Apartment Found

I finally found an apartment yesterday. I submitted my application, proof of foreigner card registration, a copy of my company contract to prove I have a job with an adequate salary, as well as my guarantor's documents. The landlord will call mine and my guarantor's companies to confirm our positions and make a decision. If he approves the application, we can discuss the cleaning, financials, move in date. If all goes well, it should take about a week, and I might be able to move in next weekend. I need to arrange everything with the internet, electricity, water, and gas companies as well. That should be easier though. I don't think they're as strict as the apartment landlord.

If approved, I'll be living in Yutenji. I'm only 2 minutes from the station, and I'm surrounded by other small apartments and small family homes. Directly next to the station is a wealth of restaurants: curry, Italian, ramen, tonkatsu just to name a few.There's also lots of tiny shops with everything from sweets and fresh-baked bread to medicine and convenience stores. There are some pachinko (arcade gaming) parlors, but these are much safer alternatives to the bars that are seen in the rest of Tokyo. Overall, the area is very safe and convenient, and I'm looking forward to living there. I'll provide pictures if I get approved and once I furnish the apartment a bit.

Within the next few weeks, I'm hoping to get a bank account and a cell phone. At the moment, I'm carrying around exorbitant amounts of cash on me and using Tai's grandmother's cell phone. For those of you who have smart phones, you are free to contact me using Kakaotalk. It's a really great program that lets you text for free (inter-)nationally as long as you have at least 3G or wi-fi. It works with your normal contact book. You can send video, pictures, and normal texts. You can also message to groups. The app is free to download.

A quick book shout-out. I had given the book to Tai a few years ago for his birthday, but I had never read it myself. I finally had some free time the other day and finished it in a couple sittings. It's called Delivering Happiness, and it's written by Zappos CEO Tony Hseih. It was extremely inspirational and it chronicles the beginning of Zappos to its current motto of delivering happiness to everyone that the company and its employees meet with. It's quite short, and I really recommend it.

Tomorrow is officially the first day of work at the Company. I'm off to bed to get some sleep.