housing and new neighbors

Well, I'm a bit bummed out by how much moving into a new place costs. The upfront costs are really high, depending on realtor fees, etc.

One condo had a long list of fees including changing of the locks, house cleaning + carpet shampooing (or floor waxing), insurance for household belongings (that makes sense, actually), and a handling fee of 1 months rent (I don't understand the kanji so I can't tell you what it's for).

However, I was pleasantly surprised to get a new neighbor gift from the guy who moved in next door. He rang the doorbell and said he'd just moved in and did a formal little spiel about the possibility that he might be noisy at night but hopes we'll get along. The speech doesn't translate well at all into English. And he gave me two nicely wrapped boxes containing wash towels, a token gift that is popular here (construction companies and such like to give them away from what I can tell). In retrospect, I ought to have introduced myself this way when I first moved into my apt. building.

apartment hunting, the second day

Well, I spent most of today (10-6) talking to real estate agents and looking at apartments. What an experience! I'm a little discouraged, as there's always something a little off with each one. I'm not sure how much perfection I should be demanding either, so I'm having a constant internal debate over which aspects are required and which aren't.

My current requirements:
* bath/shower and toilet must be separate (a convenience that I'm not willing to live without. The little units that have the toilet crammed in next to the shower/bath with a sink linking them both are just no fun at all.)
* a quiet neighborhood so that I can open my windows.
* two stove-top burners (the better to cook with)
* a "mansion type" place - typically reinforced concrete construction or some variation on that
* a good amount of sunlight reaches the room

negotiable:
* I'm looking in the same area as I currently live in, although I'm considering other places too. The thing is, I don't know what it's like to live in other stations, so I'm uneasy about committing to a new area.
* a separate sink not in the bath/shower room (a sink in addition to the kitchen sink; modular is good!)
* elevator (nice, but not necessary, I suppose)
* auto-lock (means solicitors can't come to your door)
* building has a nice appearance
* pleasant neighborhood

Today, I saw a place with a great - perfect - layout. The hallways were pretty dim though, and only one set of windows (balcony doors facing approximately south). My only issues with the place:
* it's a little far from the station
* the neighborhoods don't have that much personality (kind of urban)
* I'm not sure how convenient that station is (less convenient than my current location) and it's an underground one that has exits facing the freeway - a bit depressingly urban in my opinion.
* It's about $160/month more than I was prepared to spend on a place. It's spacious and I love the layout, but I'm not sure the extra money is worth the space.
* It would be nice to have a more spacious kitchen

I saw another place that was perfect - a ton of cute little windows letting in light, great layout, great location (pretty close to my current place), and good neighborhood.
* It's only slightly cheaper than the first place, so I have the same concern about price.
* The ceilings are on the low side, which bothers me for some reason. They're plenty high enough, but it gives the impression of less spaciousness. I don't think I should care about this aspect, but for whatever reason I do.
* I wonder if the landlady is very involved in the maintenance of the building (this can be good and bad). She seems like a very nice woman, but I rather like the leave-alone feel of apt. management companies. I should have asked her some questions.

I wonder if I should relax my requirement for a "mansion type" place. Regular wooden buildings are cheaper by at least $100 or so.

Alternatively, if I move farther outside of the metropolitan area, I can get a great place for exactly my price range - $160 less than the places I looked at today and bigger than them too. But that's more time spent commuting, so I don't think it's worth it.

I need to take better pictures. At least I've learned to take pictures of the kitchen area of each place I visit. They're different everywhere.

hiragana and katakana worksheets, plus apt. hunting

I ought to think up more clever titles for my posts.

I found a website with pretty worksheets for practicing your hiragana and katakana.

As I plan to commence apartment hunting this weekend, I did a little research online and found this blog quite interesting. It mentions some housing organizations that I hadn't heard of.

tatami mats to square feet

I've always had trouble trying to translate apartment sizes from tatami units to feet, so I found this page quite handy.