an easy decision to make.
The final piece of furniture were some shelves in the spare room to hold most of my son's books. I have a little addiction to children's books. He and I (or any adult that will agree to participate) will sit for long stretches of time reading. He loves books and so do I.
They were done in about 45 minutes. The delivery men left and I was left with my new furniture. It's so strange, but it brought so many mixed emotions. I was so glad to finally be set up for guests. Our first overnight guest will stay one night on January 31st. We are so excited to see our friend from Osaka. Following her visit, we will have several guests in succession from the US! And we can't wait!!!
Although very excited about impending visitors, I was also a bit sad. Getting our house all set up seems so permanent and final. When I agreed to move here, I agreed to two years and I haven't budged on this. While I don't expect (or want to) live in limbo for 2 years, having all this furniture and organization makes it look to me like I am planning on living here longer. When I was a kid, we moved a lot. We always had at least a couple boxes in the garage that never got unpacked. Sometimes they would be unpacked at the next house and sometimes not. It was normal for us. It was a sign of not staying in one place too long. If you meant to stay, why wouldn't you unpack everything?
As of today, I don't have any more boxes. Everything is unpacked and in use (with the exception of 2 boxes of dishes that I repacked and will be pulled out when we have guests). I don't have anything that doesn't have a place. And I am not 100% happy about this. I find it unsettling and a little bit scary. Suddenly home feels so very far away.
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