Everyday Adventures: Moving in...

March 10th, 2007
Over the last four days, we've been going full tilt getting ourselves settled into our new home! On Thursday, Zack signed the only lease he's likely to ever sign that includes the stipulation that we cannot wear shoes in the house. We walked over in the afternoon and dropped off a few things and did some floor planning. We were told the movers would only place our furniture once, so we had to be prepared.
Friday, we woke up at 6:30 to be out of the hotel by 7:30. A van took us to our place and we stowed away our suitcases. The movers and the people from Housing with our appliances arrived around 9:00. Both got big moving trucks into a one way road down which our van driver was afraid to go. The morning was a little chaotic. I checked off our boxes as they came in while Zack directed traffic so to speak. Before 11:30, all our stuff was in, the appliances were up, the gas man had come by to give us instructions about how to use the stove and hot water, and the cable guy had come through to get our information for our internet contract. At 11, Zack was wandering from one to the next signing everything, since it's all in his name. The movers had to lift our queen sized matresses over the railing to our upstairs patio to get them to our room. My grandmother's chest of drawers went up that way as well. For the matresses, they just lifted the boxes and got them up without rope or anything. They used a pulley system and blankets for the dresser. It was pretty cool to watch.
So by noon, everyone was gone and we set to work unpacking. We worked steady, and by 4:00ish the kitchen and the tatami room were more or less together. Then we walked back to base to tell Dory how cute she is and to go to a car sale run by the Navy League. A guy from Fukuoka had brought down 20 used cars. Jerry, the Navy League rep, had lots of good things to say about him and his work. By 6:30, we had bought a car! We'll be able to pick up our Honda Domani and drive it home next week Friday or Monday after all the paperwork has gone through. They're installing a CD player for us as well. It's silver, and it's primary draw (other than being really well taken care of) was that it was the smallest car available.
Saturday, the unpacking continued. The downstairs is now completely done, and our primary challenge was clothes. We have one enormous closet, and it had no rods for hanging clothes. We're not allowed to put any holes of any size in the walls, so we bought two rods that just use pressure to stay up. We got one to stay with my clothes on it, but the other has fallen down, so that's a challenge for today. Other than that, there's a few more boxes and we should be done by this evening. We plan to celebrate by going out and getting Tempura at a place up the way.
A note for the music lovers out there. On our way home from the base yesterday with supplies, we ran into a high school aged marching band on the ginza! They were a small group: one tuba, four trumpets, and what not, and they were advertising for a concert or something because they had signs with prices on them. They played a fantastic rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In". They were really good. We loved it.
Having accomplished so much doesn't mean we'll suddenly be bored. Monday, Zack has to be at work bright an early, I have an interview for a job at Nagasaki Junior College, a lunch date, and the cable guy coming sometime in the afternoon. On top of that, there are papers to be returned to Housing listing damages, more papers to be sent to various other people to adjust Zack's pay to our new situation, and a visit to the Security department on base to prove we have a place to park our car. The good news is, after Monday, we'll have internet access in our house, so no more sitting at the coffee shop to write! We'll keep you posted. In the mean time, enjoy some pictures of our new abode before all the stuff arrived...