Yesterday, we moved into our new flat, and we slept here last night. Everywhere is full of boxes, but my computer is set up and working, and I am hopeful that I will be able to get the office clear of boxes before my first student arrives in five hours or so. The rest of the flat will still be a complete tip, of course, but the biggest advantage of the new place is that my students don’t need to see the rest of the flat.
In the end, the move seems to have gone off without any serious problems. Despite snow falling on Saturday, the next days, Sunday and Monday, the days we were moving, had perfect weather. It was dry, warm, and not too windy, without being hot. We could leave things on the balcony to keep them out of the way, and nothing got wet between the two flats. A local electrical goods shop sold us a new heater/cooler, and moved the old ones to the new flat, doing all of it on Sunday and fitting covers over the hoses between the interior and exterior units. Getting that done before the furniture came in was a big help.
The removals company (Kuroneko Yamato) sent people to pack our things up on Sunday, although they didn’t quite finish, so they had to come again on Monday. Then, on Monday, everything was loaded into trucks and unloaded into the new flat. They even managed to get all of my bookshelves into the positions I wanted in the office, which, given that they are double layer and there is about two millimetres clearance over one of them, was quite impressive. Some of the tiny metal cylinders that support the shelves seem to have fallen out at some point, so I hope I still have the ones that were left over. Of course, even if I do have them, I have no idea where I have them.
So, the new flat is now full of boxes. My first student is coming around 11am, so I have to get the office straight before then. One of the big advantages of the new place is that I can teach in the office, so there is no need for students to go into the rest of the flat. That’s just as well, as it’s still going to be full of boxes.
Yuriko’s parents have come up from Nagoya to help, and yesterday they mainly helped by looking after Mayuki all day (Yuriko’s mother also did some cleaning at the old flat). In the evening, when Mayuki came back to the new flat, quite a bit of the furniture was already in, and she was shocked. “That’s not right! Take it back!” she said (roughly, in Japanese). Unsurprisingly, she hadn’t quite understood what “moving house” meant. Still, she calmed down and watched her video, and then went to sleep, so I think she’ll get used to it.
Now I have to get on with putting books on the bookshelves.
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