Chez Tomu

Hello once again!!! I have found an internet cafe (that happens to be free of charge) in downtown Oita so that I may again avail the world of my adventures. In today's post I shall ramble on about my apartment.

My apartment is but a short bike ride from all that Oita City has to offer. For instance, if I ride for 30 seconds and I can find myself at a Shinto shrine. Tack on 3 more minutes and I can grab some groceries at a big ol' fatty supermarket, albeit a supermarket with product labels that I can only partially read. In a short 2 more minutes I can find myself at a cute mom and pop ramen shop (<- check out that rhyme yo). After that I am only seconds away from downtown Oita and the Hyakuen store (basically a very classy dollar store).

As far as JET apartments go, mine is pretty lux. I have an air conditioner, new tatami mats, and no mold or bugs. However, as you would naturally expect, I do have one complaint: my bathroom is way way too small. In fact, it is so small that I am deathly afraid to breathe whilst in my bathroom for fear that I may use up all the oxygen. Truly it would be a sad way to perish, pants down and alone on my toilet.

I digress. On the bright side of things, my supervisor had a bit of a donation drive for me before I arrived and so my apartment was more or less fully equipped when I walked in. You would not believe the amount of stuff they gifted me. I now have about 8 futon matresses, 3 blankets, 100 towels, 3 pots, 2 pans, 15 dishes, and 8 pairs of chopsticks. All I REALLY had to go out and buy was forks and spoons. I wish I took pictures of the morning after my arrival in which I ate a bowl of yogurt with chopsticks. That was a pretty sight no doubt.

Anyhow, if you care to check out pics of Chez Tomu, go to the address below, and do not judge me by the curtains (they came with apartment) or boxes (I have yet to figure out the garbage schedule):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93694119@N00/

For the more technologically saavy, below is a bit of a walkthrough that I made this morning. Be forewarned, large amounts of geekiness are to ensue: