The movers arrived around 8 and were quickly followed by the rental company. The majority of our furnishings in our apartment were rented - washing machine, couch, tv, tv stand, dining room table and chairs, stereo, refrigerator, microwave, and even some of the light fixtures. The rental company sent two or three men and they were lightening fast. I hadn't cleared the refrigerator out and they let me know it was time! It probably only took them an hour to an hour and a half to remove all their items.
What remained of our stuff seemed really small. Mostly clothes, bathroom items, and kitchenware. A few larger items like Addison's crib and our computer desk need packed as well. The moving company sent 7 men. Surely, they'd be finished by lunch. For some reason, the men weren't assigned to our apartment for the whole day. Before lunch a few of the men had left. The remainder of the men left for lunch and so did Addison and I. (Ian was at work.) We hadn't gone far when we met Miki and her daughter Mayol, who lived in our building. I explained about it being moving day and we needed to have lunch since the food was now gone from our apartment. (We weren't allowed to ship anything by ocean or air. Any food had to be carried in our luggage.) We all walked to Life, the nearby Wal-Mart-like store, and had lunch at McDonald's. When we returned to the apartment building the movers were waiting on me. Oops! I apologized profusely. They got back to work and Miki kindly offered to keep Addison until they were finished.
Miki let the girls jump all over her furniture. They had a blast. Addy also got to watch lots of one of her favorite kid's show, Inai inai ba, which Mayol had on video. Miki created this beautiful memory for us and mailed it to us once we were back in Ohio. It reads "Let's play together! [pyon pyon] jump Sings with [Wan Wan] Happy time of Addy and Mayol"
Addison was happy and not bothering the men, who didn't seem to be making much headway. In the meantime a realtor had contacted me and asked if it was ok to show the apartment. I agreed even though it seemed strange. Who would want to walk into that mess? Boxes, packing paper, tape, and movers in every room. We found out the next evening the realtor took advantage of us being gaijin (foreigners). It's actually against the law to show an apartment/house before the current residents are moved out.
Only four movers were at our apartment when Ian arrived from work around 5:30. We needed to get Addison, have dinner, and check into the Metropolitan in Ikebukuro, but the movers were far from finished. Not to mention that it was beginning to get dark and most of the light fixtures were gone. We explained our needs to the supervisor and left.
We had dinner at Tinun, a Thai noodle shop in Ikebukuro that we loved. Ian helped get Addison and I settled into the hotel and then returned to the apartment. Addy and I were fast asleep when Ian came back at 11:30! I couldn't believe it. What an ordeal! At one point in the night the supervisor was on the phone calling for more movers to come because he was by himself! This was completely surprising. In fact, it was the worst customer service we ever received in Japan. Just unheard of. We (sometimes) expect that service from an American company, but never from a Japanese company.
And, when all was said and done back in the U.S./Ohio, they lost one of our boxes that contained souvenirs. At least Addison had a great day.
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