Officially Osaka!

June 12, 2015

With my last post being some time ago, I felt like this would be an appropriate time for an update. Since my last post, a big thing HAS happened. I officially moved out of Nara prefecture and into Osaka. Since about two weeks ago, I can officially say I am a resident of Osaka! If you are wondering, work is still the same. I still teach at the same schools and have to commute into Nara five days a week. That may seem like a lot and you may be thinking, why move when you are already close to work? Well the answer is pretty simple. I felt life was getting a bit too comfortable. I had lived in Nara for already a year and felt like I knew the area where I lived pretty well. I wanted a change. More like, I needed a change. Also being that I don’t feel like Japan will be my place to call home forever, I felt like I should try to experience as much as I can while I am here. One of those things I really wanted to experience was living in the city, or closer to it.

Nara was a great place to have my first year. My apartment was close to work and the it was easy to get to places. But with this being my second year in Japan, I wanted to focus on building a bigger social life. By that I don’t mean just go out all the time to party, but more so to make more friends, discover a new city, bike to new places, and feel integrated in a different way. Before I felt so separated in Nara. It was far from places and the city I lived in went to sleep at like 8pm. Now I live in Higashi Osaka, which I believe is the third largest city in the Osaka Prefecture. I’m about a five-minute walk from the station and the area is full of businesses, residences, food places and even a Starbucks!

Don’t get me wrong, moving and the whole process was a huge hassle, an expensive hassle! I nearly depleted all of my money here in Japan but I feel like the experience will be worth the cost. Along with the cost of moving is the physical work of actually moving your stuff! Let me tell you, you never realize how much stuff you really have until you have to move it all! I had only been in Japan for a year but somehow I feel like I accumulated so much stuff! It was unreal. I only pondered about how the heck I was going to move back to the States! With all my praying and worrying, D-Day came and it turned out much better than I expected. Thank the Lord for sending me the people that He did! A special thank you to all those who helped me with translation of paper work, scheduling phone calls and appointments for utilities, physically helping me carry things up 5-flights of stairs, driving the distance, and giving me the time. I truly couldn’t do it without you people (you know who you are)!!!

So being that I have been in my new place about two weeks now, I still feel super new to it! Well two weeks isn’t too long of a time. But I have gotten my apartment together for the most part. It’s funny because technically in Japan I live in a mansion. It’s not like the mansions you think State side (obviously). Here they call condominiums mansions. So in my building there are five floors and five rooms on each floor. I happened to find a room on the fifth floor of this building. And get this there is no elevator!!! So imagine the move! This new place though is actually a bit bigger than my last place and actually a bit cheaper too! I could imagine I might up the money difference in going out but that's a change I can get use to. There are still a few things I would like to get to get the place fully finished but in due time. I don’t have pictures of the place currently but I do plan to post pictures of the place in the near future. So stay tuned!

Along with the move, everything else has been pretty normal. Japan is currently in Rainy Season so there is plenty of rain and humid weather for everyone. There has already been a couple times I’ve walked home in the rain or got my pants soaked while biking in it. The heat is also sinking in. I can feel in it my sweat drenched clothes or frizzy hair. Oh the joys of summer in Japan! What I am super excited about is my siblings coming! My little sisters will be here at the end of July and my older brother along with two friends will be coming in the beginning of August. I’ve planned a jam packed two weeks of exploration in Japan for us all. It will all be their first times so I’m really excited about that and also just to have family around.

Well I know you guys were hoping for some epic update, but summer break, BBQ and beach days are coming up so expect the epicness then!!

As always thank you for your time and for reading. Love you guys!

P.S. The picture above was taken when meeting some new people in the city. One of the couples had this squishy baby who I got to play with. I miss babies!!!

xx

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