So I live in my new apartment now

I was heading out of the lobby today to go on a run. I just so happened to look up and see an unassuming japanese man holding a sign with the word "DEXTER" on it, in blue marker. I walked over and said hi. Lots of confused dialogue later, I found out that moving day was today, and that I had to check out of my hotel basically immediately....oops. So after a frantic ten minutes of hurried packing, I trampled(cuz I had a lot of cumbersome stuff) my way out of the hotel. Which, btw, I had really grown to love.

Then, it hit me. I'M MOVING IN TODAY! Aki san and I drove to the real estate agency and filled out the paper work. I mostly sat there pointing and agreeing until it was time for my hanko. For those of you who don't know, it's my official Japanese signature stamp. It reads "デクスター.” (Dexter). And then that was that. He handed me my key, we said our farewells, I made another good impression by using Japanese and we were on the road to Hitachinaka-shi. (Like viridian city, but with fewer pokemon.)

Got to my apartment, did a quick sweep of the place to make sure nothing was broken or damaged, and then went out shopping. Bought some stuff. Nothing to major. Just the essentials for tonight. Some provisions, some laundry detergent, some trash bags, a trash can. A place to hang my clothes. Tomorrow, I'm buying a microwave, some utensils, and anything else I can think of. Hopefully a cell phone, too, if time permits. If not, I will take care of it in Mito on wed, because I have to go back to try to set up my own internet. I'm borrowing someone's internet right now, but it says guest, so I don't feel too bad.

So...yeah. I live in my apartment now. It's cozy. I'd post the pictures I took, but only just now do I realize that I left the thingy that connects my computer to my camera back in the hotel. Sigh. Maybe they still have it?

Ok. If you're in a brand new city for the first time, in a country that you just moved to two weeks ago, and you aren't fluent in the language, and you have no idea where you're going, and you don't have a cell phone, or know anyone's phone number, DO NOT go wandering into the night to try and fight your way to a station you've never been to before, in hopes of taking a train back to a city you just moved out of, to see if MAYBE the hotel found your stuff. It's a BAD IDEA.....so anyways, they totally did, so here are pictures.