Saying goodbye to the old apartment (December, 24)

Saying goodbye to the old apartment.


There is an old apartment building in our city, white with blue lines. Its design with sharp edges of balconies reminds you of a big ship. I have lived there for two and a half years.


At first, it used to be my second home and place to work. I rented a quiet two-bedroom apartment on the first floor. I went there during the day and did my software development work. Also it was good for practicing music on sanshin. I think my neighbors liked my singing, because nobody complained about that. Well, I didn’t dare to ask their opinion, too.


My friends, who came to visit Okinawa, also stayed there for summer. Thanks to them, my old apartment became more comfy. They bought some kitchen appliances, curtains and other homey stuff. I tried to stay there overnight and liked it. I start to spend more and more time there.


Finally I moved there with my younger son. He also liked the atmosphere of the apartment. What was so good about it? First of all, it had very high ceiling, three porches on each side, spacious living room and two cosy bedrooms. Second, in the morning you could listen to the birds chirping outside. From the main porch you could see huge grass field. Everthing was quiet and inspiring for creative work.


I always saw interesting and colorful dreams in my cosy japanese bedroom. In the morning sunlight came just into my window! The name of the apartment was "Asahi Homes", which meant "Apartments of Morning Sun".


After I spent a year there, some things had started to change for the worse. A bar was open nearby, so the voices of young male waiters, greeting their customers, could be heard until 1 or 2 in the morning. Next, the beautiful and pristine lot in front of my main porch, full of grass, flowers and butterflies, finally found its new owner. And the owner cut the grass, brought tons of gravel and cement, and in two months he created an enormous, dusty and ugly parking lot just in front of my windows.


My apartment of "Morning Sun" was also sold to a new owner, who changed its name to "Da-Kapo Maeda" after some ancient rock or pop group of 80’s. I didn't like the new name. My eldest son, full of irony, renamed the place to "Dasahi", combining two names, old and new. In Japanese "Dasai" means "Ugly", or "Rustic", or "Old-Fashioned". It was a good word, describing how bad the new name sounded for us, liking our "Asahi".


Soon my apartment became covered with green and black mold. It was because of the new parking lot outside. It was never dry, the gravel and cement absorbed all rains and underground wetness and kept the humidity level very high. It was time to move somewhere else. When I mentioned it to my new landlord, he offered me to move on the fourth floor of the same building. The ceiling there was normal, not high, and rooms weren't so spacious, but the rent was much cheaper. I also liked the view from the roof. I moved there and started my new chapter of my life in "Dasahi".


The landlord decided to demolish my first apartment on the first floor, because the humidity was just awful, and probably nobody would want to live there. Instead of renting my old apartment they created a parking lot for six cars. It was weird to look at my old spot, where I used to sleep or work, now demolished and covered with cement.

The second apartment had a problem, too. The ceiling was covered with pop-corn painting, and it started to fall down like snow. I asked the landlord to scour it off and re-paint again. In a few months the second apartment became comfy and nice. It was quiet and full of sun. The roof balcony was good for observing moon and stars and for playing sanshin outside.


This year I moved to condo, which I bought a year ago. My family is back together, but all of us just keep doing our own stuff. Condo has a lot of rooms, so everyone is happy having their own space. It is now finally time to say goodbye to my old apartment.


Tomorrow I will hand over the keys to the owner and all will be memories!