small move. part one.

OK, so forgive me, people, we've been a bit busy.  We officially moved everything out of one place on Wednesday and are still trying to get it all to fit in our new place.  Here's the update.  Well, as the title indicates, some of it.

The best part of the move (the only good part?) was getting to drive in Tokyo.  That's right, little old me in a big white truck driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road.

First disclaimer:  While Tokyo may be a bigger city than New York, it is much much easier to drive in Tokyo.  It feels more like driving in the city of Syracuse.  That is, if cyclists and motorcycles were found weaving through traffic and trying generally to cause chaos in the streets of Syracuse.  Surprisingly, Tokyo drivers are ok with forty-year-old women on their bikes, talking on cell phones, flinging themselves and their two (helmetless) children in front of moving vehicles any moment. This would not stand in Upstate New York.

We picked the truck up early near the new place, drove back to the old place to load as much stuff as we could, drove back to the new place, unloaded everything with no particular attention paid to what was going where, went back to the old place, ate unappetizing bento lunch, loaded the rest, and went back to the new place.  Interestingly, while we had less than half the amount to load the second time around it took twice as long.

This is our apartment empty (it came with a bed and coffee table and Jeff).

The mess we are now trying to deal with.

After we had moved all of our earthly possessions to the other side of town, we really didn't feel like unpacking anything so we decided to instead head out and take advantage of the day long truck rental by picking up big items we still needed for our new place. 

Second disclaimer:  Most of our earthly possessions are, in fact, not in Japan, but rather stored away in America.  In spite of this, we have a ridiculously huge volume of things that we are now trying to arrange in a 13 square meter room. 

At this point, needing to obtain a variety of household items of superior design and quality at a low price, we did what anyone would do - we headed to IKEA.  Yes, Virginia, there is an IKEA in Japan.

And it was glorious.  I felt like I was back in America Sweden.  Interestingly, IKEAs everywhere are exactly the same.  Same shape on the outside, same layout on the inside, and conveniently located just off the highway exit.

After dropping off our new goodies and returning the truck, we were starving and headed out in the new neighborhood for some stewed tofu and a beer.  When we got back to our new home, it was all we could do to pull out the couch and fall asleep.  There was much to be done the next day, and we'd need all our energy.

For the record, we shared this big beer.

Tomorrow: unpacking, arranging, and celebrating with a friend and several pounds of raw fish.

Mata ne,
Melissa