What Does it Take to Feel at Home?

Kai settles in to the kitchen
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

I was thinking about this yesterday as we were schlepping our many suitcases (and all the extra new stuff that somehow got added to our temporary apartment) from our old apartment to our new apartment. The kids immediately felt at home here, even though we don't have any of our own furniture. Of course, getting some food into the refrigerator and cooking a meal was a key step -- we had pasta with three different kinds of sauce for dinner last night. But just knowing that we'll be here for at least two years and each person having a little space of their own seems to be the big thing. One thing that makes a huge difference to me is the washer and dryer in the kitchen -- they are both imported from the U.S. and it's heavenly to have a dryer that works! No more draping clothes all over everything and then waiting a few days for them to dry.

Kai has managed to figure out all the gadgets and gizmos in this new place. It's packed full of brand-new household electronics, including climate control system (one for the bedrooms and one for the living spaces), intercom system with video (for the front door and the building's front door), a bell system in the dining area that I think is for calling the maid from the kitchen, an emergency fire button, and a really fancy home security system. I'll have to be vigilant about locking all sliding glass doors when we're not home -- there are five different sets going out to the terrace! And of course we have a fancy Japanese toilet in our guest bathroom.

View From Our Roof Terrace

View from our roof terrace
Originally uploaded by Invisible Marty

At last we're in our own apartment, although we don't have any furniture yet.

The high rise in the distance is the famous Roppongi Hills development, including a world-class art museum on the 54th floor that we plan to go visit soon. Not only do we have lots of greenery on our terrace, but there's another roof garden on the neighboring apartment building. We're in the neighborhood of Nishi-Azabu very close to the Nishi-Azabu crossing with Roppongi Dori (my life revolves around Roppongi Dori, a very large street).

The movers came to our house in Quincy to pack us up on March 11th, and the shipment itself has been in Yokohama (the nearby port) since April 5th. But apparently the shipping company the in the U.S., called GDK Movers by the way, did not pay their bills to the ocean shipper so the container is being held hostage. It seems GDK Movers has gone dark and stopped responding to our agent over here. I really hope someone does something soon because I want my stuff! I put in some calls to various people on Friday in an effort to move things along, so we shall see.

Subway Etiquette

I have been smiling about this poster for some time. At first, I thought it was just a reminder not to be a slob. But then I noticed that the young man is looking at the ladies in the magazine and his pants look rather large, and I remembered reading about complaints that guys in the subway looking at porn magazines and video. Yuck!

Arts and Crafts

All of us love making things, and I was little worried that a big, sophisticated city like Tokyo wouldn't be the best place to be crafty.  Yesterday fears were put to rest after Caroline and I struck out around 5 p.m. to explore Tokyu Hands.  To get there we took the subway to the Shibuya Station and struck out across Shibuya Crossing.  This place can be extremely intimidating for two gals from the forests of Northern California, but amazingly thousands of people navigate across this major intersection during each traffic light cycle with no jostling or shouting.

Tokyu Hands lived up to its review in my little guidebook of Tokyo.  We wandered around the many levels and nooks and crannies and found everything we could ever need for arts and crafts projects.  We'll also be coming back next weekend after we've moved into our long-term apartment to get things like waste baskets, more hangars, lamps, a wall clock, etc.

On another note, I think I've figured out how to get the photos off my camera phone so I can go back and share some of our other experiences so far in Tokyo.  Things have been hectic this week, but I know we'll be much calmer when we're in our spacious apartment surrounded by familiar stuff.

In the meantime, here's a link to more photos of the arts and crafts expedition.

Friends Near and Far

Wow, I can't believe how lucky I am to have friends already coming by for visits. First we had a friend from work who was visiting Tokyo come for dinner with me and the kids, and then today my friend from Maui came and spent the day hanging out. Then this evening I made a new friends with a fellow living in the building who has been living here for the past two years with his girlfriend, both of them from the U.S. They are from Oakland, California, and we spent some time talking through where exactly Quincy is located. I lost him after I said you had to go north from Lake Tahoe. It seems that the vast area that is northeast California is a lost region to most Californians.

BJo came over to meet the kids, see our apartment, and give us advice on our curtain selections for the new apartment. Then she and I struck out on our own to see the sakura and the Yasukuni shrine, envisioning a stroll through serene gardens. We were surprised to encounter huge crowds and a full-on street festival. All the while, we were chatting nonstop. We enjoyed some good food - yakutori, beer, and later ice cream. I enjoyed seeing many families camped out on large blue tarps, picnicking and enjoying the beautiful weather. There were also performances, including temple girls in kimonos singing patriotic songs. We even dipped into a museum on the grounds of the shrine. The Shinto shrine is dedicated to Japan's soldiers who have been killed in wars, and visits from prime ministers have drawn international protests over the appearance that these politicians are validating Japan's role in World War II. There are several war criminals interred at the shrine.

Earthquake City

I just realized that I've felt three earthquakes in the seven days since we arrived here.  The most recent one was just an hour or so ago, and our 14th floor apartment swayed for at least 10 seconds.  The glasses and plates in the kitchen cupboard rattled and we all grabbed our chairs. Coming from California, the idea of earthquakes is not foreign to us, but Tokyo seems to be a whole new level of earthquake activity.  Just think, in 1923 there was the Great Kanto earthquake that killed 140,000 people in this region.  And the 1995 earthquake in Kyoto killed 6,400 people.

There are some very strict earthquake engineering standards for buildings in Japan, which is reassuring.  But then there's the case of the architect who falsified earthquake protection reports for something like 20 high rise residential buildings in various Japanese cities.  Certainly, living in an old wooden house in this city would not be advisable.

When I considered all the earthquake factors and our lifestyle, I decided that we could live in an older building as long as it has been inspected and retrofitted as necessary.  But I was insistent that we not live higher than the fifth floor -- we ended up with an apartment on the fourth floor for our permanent apartment.  Yeah, I'll miss the city views we get from our temporary digs, but overall I'd like to be closer to the ground.

School, Banks, and Paperwork

Wow! Today the girls start school at the American School in Japan. We spent Monday there at an orientation, and I think they will enjoy it. It's such a difference from their charter school and the local public school in Quincy. They will get on the school bus at the American Embassy a few blocks away and ride for nearly an hour to Chofu City on the outskirts of Tokyo. The school is nestled into a Tokyo suburb and has all the things you would expect - football field, auditorium, and a different building each for the elementary school, middle, school, and high school. It's a bustling place, with over 1500 students. So many of the students there come from families that move frequently that they are all welcoming and accepting of my new kids. I hope Caroline and Ceci find some kindred souls there.

Meanwhile, I still haven't finished the application and interview process for Kai at the Montessori school, which is only a 15-minute walk from our new apartment. We will try to get that done this week so that he can start school next week.

Speaking of our new apartment, Ceci and I went to see it yesterday to make the final decision, and we love it! Right now there is some renovation being done, so we won't be able to move in until the end of April. But it's perfect for our family, with lots of greenery around the building and a beautiful roof garden just for us that wraps around our apartment, with doors into all the main rooms. I can't wait to show everyone photos once we've moved in.

I also managed to open a local bank account and registeras a foreign resident. All this was accomplished with major assistance from our moving coordinator, Yumi, who is not only efficient and knowledgeable but is really fun and just a great person to hang out with. Her company, TGA, is hired by my employer to settle in all our expats and they do a fantastic job.

Oops, I see it's time to get the kids up out of bed and ready for school!