My New Apartment

 Yesterday morning I left the Tokoyo Inn after a 10-day stay and moved into my apartment, #305.  It was an arduous experience, as it took about two hours and it was raining most of the time.  The mover AEON hired didn't speak any English, and I definitely misunderstood what needed to happen on more than a few occasions, but we got it done.  I only had to call AEON twice to translate, once to answer a question about the washing machine's water hose and once when the utilities guy dropped by.  I didn't have much time to tidy up, though, because I had to rush back to school to teach a 7 PM class.

After about four hours work this morning, I finally got everything unpacked and on shelves in some loose order.  The kitchen space really is abysmally small, so some of my cooking supplies are currently on bookshelves.  Some other small issues are that the washing machine can't seem to drain fast enough (I went through two rolls of paper towels mopping up that mess) and I can't figure out how to turn on the main light in the living area.  There's a switch that doesn't do anything, and a remote that doesn't appear to work, but currently I'm not sure if the remote/light is dead or I'm just doing it wrong.  I'm also right next to the train tracks, though the noise from the trains hasn't been a bother yet.

These things aside, it really is a nice little apartment, and I can see myself being quite comfortable here.  I'm 10 minutes from the school and right next to a department store, a shopping center and two supermarkets.  The free Internet I'm using sometimes has extended periods where it won't work at all, but when it does work it's surprisingly fast.  AEON also gave me the address, which is as follows:

Espoir Jyoto 305
Taira Aza Jyoto 2-7-20
Iwaki Fukushima 970-8026
Japan

April 29 – May 5 is Golden Week, so I have the week off to settle in, shop for essentials and explore.  It's definitely weird having a weeklong vacation less than a month after starting work, but it will be time well spent!