This afternoon we spent time with a rental agent driving around the area looking for a new place to live. We looked at six or seven places, and one thing I can say about the experience was that everything was really big. You think Japan and you think tiny places, but all the ones we saw were very large, with plenty of room for all our stuff and maybe more. Location is important in any country, but it is especially important in Japan were the closest train station determines the price of the place. As you might expect, the farther we were from a train station the bigger and nicer places tended to become. If you didn’t mind a short bus ride or a long walk you could get a big place for a pretty good price.
Since Kuniko and I both will rely on trains to get around, we’re looking for something close to a station. There were two places in Okubo that were close to the station, and close to a big shopping center that we often visit, but neither of them grabbed us. One was facing the railroad tracks, and I think that could get a little noisy. I think we decided to keep looking, since we do have almost a month left to look around.
In the evening Kuniko took off for the second party, so I hung out at home and did a little bit of studying. I made a call to Hasegawa sensei, the former director of the Hyogo Board of Education. He’s got a really cushy research job now that involves working with the principals of all the public high schools in Hyogo. I was making the call to get back in touch and tell him that I’m in the market for a job in Japan. It was a classic moment, though, when I finally got around to the meat of the conversation and he suddenly started saying, “Hello? Hello? I think my connection is dropping…” That’s probably what I would say if some foreigner was asking me for a big favor. We got a good connection going soon after, and we talked for quite a while. He’s a really nice guy with a good sense of humor. Hopefully we can meet up and have drinks sometime soon.
Around 7:30 I went over to the local ramen restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat, and I was surprised to find the place packed. I ordered up a bowl of noodles and a beer, and it took almost twenty minutes to arrive. I was pleased to see that they were doing well.
Kuniko got home around 10:45, and so we did a quick shopping trip at IY before they closed and then headed home. It is going to be a pretty easy week for me at school, and I’m looking forward to it.
