On Friday we decided to get a jump on moving day. We both took a day off from work, and we started packing up stuff in the car and ferrying it over to the new place. With key in hand we unlocked the new apartment and looked around – it had been almost a month since we had seen it. The place looked good, though, and we started putting our stuff inside. It is up two big flights of stairs, so you really had to try to take a lot. That made for a couple of very tired people at the end of the day.
It was a cycle we went through – load up the stuff in Futami, get in the car all sweaty and depend on the air conditioning until we reached Okubo, then unload everything and get back in the car all sweaty again. I carried a towel with me at all times to deal with all the sweat.
We had lunch at a ramen place near our new apartment, and unfortunately it was one of those really greasy places that puts lots of extra fat into the broth. Everything else was good, but the fat was a real turn off for us. Luckily we were burning it off so fast today that it wasn’t likely to stick around long.
In the afternoon we spent time at the old place getting it ready for the big move the next day, and we were so tired that we even fell asleep for a little while. We woke up on time though to head into Akashi and meet up with Tamura sensei and her boyfriend for a farewell dinner for Yuri.
We hadn’t seen any of these guys for quite a while. Tamura sensei is not working now – I’m not sure if that is by choice or not. Her boyfriend Takuma is going to school and working on landing a part time job. It sounds like he’s got a full time job lined up after he finishes college, so that is good news. Yuri was sad to be heading home, and it was sad to say goodbye to her. We showered her with presents, and there was even another guest – a friend of hers that she met randomly in Japan along with his wife and their baby.
Their baby was cute, but she was scared of me – big time. I tried holding her and she broke out in tears. I felt so bad – usually I’m good with kids. Maybe it was the smell of sweat from all the moving we did.
We ate lots of food and left the place stuffed. We said our final farewells at the station, and then everyone headed off in different directions. I was sorry to see Yuri go, but I’m sure she’ll have a great time back in the states. She wasn’t sure if she would stay the last year or not – I think sometimes she regretted sticking around as long as she did. She’ll do fine, though – she’s smart and funny and bilingual – that’s a big plus when it comes to finding work.
We slept soundly at Futami that night, keeping in mind that it would be our last night there. Kind of the end of an era for me.
