My Apartment

Hello lovelies!

Sorry that it's taken me so long to get to this blog post, but I cleaned my apartment today in anticipation of my mother's arrival tomorrow, so I figured that now would be as good a time as any to share it with you guys. Normally, it's fairly clean, but it is particularly lovely now, so yep! Time for a tour!

Room 1: The bedroom.

This is one of my 2 tatami rooms, and it's where all the magic happens. Or at least would happen, if I had someone to make magic with. :P. Regardless, it's quite a decent size. As you can't really see, I sleep on a Japanese futon instead of a bed, but it is on a stand, which I feel is a little more unusual. 

Here is Jessica modeling my lovely futon:

I've also got a desk, surprise surprise, where I've got a calendar up, my laptop, and pictures of friends and family. 

Here's my desk/window from a different angle. Look at my lovely JET Japanese poster. So far it's been a little bit of help!

Room 2: The living room area.

I don't really have that much in my living room. A few pretty curtains, a couch. A coffee table book about Canada. Hopefully, I will get a nice rug in here before it gets too cold, but I'm waiting for my next paycheck. There is a door behind the orange curtains that opens to a porch, which is quite nice for sitting outdoors and pondering my existence.

I've also got my postcard collection hanging on my wall. It's a little bare, so if anyone would like to send me a postcard, send me a comment or an email and I'll hook you up with my address.

Here's the door to the next room. Also, here's my TV stand with no TV. I'm hoping to get a TV as soon as I get my next paycheck, once again. 

Room 3: The Second Bedroom.

This is the room that my mom will be staying in. I've done it up all pretty for her, obnoxious patriotism and all. :)

 

Room 4: The Kitchen.

This is the room where I cook. Obviously. Interesting fact: Japanese houses (even in Hokkaido, apparently, where it can get to -30 and 5+ feet of snow) do not have central heating. This giant thing between my living room and kitchen is a kerosene heater. And that is going to be my one source of warmth for the next 8 very cold months. Joy. If you don't hear from me during the winter, I probably froze to death.

Here's a more up-front picture of my kitchen. As you can see, not very much counter space and no oven. Also, the giant white thing on the right is the water heater. As I blogged about before, these are one of Japan's greatest ideas. It's wonderful!

Room 5: The Third Bedroom:

This room doesn't get an entire photo because it's boring, but here's one from the kitchen! Basically, I hang all my clothes in there to dry because I don't have a dryer. I know. My life is tough. But I'm getting used to it, slowly but surely.

Room 6: The Bathroom.

Note how I say bathroom and not toilet room. 2 separate rooms. This part of the bathroom branches off from my kitchen, with only curtains I put up to separate them. I've got my Japanese washing machine and my vanity, and then to the left, you will find the shower/bathing area.

This is a picture of the shower/bathing area. The bathtub is twice as deep and half as wide as bathtubs back home. They are made for soaking, not washing, so Japanese people normally take a shower with the little showerhead and clean themselves before bathing. They also will save the bathing water for anyone else in the family. I live alone, so I don't bother with any of this. I was a little hesitant to use the Japanese bathtub at first, but now I've quite warmed to it. :)

Room 7: The Genkan/Entrance Way

This is a room that all Japanese apartments/house have, I believe. It's got a concrete area where you leave your outdoor shoes, and then a little entrance area before the main part of the apartment. As you can see, my door leads to the living room from the area. Often, the toilet area of the bathroom branches off from this place, as does mine.

Room 8: The toilet room.

This room holds my toilet. Pretty self explanatory. One thing that I love about it is that there is a sink on top of the toilet bowl that recycles the water you wash your hands with. Genius. Also, however, it's going to be ridiculously cold in the winter, since this is as far away from my one heater as you can get.

 

So yeah! That's my place! Let me know what you think by commenting, and I'll be more than happy to hear from you!