The Good, The Bad, And The Ugry

The train from Narita Airport to Tokyo was on time, clean, and the doors opened exactly beneath the signs which indicated they would. In fact, I was told that a few years ago a train was three minutes late. It made the headlines.

I arrived at Shibuya station and met a woman (Toni, assistant manager for NOVA) who took me on the Toyoko line to Tsunashima. It was even cheaper and faster than I thought; £2.10 return from my station to Tokyo and only fifteen minutes each way.

It rained as we reached Tsunash (affectionately to be known as the “Nash” from now on) which was a small home comfort. The walk to my apartment (Bell Wistaria – very similar to Desperate Housewives, but not quite as glamorous) is a ten minute one over a river so it’s perfect. I live in an apartment a road away from the main road, but near a 24-hour convenience store.

The apartment is four sets of flats, three flats high, centered around a small courtyard. I’m sure it’ll be nice in the summer. My apartment is #202 (if you want my address, e-mail me and I’ll send it) and on opening the door, I wasn’t impressed. The place was disgusting. Burnt futons, crockery piled high. Junk everywhere. The bathroom was covered in mould, and I mean things were moulded shut.

But at 10pm when you’re tired and hungry, I wasn’t up for conflict. Toni looked almost as shocked and made a quick getaway, but said to call if I had any problems.

One room was already taken by Bruce, the Australian, who had been there for a year and nine months. I had a quick look inside and it was shocking. He had action figurines set out in army formations. But he had ventured out into communal areas. Every game console was scattered around the lounge. A huge dead plant sat in the corner. Beer cans lined one wall.

I took the other big room, leaving the small broom cupboard for the poor unfortunate soul who was to arrive tomorrow. My room was surprisingly big, with the hugest closet I’ve ever seen. In fact, I’m having a hard time filling the space. More about that later*.

I began to unpack, thinking that a clean-up and some photos on the wall later would give the apartment a home-y feel.

Bruce turned up at about 10pm from his shift. He introduced himself but that was about it. He didn’t offer me a drink or food, just cracked open a beer for himself. He was pretty rude, and made it quite obvious that this was his apartment and I was a guest there. He has the Internet, but isn’t very willing to share, so I still don’t have it**.

I found some food and went to bed, hoping the new guy (see, I’m not even the new guy anymore) would be decent, and maybe he was after a bachelor pad rather than a college dorm.

*This isn’t a nice happy phlog; I’m getting the crappy stuff out of the way first.
**I’m on the very edge of a Japanese guy’s wireless network, but only if I push my laptop up to the window.