Hello!イーオン日立校ブログです！

今日はJesse先生が引っ越しについてのブログを書きました◎

どうぞお楽しみください(*^-^*)

I have a new apartment!

I now live in Heiwacho, close to NeNeYa. I'm really excited, but also really tired. Moving is a lot of work!

I liked my apartment in Bentencho, but after more than four years there, I wanted to change a few things. For one, I wanted to be closer to the station. In winter, and when it's raining, walking to AEON or the station isn't very fun! I also wanted to be closer to Kasumi. I love Ito Yokado, but it closes before AEON finishes work, so I can't buy groceries after work. Kasumi is open later, so it's perfect for me.

I also wanted a bigger kitchen. This part was the biggest challenge when I was looking for an apartment. Cooking is my most important hobby, and I have a lot of tools and equipment. I also need a lot of counter space to put different dishes on. When I have a party at my apartment in Bentencho, I often have to put dishes on the floor because there's no space. However, almost all apartments in the Hitachi area (I also looked around Ogitsu and Hitachi-Taga) have basically the same small kitchen design, with almost no counter space. So, to have a big kitchen, I needed a special room design. Kitchens that are in a small side area are impossible to make larger, so I needed one where the kitchen joins the dining room directly, with no walls, corners, or doors. I finally found one! I can use my five cabinets to make the kitchen area much larger, and have more counter space. My new apartment's kitchen will have three times as much space as my old one! I'm really excited about that.

Moving is really hard though. And expensive! In America, when you move, you usually have to pay the first month's rent, and a security deposit. When you leave the apartment, you get the security deposit money back, unless you caused a lot of damage to the apartment. It's usually equal to one month's rent. So, usually, you only have to pay rent for one month, and a security deposit, for a total of two month's rent. In Japan however, the security deposit is larger, and there's something called "key money" which is a gift to the apartment owner. In my case, the key money was two month's rent, and the security deposit was also two month's rent. I also had to pay the first month's rent, and the fee to the real estate company for helping me get the apartment. In total, I had to pay almost six month's rent to move in, about three times what it would cost in the US!

Moving my things is hard too. I have a large refrigerator, a lot of extra cabinets, and a big computer desk, in addition to a lot of smaller things like kitchen equipment and my kotatsu. This part is always hard in the US too. I moved 8 times in the US, so I have a lot of experience with packing and moving, and it's always hard. However, there is one advantage in the US that I don't have in Japan. Americans love pickup trucks. I don't know why. Maybe it's the cowboy spirit. I've never owned a truck, but I always have a few friends that have one. It's common in America to ask a friend with a truck to help you move your big items like sofas and refrigerators. In Japan though, not many people own a truck, and the cars are usually smaller too. My move is pretty short distance, but I had to hire a moving company. They're coming tomorrow!

Packing, cleaning, setting up my new internet, turning on the gas and electricity, then unpacking and organizing: they're all hard. But it's worth it! My apartment is beautiful, I have more space, I'm closer to the station, and when the cherry blossoms come, I will sit on my balcony and drink beer, while viewing the blossoms. I'm really excited and happy right now! I can't wait to cook my first big meal in my new kitchen!

What's your experience with moving? Let me know in the lobby!