Living Arrangements

Well that's the neatest you're going to see the room this year. I took those pictures the day that I moved in. Now that I know the area a little bit better I thought it would be a good time to do a feature on it.

So as you can see I'm living in a small hotel-like room with another abroad student from the University of North Texas. The room itself is kinda cramped with all of our stuff inside, there is only 1 desk & 1 Internet jack so sharing is a necessity. Not pictured is our 15 inch TV which has about 14 channels (3 in English - CNN, Discovery Channel, and Fox). Other amenities include a small fridge for drinks and food, a hot plate and a tiny stove. The bathroom in the room follows a similar style to that of Village C, except in this case my head is less than 2 inches from the ceiling and there is little to no storage space. Overall the rooms here are comfortable enough, but there aren't going to be any dorm parties for sure (this is actually a small business hotel with a lot of Japanese residents & guests).

The building is located in the Akasaka region of Tokyo. Akasaka is geographically in the southwest of Tokyo and it is a fairly wealthy area with a history of being a Yakuza controlled zone with a number of hostess bars. This is probably the best thing about the dorm: its location.
We're located 4 minutes from the subway station in Akasaka, and its only a 15 minute walk to the famed Roppongi District which is well known for its bars & clubs which cater to westerners. The commute to school itself is a hilly 40 minute walk door to door which I am making 5 days a week, quite the trek in the humidity that's been sitting here since I got to Japan.

It was definitely odd at first, but the place is beginning to feel more and more like home.