Home Repair Central - It's Better to Be Away

First, there was the lockdown and I wasn't able to leave our house. Now, for the past week, droves of Japanese construction workers have swarmed our building kicking up storms of dust and debris and I've been finding as many excuses as possible to get away. Each day brings a different crew - some tear things down and others put them back together. Yesterday, a team of painters arrived at 8:30, so I packed my school books and laptop in a bag and walked to Starbucks to study. It was amazing how much work I could accomplish without constant drilling and banging or the shadows of workers crawling over the balconies and past the windows (especially creepy with the outlines of their masks and goggles). No such luck today - Before I could get out the door, I was plastic wrapped inside the apartment for spray painting on the exterior.

Why is all of this work taking place? A little backstory for you: In December, our housing agency informed us that there would be construction in January to soundproof our building per mandate by the Japanese government. As an added bonus, we were told, the Japanese government would provide new air conditioning units for each room of the apartment. However, there was a catch :). We had to "pretend" (the housing agency's word) that we were currently without air conditioning for a government inspection. That meant that on a Wednesday, the housing agency came and removed our air conditioners and the next day, I had to be present for a walk through inspection with government officials. I was worried they would ask me questions, especially since there were cords hanging from the bare spots on the wall and the control panel was in plain view, but the visit went off without a hitch.

Unfortunately, there was another catch :). We would not be getting our old air conditioners back and would be without air conditioning until the new units arrived. Finally, after almost three months with no air conditioning (and thankfully temperate weather) the workers descended on Hana Mansion. And it is my opinion, after fostering a great and inquiring relationship with the lady at our housing agency, our apartment has been the first to make its transformation :).