Bills....bills....bills

So, the day that I arrive in Tokyo, John points out that we have received our first bill...Tokyo Gas. It's basically this slip of paper that says absolutely nothing that I can read other than our last name....wonderful. As John is leaving on Monday, he casually mentions that on my "things to do today" listing I should add paying the gas bill....hmm, sounds a bit tricky as I have no idea how one would go about doing that. He mentions that he thinks we can take it to a convenient store and pay in cash. Okay, on my list, but I ask if he could perhaps ask one of his co-workers if in fact we can pay the bill at the local Family Mart.

Three days later the bill is still sitting on the counter staring at me with no answer to where in the world I can pay this.... Luckily the movers had to return today to unpack a few more items (another story entirely) and the main contact spoke English and was super nice and helpful. He tells me that yes, the gas bill is one that can be paid at convenient store, however, what I have is not the bill. Thank goodness I asked... that would have been an even more confusing conversation when I try to pay a non-bill.

So...our stuff has finally arrived and it is so much nicer sitting in my living room with something other than the couch with no throw pillows and my laptop. The movers are all very efficient and move everything in with no problems and begin the arduous unpacking process. John and I were in the living room when two of them were unpacking things in the kitchen...it was so funny because there was one guy that would unwrap something and then just look at it with a "what in the world is this" look on his face...pretty funny. Not that we brought anything that you couldn't find here, but when you are only unpacking one piece of a two piece item it might appear odd. The looks were priceless though. As for pictures...we took them of course and I'll be sending them your way shortly. I wanted to at least be able to show you some pictures of our "decorated apartment" (aka: one where my clothes aren't littered on every available surface) before sending them along.

On a very personal note: I hope that those of you in the Houston area are surviving the hurricane. John and I are both thinking of you and we are especially thinking of our Dallas neighbors that just lost someone close to them .... Kali, we along with Cosmo are really going to miss you...