Last night, after arriving at the hotel, I availed myself to their public bath. In this instance, I'm not sure if it's a sento or a rotemburo, but, basically, the hotel has it's own enclosed hotsprings up on the 8th floor (which, incidentally, is my floor, too). After a nice shower and a longish soak in just-the-right-temperature water, I had a good night's sleep. My knees are still sore, and I'm still feeling a bit tired, but I'm ready to get the day started.
My first full day is about to begin.
First, I'll have a shower and go downstairs for breakfast.
At 10:30, I'm meeting Real Estate Agent #1 along with a staff member from the university I'll be at. So far, the staff at my new university has been great, but today is the real test. This trip to Japan is different from ones I've made in the past in that I know the people I'll be working for and I know many of the people I'll be working with (but I know none of the Japanese staff). I'm not starting over totally from scratch (thankfully because that's starting to get old). I've already been asked about my housing preferences (top floor, corner, quiet, close to other teachers, and within reasonable distance to the metro). It is fairly imperative that I find a place today or tomorrow to live (because of the weekend and next week is mostly holidays and things are closed and I have only until Wednesday to stay in the hotel). My contentedness with my living space hinges on today and how clearly my needs were expressed to the agent and staff member (who I haven't met) and how it will all come together today.
As usual, my expectations are high but realistic. I think I'll find something suitable today. I'm sure it won't be absolutely perfect, but it will definitely be livable and a space I can enjoy. I am totally counting on the fact that I have enough presence of mind to make good decisions today (I need just this one reprieve from jetlag just this one time....please?). Wish me luck!
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