Tachikawa pt 1 - The standing river

The view from outside the front door at Leo's palace

Looking back to 2003... the March of that year was the outside of my first journey to live in Japan. At that time I was fresh off a 12 year stint as a cook, ready and eager to take on new challenges and to grow into new experiences. To be honest I thought I may end up cooking again, or worse, washing dishes because my resume didn't stack up very well for diverse jobs. I sucked it up though and searched hard and managed to find 2 part time teaching jobs relatively quickly. It was all I was going to need as the part time hours filled themselves up quite nicely, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Before our departure, one of Ritsy's former colleagues, a doctor now working in the Hino area of Tokyo called and said he could probably help her get a job! Well that settled it, we were bound for the region and we discovered the wonder of Leopalace (the link shows the location we lived at!).Which seemed quite appealing to us because there was no key money, thank you money etc. The monthly rate was quite high, but if we paid the year in advance the amount was deducted to quite a reasonable rate. So we entered into our year of living in a shoebox. The above picture is taken against the far wall of the apartment and you can get a good idea just how spacious it was. The kitchen was off to the right on the way to the exit door, our room was the loft on top of the ladder, next to Ritsy.
This picture is taken from the spot we saw Ritsy standing in the previous picture. You can also get an idea how quickly the place would get messy.

The quality of accommodation didn't really matter though, it was such a buzz to be living in a new city and culture experiencing new things daily. What an amazing city to live in. Tachikawa I always referred to as the 'inaka' of Tokyo as it was quite outside of the busy area and there was even a few farms in the neighborhood. It was pretty quick, though, to venture into the hubbub of the city - basically any direction you went you could find somewhere to go or something to do.

It was also pretty fun to teach in that first year. Making the mistake of talking too much in the classes or learning to deal with annoying kids- it was all part of the fun. Here a couple of my 10 year-old students made an artistic rendering of my girlfriend Ritsy and I, which they found quite amusing.
Well as the clouds set on our year in Tokyo, I regretted that I didn't experience more and had to go back home. Of course at the same time I was so happy to return home and get on with my life, but I grew more fond of the times in Tokyo and am usually pretty stoked to head back every now and then for a visit.