the new place

I keep getting requests to see pictures of the new apartment, but as I'm fairly forgetful and predominantly lazy, I haven't gotten to it yet. I assume the following are generic pictures of the apartment complex in general, and probably not my particular apartment at all, but they are what I have to go on until we arrive in Japan next month.

The アパート is 20 square meters, which is approximately 215 square feet. It's not a lot of space for one person, let alone two, but the price is only slightly higher than right. After the rental agency accepted our deposit, The Boy and I went promptly to Ikea. We wandered around for a while until we found the smallest example apartment they had—220 square feet. I mentally lobbed off the bathroom, and closed one eye to imagine my new home. It was smaller than my current living room.

However, I look at our new, confined space as an opportunity. For six years the husband and I have lived in our current apartment, slowly bringing things home and socking them away. With my new found ambivalence toward personal items, a tiny apartment seems oddly fulfilling. I needn't concern myself with where to put the myriad possessions I manage yet rarely see or touch, as the two suitcases and two boxes we are taking will be more than enough.

I am also reminded of the time my father-in-law took us to Hawai'i for a week. We all shared a tiny hotel room (which, to be fair, was probably larger than my new apartment will be), which quickly became strewn with clothes and sand, scented with saltwater air and fresh pineapple. I had never been to Hawai'i before, and I haven't been since. It was a beautiful and amazing place, nothing like the rest of the United States, and so much more than I had imagined. It was the same way I felt on my first trip to Japan, and I knew immediately that the hotel room didn't matter, because if I played my cards right, I would hardly be there at all.

So, yeah, my new apartment is going to be the size of some people's back yard sheds. That's all right. Once again, if I have my way, my days will be spent in school, and my evenings spent with my sweetheart, wandering Japan hand-in-hand, taking in everything Tokyo and its surrounding communities have to offer. I will spend my money on a comfortable bed, and I will sleep in my spartan palace, but I will be living somewhere else entirely.

(Also, I think it's adorable.)