End of week two and things are getting serious

I wrote this post in early February but I am posting it now as it took a few weeks to get our lives and tech set up in Tokyo!

Our second week in Tokyo was a busy one (life admin is a drag) so here are the headlines.

We are ecstatic because we have somewhere to live! We viewed a flat we adored last week and the paperwork has been approved! We should move-in next week!

We are now officially registered as residents in Tokyo! #totallylegit #wecanstaynow. Registering as citizens involved going to the ward office in the area we are going to live and contending with detailed forms, numerous counters for different steps of the precise process of registering as citizens and lots of waiting around. But I am not going to complain as I could not be more grateful for the English speaking employee who helped us out immensely and also for the free wi-fi which is a lifeline until I get a Japanese SIM for my phone.

However, I was slightly peeved at not having a form to complete in my own right and being listed on Wil’s form in his capacity as “head of the household” which is not only ironic but also decidedly patriarchal.

I am also delighted to share that Wil and I look like Bonnie and Clyde (minus the glamour) on our resident cards thanks to the photos that Wil decided to submit. So now I carry my resident card with shame rather than pride.

So because things were getting pretty serious (it doesn’t get more real than becoming a legitimate citizen and finding a home in a new country) I decided it was time for some frivolity. So I did what any mature adult would and I went along to an exhibition of cat photos. It was fantastic and one of the most enjoyable hours I’ve had in Tokyo since arriving. And at the top of the post you've seen photographic evidence of the merriment that ensued. And yes, that's right, I did accidentally wear a top with a cat on it to a cat photo exhibition.

Wil and I also went along to a great comedy night (which coincidentally was being held at a British pub in the area we are going to live in) and bizarrely played bingo for the first time in our lives during the interval and I won a prize! #smugface

Setting the scene for as I wrote this post:

• Location: On the metro trying to explore Tokyo.
• Weather: Maybe one day I will have a spin-off blog on the microclimate of the Tokyo metro, but once I got the off the metro it was a clear winter day.
• Soundtrack: I hadn’t moved my headphones to the backpack I was using so I just had to enjoy the rumble of the metro.
• Bonus fact: Peach flavoured Coca-Cola exists in Japan and I recommend that you do not buy it.