The Big Move or, "I Can't Feel My Toes!"

We interrupt the Osaka coverage for breaking news from the far north of Japan.

Well I figured people would want to know how the move went, so I'll shoehorn in a post on my new home, Kanazawa.

The moving man showed up at my door around 10, and we had it all packed up and ready to go by 11. 6 hours later we show up in Kanazawa! Why is it that whenever I move my worldy belongings it snows and/or rains? It rained in Nagoya, and as we got north of the city that quickly turned to snow. It snowed pretty much the whole way north in fact. There was even one point where they made EVERYBODY get off the highway and check for either snow tires or chains. Naturally this caused traffic to back up just a little bit, say about an hours delay? Sheesh. Of course we already had snow tires, so they checked us, cleared us, and we headed back onto an almost empty expressway. *sigh*

My apartment building is actually rather secluded, kind of tucked away, so in the dark and the snow it took a little while to find. We went around the block at least 3 times! However, once we found it I was overjoyed in the spaciousness. It's huge, giant, ok well really it is just a little bit bigger than my old shoebox. But bigger is better. I have a loft so I sleep on the "second story." This frees up space downstairs for more furniture, like a little bookcase that Jessica left me. Oh happy days. The other good news is I am a shortish walk to school. In the snow it has been running about 20 minutes, but in summer with my bike I bet I can make it in under 10 easy.

Speaking of the school, it is right in the central downtown area. It is a nice place, with two other teachers, Paul and Asuka. In worse news the heat hasn't been working. My rooms been OK warmth wise because of a space heater. But the lobby and office area are just as cold as the outside. We could see our breath. It was baaad. And of course our manager was at a meeting, so there was nobody to call and try and fix the problem. Argh.

As far as the weather goes, it pretty much hasn't stopped snowing since I got here. In fact here it has set a few records. Kanazawa city itself hasn't had it too bad, only say a foot of snow. But from a bit north of us all the way to Hokkaido is a total mess.

Reuters

Japan Times

Ok here are some photos!



The moving "truck"



The new shoebox, from the kitchen area to the main room.



peering down on the main room from my loft.



Near my place. Nice little street scene.





Downtown, the school is right down the street from here.