Well I have almost finished it... I have almost fully moved into my new apartment. This week has been tough... moving on Monday, picking up a futon on Tuesday at lunchtime, bringing that futon on the packed japanese trains, paying bills, etc. For those of you who have moved out of your place, I am sure you felt the same pressure. Having to get the water, heat, electricity turned on, populating your house with furniture, getting dishes etc! There is always something you can do! Well let's just set my ramblings aside and focus on what happened, shall we?

First of all, we started looking for an apartment a month ago. Well, I actually didn't too much, Chiaki did. I am living with my host family, not having to pay anything, and its amazing. Anyway, after awhile, I decided to help find an apartment and on the first day we went out together, we found a perfectly, lovely home in Kasai, Tokyo, which is only 5 minutes away from our current home. This home has a balcony, washroom, bath tub, kitchen, 1 room, and a lovely little morning routine area located opposite to the kitchen. The apartment is 5 minutes from the train station and was built in December 2006.

So what's different with getting an apartment in Japan? The key money. In Japan, to get most apartments, you have to go through a real estate company who manages the relationship between the owner and the renter. So, they have to be paid. Also, the owner wants some money when you move in, cause it is his/her place anyway! So he has to be paid. Also, you have to pay your first month down, don't forget that! So thats another $600 at least. Well anyways, it all pretty much adds up to around $3000 to $4000. Pretty expensive for a move... considering you have to pay a mover around $150 to $300 to move all your stuff from your apartment. And in my case, I had no things so I had to go buy them!

The unfortunate story of this move was the fact that I had next to no money in Japan. If I bring money from overseas, it can be considered income and I will get taxed more on my next pay cheque. So... with that being said, I went out to find the CHEAPEST stuff I could get. Well for $220 bones, guess what I got? Here's the list-> A rice cooker, desk, office chair, futon, dishes, pots, pans, shredder, curtains, ikea drawers, a lovely japanese wall decoration, comforter, lamps, books, and some other random stuff. The thing about Tokyo is, people are constantly moving in and constantly moving out. I tried to find people who were in the latter stage of their life. This doesn't make me a cheap indian, this makes me a wise one with no money =). Oh how I hate key money...