Learning Patience

Some of my shell art

Patience is a virtue and I really work hard to master it but sometimes it can test you to such limits that you end up with a little meltdown. I had one of those meltdowns last week. For me a meltdown consists of a good cry along with expression of my frustration. Then I go back and put things into perspective and can then go on practicing that "patience thing". I've always considered myself a patient person. I don't get uptight in stressful situations and I'm pretty calm about waiting in traffic or long lines in stores. This blog wouldn't be genuine though if I only reported the fun and adventure of living overseas but was remiss in expressing the trials of the adventure. So as Paul Harvey would say....Here's the rest of the story.

If you've kept up with this blog you know that we are currently living in a temporary apartment because the apartment we found in October that we want to move to wasn't available yet. Last week our realtor called to give us an update on the Ishikawa apartment. She told Russ that it is now empty. We knew that the previous tenants were moving out in early January and had planned that we would be moving into the apartment by late January or early February. The problem with this timeline is that the apartment is due for a base inspection before it can be rented to government employees. (they get these every five years) The housing office, we hear, is currently understaffed in the inspection area and basically there is only one inspector handling all the many off-base houses that need to be inspected. So Russ texted me last week to tell me that they couldn't get an appointment for a base inspection until March 4. If you've ever worked for the government or known someone who does, you know when you hear a date like that, you can just about always add at least two weeks to that date for getting all the paperwork and other details processed and be accurate on the "real" date....so when he said March 4, my mind instantly jumped to April. 

We've been on this island since late September, our household goods arrived in late November and we've been in this temporary apartment for a month and a half after spending two months in a TLF (basically a small hotel room). When you set out on an overseas assignment in most cases you are in your permanent living quarters within two months of arrival with your household items ready to settle into your new home. We're already two months past the anticipated "settle in" time frame. I thought I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel when January rolled around and had begun to get VERY excited about settling in finally....but then the ball was dropped and I'm told we're into overtime. What's a girl to do but have a meltdown. I texted him back and let him know how frustrated I was with all their delays and then sat here and cried. I know he was feeling just as frustrated but guys deal with things differently. I'm not sure how he handled the news when he got it. But I do know it meant a lot of phone calls on his part to make sure we can have our storage of the household good extended and the base furniture usage extended and the borrowed dishes extended. I'm also pretty sure that he was just as frustrated as I was.

So after having a good cry that day, I began the "perspective" part of my meltdown. I noted how well we've managed with what little we have and how quickly those four months have passed by. I knew I could do this waiting thing even though it's not what I would prefer. Russ and I talked that night and both of us began questioning whether or not we wanted to wait, whether or not we wanted to begin the process of looking again or whether we wanted to just make our temporary apartment into our permanent one and just have our HHG brought here and be done with it. We spent the week weighing our options. Russ called Noriko and had her look at what is available for immediate move in and the pickings were pretty slim. We found a few apartments on Bookoo.com that looked promising but when we checked on them learned that they, too, are waiting on base inspections. I even jokingly mentioned that we could rent Happiness (an apartment that I spotted on the sea wall near us. See previous "caught in the rain" post).

We then looked at the pros and cons of living permanently in our Yogi apartment and concluded that it lacked quite a few of the things we were hoping to find in our permanent home (one important one being storage). It would fit most of the furniture we brought but the dilemma would come in where to store all the extra things. I like being so close to the mall and the Comprehensive Sports Park but we both prefer a less congested area traffic-wise. I told Russ, I could make this work if I needed to but I had fallen in love with all the storage in the Ishikawa apartment. It definitely meets the majority of our needs. We knew if we let our hold go on the Ishikawa apartment that we probably would not find anything that compares to it. 

We decided that we needed to go and view our Ishikawa apartment again so we were certain that we still love it enough to wait for it. Russ made an appointment with Noriko to view it yesterday so we could make our final decision on which direction we were going to take. The last time we looked at these apartments was in October and at that time we didn't actually see the apartment we have on hold but rather one on the 5th floor that was just being moved into. I remembered leaving that appointment very certain that we couldn't find anything more perfect than that...but I wasn't remembering the details of why I felt that way so it was good to go and reassure ourselves. This time we got to actually take our time and look at the apartment we will be moving to, envision our HHG fitting in and see the oceanview at that level (2nd floor). The moment we walked through the door and saw it again, we were reassured that it IS worth waiting for and it put our minds at ease that we are doing the right thing. So the decision has been made. We will be hanging out in Yogi for a few more months living with what we brought in our suitcases, purchased while here and what came in the quick shipment. 

Pocket Wifi

Once we made the decision, our internet dilemma came back to the forefront. I cancelled the installation in early January after realizing they couldn't install until then. I thought we were moving by the end of the month and it didn't seem practical to pay an installation fee for just a few weeks. When I called to cancel it they told me they had a device I could use that is similar to a cell phone data service. It would give me 7 GB of data per month. All I had to do was come in with a 10,000 yen deposit (about $85) and pick up the device. The 10,000 yen will be given back to me when I return the device. The 7 GB of data are free until I get my internet hooked up. This has allowed me to get some blog posts written, upload a few things and keep up with email and facebook but it goes quickly. I have to budget my time and make the most of the time online so the 7 GB will last through the month.

In my conversations with Russ about waiting for Ishikawa, I told him I felt like the waiting would be much easier if we could get the internet hooked up now. He called Noriko and asked her to discuss it with the owner of this apartment (who is also the owner of the Ishikawa place) and see if he would pay the installation fee on the Yogi apartment (which is beneficial to him to have his apartment internet ready) so that we can have the internet while we wait. He agreed and sent her an email to show his approval so the internet company can schedule the installation again. She went to their offices after leaving us yesterday and made sure that they had all the documentation they needed. We finally got a call yesterday from the internet company with an installation date of February 2nd. Patience is still testing me but I'm happy to know that in two weeks I will, for the first time since early September, have working internet. What's two more weeks or two more months  in the big scheme of things? Right? 

A Sneak Preview of the Ishikawa Apartment