Posts Tagged: moving house

Family — 5 Comments
29
Dec 07

Life Changing Moments from 2007

2007 was an eventful year, starting with fortune teller Kazuko Hosoki predicting that it would be the best year for me in over a decade. I’m not really into astrology, but she wasn’t far off with that prediction.

My Top 5 Life Changing Moments from 2007

5. Taking better care of my health

On July 1st, I put out my last cigarette. With a baby on the way, I wanted to be a responsible father so gave up a habit I had had for about ten years. Being smoke-free for half a year, I can’t say that I feel much healthier, but I do know my stress levels have increased and I have no fingernails left. Smoking was the best bad habit I ever had and I miss it dearly, but at least I made a life-changing decision, instead of a life-ending one.

4. Becoming the sole breadwinner

Two months before Rikuto was born, Mami gave up her job at the hospital. She had more time to prepare for the baby and became noticably happier without the demands of work upon her. However, that left me solely responsible for supporting the family, and I wasn’t going to let them down!

3. A change in perception

2007 was the year I wisened up. It started with some research into the terrorist attacks on New York, and resulted in me spending sleepless nights reading up everything I could find on the topic. I discovered there is very little substance in the “official” story the public were fed by the media, and a mountain of information supporting a contradicting theory. The lack of interest in what would be the biggest scandal in a hundred years saddened me, and I blame the money-hungry media for manipulating the public and removing our ability to think for ourselves. Not anymore. I’m sceptical of everything now.

2. Moving house

We started 2007 in our new house, and while not technically new, it was in excellent condition and perfect for us to start a family in. Buying a house was a life-changing moment for me because it forced me to agree to a lifetime in Japan. I don’t mean that in a bad way, and of course we could always sell it, but I am now focused on raising a family here in Kakamigahara.

1. The birth of our son, Rikuto.

Since late 2006, I had been blogging about Mami’s pregnancy and posting photos of ultrasound scans. When Rikuto came into the world on July 22nd, he didn’t just change my life, he became my life! From that day forth, everything I do has been with Ricky in mind, and that’s why I my son is the winner of the Top Life Changing Moment award!

I’ll wrap up the year with a photo slideshow I’ve put together called 2007 – The Year of The Baby. Let me wish all my readers a Happy New Year, and I hope you’ll join me again in 2008 – the year I become self employed!

If you can’t view the video, watch it here on YouTube.

Family — No Comments
4
Jan 07

Moving House

Our houseI’m at the end of my two-week Christmas holidays, and I don’t feel like I’ve had a moment to relax. Moving house started on December 22nd when I got up early, rented a ‘High Ace’ van and spent the whole day hauling boxes and furniture over to our new house. It was 3am by the time I finally got everything done, and two whole rooms were packed with the stuff I had moved.

Moving the air conditioners 2Moving the air conditioners 1The next day, a good friend came around to help me move the heavy stuff, namely our refrigerator, washing machine and sofa, and the day after that was when Mr. H brought his team of traffic light engineers over to do the air conditioners.

Since then, I’ve spent the holidays putting things in the rightful places, shopping for everything from new light bulbs to bookcases, and throwing out an enormous amount of rubbish.

Mami and I have made some wonderful discoveries such as realizing the tap in the bathroom sink is attached to a hidden half-meter long hose, so you can pull it out and wash all around the basin, and we’re lucky enough to have a modern toilet with heated seat and built in bum-hole washer, for want of a better description.

Not everything is perfect however. The upstairs toilet has an unsightly stain in it which even kerosene is struggling to remove (it could be weeks of scrubbing before it’s gone), and the doorbell is one of those high-tech gadgets that connects to your telephone, causing it to ring when someone comes to visit. Although it sounds posh, it won’t work without the correct phone adapter, which needed an extensive internet search to find a shop that sells one (for a whopping $100!). On top of that, a couple of doors won’t close properly after earthquakes have made the house a tad uneven.

On the whole though, they are small problems which will be fixed in time, and we are thrilled with our purchase. This is a house that was built during the bubble economy for close to half a million dollars. We picked it up for well under half that.

The neighbors are friendly, but I’ve been roped into once-a month rubbish duty, which I’ll no doubt tell you about after I’ve got my hands dirty.

Family — No Comments
15
Dec 06

Getting ready to move

A few months ago, I posted about buying a house and getting a mortgage in Japan. There were times when I didn’t think it would be possible without a permanent residency visa, but eventually we managed it… and we move next week!

If you’re thinking of buying a house in Japan, you might want to consider getting a mortgage through Mitsubishi Tokyo UFJ bank. They were the only bank that would give me a mortgage. As one of Japan’s biggest banks, I guess they can afford the risk. I had to prove that I had been in the same company for at least one year, and show proof that my earnings were enough to repay the mortgage. However, I think the fact that my wife is a qualified nurse helped a lot because she is in a position to get a job and finance the mortgage should the English teaching industry kick me out on my behind. So, although the house is in my name, Mami is the guarantor.

Anyway, I’m busy packing boxes for the move, and plan to do it all on one day. After originally planning to use my little Suzuki Wagon R, which would have taken more than 20 trips, I came to my senses (Thanks Mike!) and reserved a nice big “High Ace Van” for the 22nd. That should cut it down to just five or six trips I hope.

My biggest concern is getting our two air conditioners out. One company was recommended but they only service the local area, and I’m in a different city. I tried calling a couple of other companies but their schedules are full over the so-called ‘busy’ season. Incidentally, why is it that every season in Japan is ‘busy’ season? I mean seriously, ask anybody if they are busy these days and they’ll say yes! Anyway, I’m hoping that a friend of a friend of a friend can help me out….. but until I hear from him, I’m just waiting it out.

Cue Mariah Carey… “All I want for Christmas is… an electrician!”