We have made it to Osaka, and thank God for that. It was quite a journey, as Nora and I have both amassed quite a bit of crap during our month here in Japan, and getting loads of luggage through a major metropolitan area is never an easy thing. But somehow we did it. Not quite sure how. But here we are. And very glad we are to be here!
The place is very big and comfy and new. It was built in 2019, and is newer than any apartment I've ever lived in. Our apartment is right off the elevator, which is totemo benri (extremely convenient) and there is a supermarket less than a block away. There is a huge lovely bathtub and a washing machine. There are a lot of gaijin here; I*m hoping we get a chance to learn some of their stories. Nora and I already ran into a French couple in Tokyo who were in Japan for a week and who, like us, ended up having to stay another month.
Today, I went on an official "shopping mission" to lay in supplies for our sheltering in place. I made the trek to the Don Quijote Mega, which is known as the "Wal Mart of Japan." It was pretty nuts. There seemed to be a bit of panic-buying going on (I'm really disconnected from the news here, so it's hard to get a gauge of how "panicked" the locals are but there were a lot of people buying rice, meat, and tuna ... that's my best gauge of "panic" these days.) In any case, I got the things I needed--a super long ethernet cable, some laundry soap, hangers, a standalone keyboard (because the keyboard on my laptop sucks) and a little wheely desk on which my computer and all its peripherals can live.
All this, along with my Razr mouse and headset, should represent a pretty solid work from "home" setup. I did a test Zoom meeting with my mom, sister and brother today, and it went great. We shall see!
I also got a Chromecast (because, despite how fancy this BnB is, it doesn't have a smart TV to which I can stream YouTube.) And I also got a bit of food, some medicine, and now we're ready to weather any storm!
Bring it on, Covid 19!! We are ready!
