On this outing, my wife heard a phrase that since then we've heard at least a dozen times: "your Japanese is very good!" I guess, the locals get confused when they hear us speaking English and assume she's a foreigner or they simply don't look at her very obvious Japanese facial features. I laugh every time I hear it, but for some reason my wife doesn't find it funny.
The following day, Sunday, we received the keys to our new apartment. Within a couple of hours, I had called a taxi company and loaded all our luggage onto a nice large mini van taxi and comfortably rode out to what tomorrow will be our new home! I dropped the luggage off and walked to the train station to return to the Airbnb we were staying at. When we first drove here with the real estate agent, I noticed a little store with an amazing amount of junk spilling out to the street. It really grabbed my attention. There were bikes, refrigerators, toys, shelving, a TV, I mean all kinds of stuff. It really looks like a disaster area. I just had to stop there to look at the place. It's on the way to the train station, so I had to walk past it to get back to the Airbnb.
This kind of second hand store is known as a recycling shop. It's your basic thrift shop as opposed to actual recycling. This particular one is two floors of everything under the sun, jam packed to the point that the two halls to walk are no more than a foot wide at their widest point. The guy that owns it wears stylish white plastic frame glasses and seemed pretty friendly. He told me he closes on Mondays and that I had to return on Tuesday.
On Monday, we left our Airbnb and moved to the our brand new "manshon" apartment. In Japan an apartment is a thin walled housing unit that gives you the privilege of hearing everything your neighbors say or do. We have chosen to live in a "manshon" or mansion in English. Now manshons are slightly larger and thankfully have concrete walls that keep you from hearing what happens next door. Or above and below. Ours is what's described here as a 3LDK. Three bedrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen. Of course it also has a sink room/laundry, a shower room and a little water closet where the toilet is. All that is just over 725 sq ft. Plenty of room for this minimalist family. Two of the bedrooms are "western" style rooms with laminate flooring and one is a traditional Japanese room with a tatami (rice straw mats) flooring.
We arrived there early afternoon and after a tasty lunch at a burger shop in the basement of the grocery store nearby, we traveled to the Hirano station to visit a furniture store we had looked at online. When we got off the train at Hirano, we realized this is one of two stations by the same name. This station is Hirano Osaka Subway station. The furniture store is located next to the Japan Rail (JR) Hirano station. There is no easy way to get from one to the other. They are about 3/4 of a mile away so we decided to walk. The weather was a nice and comfy 90 degrees with 80% humidity. By the time we arrived at the furniture store, we were a few pounds lighter and had spent $5 in water at several vending machines along the way.
We bought two futon, sheets and pillows and ordered a table, hutch and beds for the kids. We somehow carried the futon, sheets and pillows home because we need to sleep somewhere tonight. The rest of the stuff is to be delivered the following week. This is how the kids slept that first night.
That's right! On the floor. A real futon, is simply a thin mattress that you put directly on the tatami. This is the traditional Japanese sleeping way and how my wife and I will spend the next couple of years. It's actually very comfortable and I must say I like it a lot and it's been wonderful for my no longer aching back.
The next day, Tuesday, we went to the Dotonbori section of Osaka to buy a fridge, stove and washing machine which will be delivered on Wednesday. Dotonbori is a cool and touristy area but we are on a mission and really didn't dedicate the time to tourist around. I didn't take any pictures of it on this trip. When we return for leisure, I'll add pictures because it really is a very cool place. Anyway, two more days of eating out. I've missed my wife's cooking.
Speaking of my wife's cooking. As you may know, I'm a generously sized man. Actually 6' and about 320 lbs. The average Japanese man is about 5'6" and 140 lbs. This has turned me into a very popular person. Old women reach out and touch my stomach. Children point or stare with mouths wide open. In 1999, when I first visited Japan, a man asked me if I was an apprentice Sumo wrestler. I've become a big (no pun intended) attraction in this community and patting my belly has become a local pastime.
On the way back home we stopped at the recycle store. The owner greeted me with a smile and my wife and him started talking. He showed her a nice large bike with solid frame, decent tires and a basket for groceries. I just stumbled all over the first floor of the shop and counted about 14 surfboards hanging on the walls. My wife said we would buy the bike the next day. He said he would remember and patted my stomach. I think he remembers me by my stomach.
On Wednesday, before the appliances were delivered we went to 7-11 for some junk food for lunch. Once again we stopped at the recycle shop, this time because I've been wanting a chair. It's just not very comfortable to sit on the floor all the time when you are my size. The owner directed us to the second floor and there among all the stuff, even more than downstairs, my wife found a nice little wooden folding chair.
Back downstairs, Rie found a scooter board that our son has been wanting so we added it to the purchases. We also got the bike my wife saw last night. It's purple. Altogether we spent about $75 because the bike is in really good shape. The chair and the scooter were $8 each. With the transaction finished it was time to socialize with the owner.
This is when things got interesting.
His name is Tsurusaki, but he asked me to call him John. He is a musician. He plays guitar and sings and once or twice a month he goes to a senior center to play for the residents. He also plays gigs around town. I told him I play drums and bass. His eyes opened wide and he grinned. Immediately he asked me for my phone number. Within minutes he had also added me to his contacts on the LINE app, that people are so fond of using here. He seems to really like me and honestly I like him back. He is a funny guy.
I think I made my first friend in Osaka.
