So early this afternoon our phone rings which means someone is buzzing downstairs to be let into the apartment building. I'm not sure if it even works as a phone. So I think, "YAY! Kevin is home early!" and I go to the door to check through the peep-hole. Up the stairs come two policemen and it practically startles the pants right off me.
I'm not sure what it is about uniforms, especially police uniforms, that intimidates me. I've never been in trouble with the law so I have no idea where this comes from but let me tell you my adrenaline was pumping. So I calmly collect my nerves and pants as they knock on the door, grab the baby so he can't make a break for it and open up. They start speaking to me politely and clearly with a purpose but I have 100% no idea what they want. So I say "I have no idea what you are saying." It wasn't "Do you speak english" or something productive like that, which I even know how to say in Japanese. I could have even let them know in Japanese that I don't speak Japanese but I wasn't thinking it through at the time. They stop, look at each other for a minute then proceed to talk to me again... in Japanese. So I giggle anxiously and tell them again "I don't know what you're saying."
Eventually with the help of a little pantomiming and some very broken English I figure out they want my name, date of birth, phone number, and nationality. So I write these things down for them in the places they point to on their little paper pad. I doubt I was of much help to them since I was writing it all in English and they looked concerned when they saw that but didn't say anything. I'm thinking this was a follow up from when we updated our address on our residence cards. I'm hoping that's what it was anyway. I told Kevin all about it when he got home and he asked when they arrived if I'd showed them my passport and residence card. That would have made a lot of sense to do, but no...
That was the main event of my day but I do have other news.
We're not going to be homeless when we go back to Ellensburg! I have the BEST landlords ever. They sent us an email saying that a place was opening up and it will be available for us to move into when we come back. We won't have to live in a hotel for a week or find somewhere else and I'm so relieved. With just a few weeks before Ellie will arrive it was something I've been mucho concerned about. They've gone out of their way to help us line it up even though I know plenty of other people would love to lease it. They also transferred our deposit from the place we were living at to this new property (it's under the same management).
PLUS IT HAS A WASHER AND A DRYER! NO MORE QUARTERS AND SHARING!!! It'll probably be at least a full month before I don't like laundry again. haha. Oh oh and there is a bathtub! No more bathing Alexander in the cooler. He was running out of room anyway. Since we were living in the disability accessible unit there was no tub, just a shower. It's also got 3 bedrooms over our last two, the bathroom is not in the kitchen YAY! and it has vaulted ceilings which aren't super exciting but I feel like after living here in Japan I will appreciate all the space I can get. It's an energy efficient apartment too so I'm hoping that means our bills will be less or about the same despite the extra space and AC. The AC will be much appreciated in August. Ok one more thing, it' a duplex so we'll only have one immediate neighbor. That alone is worth celebrating.
So all in all I'm pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, no big deal.
I'm not sure what it is about uniforms, especially police uniforms, that intimidates me. I've never been in trouble with the law so I have no idea where this comes from but let me tell you my adrenaline was pumping. So I calmly collect my nerves and pants as they knock on the door, grab the baby so he can't make a break for it and open up. They start speaking to me politely and clearly with a purpose but I have 100% no idea what they want. So I say "I have no idea what you are saying." It wasn't "Do you speak english" or something productive like that, which I even know how to say in Japanese. I could have even let them know in Japanese that I don't speak Japanese but I wasn't thinking it through at the time. They stop, look at each other for a minute then proceed to talk to me again... in Japanese. So I giggle anxiously and tell them again "I don't know what you're saying."
Eventually with the help of a little pantomiming and some very broken English I figure out they want my name, date of birth, phone number, and nationality. So I write these things down for them in the places they point to on their little paper pad. I doubt I was of much help to them since I was writing it all in English and they looked concerned when they saw that but didn't say anything. I'm thinking this was a follow up from when we updated our address on our residence cards. I'm hoping that's what it was anyway. I told Kevin all about it when he got home and he asked when they arrived if I'd showed them my passport and residence card. That would have made a lot of sense to do, but no...
That was the main event of my day but I do have other news.
We're not going to be homeless when we go back to Ellensburg! I have the BEST landlords ever. They sent us an email saying that a place was opening up and it will be available for us to move into when we come back. We won't have to live in a hotel for a week or find somewhere else and I'm so relieved. With just a few weeks before Ellie will arrive it was something I've been mucho concerned about. They've gone out of their way to help us line it up even though I know plenty of other people would love to lease it. They also transferred our deposit from the place we were living at to this new property (it's under the same management).
PLUS IT HAS A WASHER AND A DRYER! NO MORE QUARTERS AND SHARING!!! It'll probably be at least a full month before I don't like laundry again. haha. Oh oh and there is a bathtub! No more bathing Alexander in the cooler. He was running out of room anyway. Since we were living in the disability accessible unit there was no tub, just a shower. It's also got 3 bedrooms over our last two, the bathroom is not in the kitchen YAY! and it has vaulted ceilings which aren't super exciting but I feel like after living here in Japan I will appreciate all the space I can get. It's an energy efficient apartment too so I'm hoping that means our bills will be less or about the same despite the extra space and AC. The AC will be much appreciated in August. Ok one more thing, it' a duplex so we'll only have one immediate neighbor. That alone is worth celebrating.
So all in all I'm pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, no big deal.
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