理想部屋、発見/ Finding out my ideal flat

3.3.2010
　ホームステイの契約が４月２４日で終了するので、その前に部屋を見つけておかないと…と思い、ここ最近学校の掲示板やインターネットで色々探していた。先週の日曜日、ホストマザーの紹介で同じ学校の女生徒（自分が来る前、同じホストハウスに住んでいた）と会い、彼女がネットで探してくれた物件の一つが良さげだったのでチェック。

　２日前、その大家と連絡を取る。夕方、先方の仕事が終わるのを待って最寄りの地下鉄駅で待ち合わせ。待っていたのは若い女性（後に大家の娘さんと判明）で、彼女の車に乗って部屋の見学へ行く。着いた先は大きな集合住宅ビル。１階の入り口はオートロックで、部外者は入れないようになっている。エレベーターで６階へ昇り、いよいよ部屋へ。

ドアを開けると正面に廊下があり、右側に２部屋、正面に１部屋、左側はキッチンとバスルーム。右手入り口側の１部屋が空いており、中へ入るとそれほど広くはないものの、奥にセミダブルベッド、洋服箪笥、鏡付きの机、椅子。壁には据付の棚が２つ。気になるコンセントは…５個！充分。テレビはガレージにしまってあるが、持ってきて個人的に使えるとのこと。キッチン・冷蔵庫・洗濯機・バスルームは共有。その他住民税・光熱費・水道代・電気代・暖房費・ワイヤレスインターネット代等、全て込みで１週間￡８５。
　立地も上々。治安は比較的良く、日本人が多く住んでいる。敷地のすぐ目の前にバス停があり、学校までは約１５分弱。最寄りの地下鉄駅も歩いて１km程。近所には大きなTESCO（スーパーマーケット）、カフェ、日本食材店などもあり、文句なし。

今のところ同居人は大家の娘さんと先月から住み始めた中国人の女の子（語学留学生）の二人。中国人の子の部屋にはプライベートのバスルームがあるので、風呂の時間はあまり気にしないで済みそう。心配していた冷蔵庫も３人で使うには充分な大きさで、しかも２人ともほとんど料理はしないらしい。やった！ほぼ自由に料理できる！！女友達は部屋に呼んでも構わないが、男友達や彼氏はトラブルの元になるので出入り禁止。部屋では禁煙だけど飲酒は…OK！引越し記念にスコッチウイスキーでも買おうかしらん。
この理想の物件を手中に収めるべく、早速交渉…敷金は１ヶ月分、最低でも３ヶ月住むことが条件。入居日は…２週間後？！まだホームステイ７週間残っているのに？でも諦めたくない。向こうも日本人学生（基本的に大人しく、部屋を汚さない）には好意的だし。

ホストハウスに戻り、ファミリーに相談。即座に敷金１ヶ月は高すぎるとの指摘を受ける（敷金は１～２週間分が妥当）。タダでさえイギリスでは基本的に敷金は戻って来ないのに大損だとも言われたが、日本では敷金に加えて礼金も各１ヶ月分払うし、それが返って来ないのは別に珍しくない（のであまり重大問題だとは思えない）…と一応説明してみたが、あっさり流され、習慣の違いを肌で感じる。
確かにホストハウスとの契約を中途解約してしまうと、その分のお金は戻って来ないし、加えて新部屋の敷金を払うのは痛い…が、こんな理想部屋がそう簡単に見つかるとは思えないし、日本式の払い方で考えれば惜しくはない、というか自分にとっては補って余りある物件である。

翌日（３月２日）、学校の日本人スタッフ（林さん）に相談してみる。そして紆余曲折すること丸１日。予想外の幸運な偶然が重なって、何とか３月２０日に引越しすることが今日決定。今年の正月におみくじを引いたら「大事な事は人に任せて吉」と出たが、どうやらこれは当たったらしい。関わった全ての人に感謝の日。

Recently, I’ve been looking for a flat: checking the information put on the notice board of my school, surfing the internet. That’s because the term of contract between my host family and me, will finish on 24th of April.
Last Sunday, I met a Japanese female student at my host house by my host mother’s introduction. And she goes to the same school as me! She is an ex-student of my host house, so my host mother asked her if she could help me with my problem.
We’ve become friends quickly. Recently she showed me a piece of paper with some information for a flat, so that I could check it.

Two days ago, I made contact with the owner, and arranged to meet. In the evening, I was standing in front of the nearest station of the flat, waiting for the owner’s after work.
The owner was a young woman (actually, she was the daughter of the owner) and she came to pick me up. I got in her car, and then went to check the flat. There were some big buildings like a condominium. The entrance had a self-locking system, so no outsider can enter. We took elevator to the 6 floor, then entered in.

There was a short corridor in front of us when we opened the door, 2 rooms on the right side. 1 room at the end of the corridor, and kitchen and bathroom on the left. The first room on the right side was vacant, we entered there. I thought it wasn’t that big but big enough. A semi-double bed was at the end of the room, a wardrobe was beside the bed, a dressing table and a chair were next them. 2 shelves were on the left side of the door.
The sockets were… 5 of them! That’s enough. According to the owner, they have a small TV in their garage, but I can use it, if I want to. The kitchen, the fridge the washing machine and the bathroom are shared.
The flat rent is ￡85/pw including the council tax, electricity, water, heating and wireless-internet fees.

The place is also nice. It is comparatively safe; therefore many Japanese are living the area. A bus stop is in front of the flat, so that I can get to school in 15 minutes. The nearest tube station is about 1km on foot. And more, a huge size TESCO (a kind of supermarket), café and Japanese food store are around there. It is literally perfect for me!

For the time being, there are 2 flat mates: the owner’s daughter and a Chinese girl, studying English. The student’s room has a private bathroom, which means I wouldn’t be worried about the time if there were 2 users. My No.1 worry was the fridge, but it has enough space for 3, and moreover, 2 of them seem to hardly ever cook (in fact, there was nothing in the fridge). Yeah! I can freely cook whatever!!
And, there were some rules: It’s no problem to invite friends except boy or guy, even lover (they might cause trouble for other flat mates). And it’s No smoking, but… not No drinking! I wonder which Scotch whisky or what; I should buy for the memory of move?

I immediately asked the owner to secure my ideal flat… he told me the terms: to pay the deposit for a month, and to stay there at least 3 months, and that I could move in… 2 weeks later?! How could I move even though my term of the host house still has 7 weeks left? However, I didn’t want to give up easily. The owner was favorable towards a Japanese student (basically we have calm character, and keep rooms tidy) as well.

After that, I went back to my host house, and asked my host family. I pointed out that it was too expensive to pay a deposit of 1 month’s rent (the appropriate fees is of 1~2 weeks in England). They advised me not to waste the money and to consider that too.
I know I’m spontaneous, and they’re good-hearted. Yet, in Japan, it’s ordinary: the owner of the apartment demands a deposit and key money (reward) of one month’s rent, and it’s hardly ever paid back. That’s what I tried to explain to my host family just to make sure, but it seemed out of the question for them. I thought it wouldn’t so easy to find another flat like this again.

The next day (2nd of March), I asked one of the school staff what I should do. And then, the problem was churning in my head the whole day.
Anyway, it was decided today that I’m going to move on 20th of March.
By the way, I’ve drawn a fortune slip in this New Year’s Day. Written on it: “You’d be better to entrust the important decisions to people around you”. This has turned out to be true, somehow. Today, I appreciated all of the people involved in helping me with my problem.