Dorm Life

The dorm is a pretty nice place to live.

At most it is a 5 minute walk from Ichinoe station and is close to a stationary shop, multiple schools, parks, and lots of houses. I really like just taking off and walking around because everything is still so different and new.

But, let's focus on what's inside for now!!

Here's the dorm. It's name is actually "Dormy Ichinoe" but I think that it sounds really weird to call it that. ^^' Just inside you find what every Japanese home has: the entrance, or genkan. Outdoor shoes are never worn inside the building but neither do you go barefoot, so this area serves its purpose as the "shoe exchange" area. On the lower lever, you remove your outdoor shoes, taking care not to step on the floor. Once your shoes are off, you put on your slippers and wear those around. Just like your outdoor shoes never come in, your indoor slippers never go out. Because this is a dorm, instead of leaving your shoes neatly at the front, every resident has a shoe cubby.

Aren't mine cute!? I got them at a 100 yen shop >.<

Just inside is the mail boxes and the name plates. The name plates are magnets that are red on one side and white on the other, with the same name on both sides. Their purpose is to inform the manager or others on who's in the building or not. When you are in the building, the white side of the name plate is supposed to be showing. When you leave, you flip it to the red side. Although it may seem a little weird that your "whereabouts" status should be recorded, I like it because I can tell whether or not the other girls have left already. I have a feeling it'll be even more helpful once school starts and our schedules are all different.

Some utilities in the dorm include washing machines and dryers - the washing machines are free but the dryers are not so I just hang dry my clothes :) - showers, a public bath - which I have yet to try - a dinning room, the bathroom, and even a vending machine. At first it was a bit annoying that the dinning room is only open when breakfast and dinner are served, but we found out that if we eat early, we can spend the rest of our time hanging out until it closes. Plus the food is really, really good, so I don't want to complain about anything~!

The showers are nice in that you can control exactly what temperature the water comes out at. Also there's an option for a full-body spray rather than the traditional shower head. I like my showers at a good 38°C ^_^ (or around 100°F). It doesn't feel that hot though..

One of the common things that is really different from everywhere else are bathroom shoes. Just like how outdoor shoes aren't worn inside, you don't wear your slippers into the bathroom. Instead, everyone uses these blue bathroom shoes. I don't think I'll ever understand how that is more sanitary...

As with everywhere else in Tokyo - and Japan in general - recycling is super important. Even in the dorm, there are seperate bins for cans, bottles, PET bottles, and burnable trash. This is one characteristic I really  enjoy. In Auburn, and around my house in general, it can be really hard to recycle something; at times I have to carry around bottles or recyclables around until I find an appropriate place to dispose of it. Here in Japan, I am basically guaranteed to find all the necessary bins wherever there's a trashcan.

The best part of living here is definitely the food. Today was noodles, rice with egg and peas, miso soup, dumplings, and there was even dessert (a rarity). It was delicious~~ Every day is something different and it is always just the right amount of food. I never feel hungry but neither am I stuffed too full, like after a buffet. It's nomlicious. Breakfast is also something special because you can choose between a "western" meal - with options like toasted bread with jam, chocolate milk, eggs, bacon, etc - or a "japanese" meal - which can be fish, omurice, tea, salad, etc and is always served with miso soup and rice.