Finally moving to a new place!

"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
03/05/2018 at 05:26 • Filed to: None

After a bit over 3 years in Japan, I’m finally moving out to a bigger place... For all this time I rented from my in-laws... it was nice and all, but with my wife’s parents living literally under us, well, it wasn’t exactly a “normal” life. But starting April 1st, all this is over and we move to Hyogo prefecture in a NORMAL HOUSE! Yes, I know, it might seem like a “so what?” kind of thing for anyone outside of Japan, but here, having a normal 2-story house with 2 parking spots and a little garden big enough to do BBQ in it, all that while living 25 minutes drive away from the center of Osaka, that’s HUGE :D

I’m super exited to move there! The Delta Integrale should be somewhat ready sometime soon (I’ll go work on it next weekend), which means I’ll sadly sell the RX-7 sometime soon too... On the other hand, the extra parking spot means that I’ll be getting another car!! And for now I have NO idea what to get! It will most likely be more civilized than the RX-7... Maybe a Vivio RX-R?? Or something bigger like a GT-R that I can sell for profits easily later on? It will depend on the funds :)

Anyway, here is the place! So if you come visit, let me know, I’ll be in Osaka area from now on :)

DISCUSSION (20)

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 05:38

I see some delicate pruning of plants in your future...

Flavien Vidal > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/05/2018 at 05:41

lol yeah I’ll have to learn about that :D

pip bip - choose Corrour > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 05:49

nice one, how old is it roughly?

Flavien Vidal > pip bip - choose Corrour
03/05/2018 at 05:57

It’s been restored recently, but it’s considered as a way too old house for here in Japan, which is why I can afford it haha... 1970 if I recall correctly. Houses here usually get destroyed after 40-50 years and replaced by new ones.
It’s a rental btw, not buying... Buying a house here is like buying a new car... They devaluate with time and it just doesn’t make much sense to buy a house in Japan

duurtlang > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 06:16

Is this a cultural thing (“new and shiny = good”) or are the buildings built in such a way that tearing them down in 40-50 years really is the best way to go?

Flavien Vidal > duurtlang
03/05/2018 at 06:21

They are also usually built like crap for the most part... Central heating has just arrived in newly built houses and they are currently advertising it lol... Walls are stupid thin and windows are sliding ones which have terrible isolation. And that’s not just for basic small houses... EVERYONE lives freezing their asses off in winter in japanese houses, no matter how rich they are lol. That’s crazy that such a technoligically advanced country can be soooooo late on so many things haha

But yes, new=good. That also works for cars or anything for that matter... When I explain japanese people that my family house in France is from 1870 with walls that are 1m thick in places, they genuinely have a hard time grasping the idea haha

duurtlang > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 06:35

That’s what I expected, not from Japan but from how you wrote it. Being used to Dutch and German homes I was already amazed by the shody isolation/build quality of the many Airbnbs I visited in the US (in all New England states) in 2016. That, however, was something I expected in the US. It’s not something I expected from post 1970 Japan.

What’s the point of driving an ecologically friendly car like Prius or a Kei car if due to poor isolation you have to excessively heat your house in winter and excessively cool it in summer? Poor prioritization.

Flavien Vidal > duurtlang
03/05/2018 at 06:46

Absolutely none :)

Japan is a REALLY weird country... not just for mascots that they have for absolutely everything or grown up adults acting like school girls in front of their favorite girls band. So many things are outdated here, it’s just plain insane. City halls of small to mid-sized cities each employ hundreds of people because EVERYTHING is written on paper that is validated multiple times by different people and stored forever... Everything is insanely procedural, taking so much time and energy... You don’t sign shit here... You have stamps of different sizes based on what you need to “stamp”. You have to carry on of those stamp at all time with you because you never really known when it might be asked from you.... I have friends here who are by all means very wealthy, living in big houses and so on... They all spend their winter AND summer days in one room, where the TV usually is, because all the other room are either too hot or too cold depending on the time of the year.... Only a couple a month a year do they venture visiting the rest of the house when it’s not dying hot haha. I spare you the fact that my in-laws choose to live, eat and relax sitting or laying down on the floor with no furniture even though they thoroughly enjoy staying in nice places abroad... Sleeping in beds! Me and my wife are the only ones sleeping in a bed... And they LOVE beds. But nope... 2cm thick futton it is haha. It’s a weird country :)

shop-teacher > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 07:05

I can’t even wrap my mind around that.

shop-teacher > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 07:06

Congrats on the new digs!

kanadanmajava1 > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 08:38

Congatulations! The house looks really nice. The messy set of powerlines looks very Japanese.

I wish my company would send me to Japan at some point as an exchange researcher. Couple of my colleagues have spent one or half year there. Besides the experience itself this was apparently financially very beneficial for them too.

Flavien Vidal > kanadanmajava1
03/05/2018 at 09:59

It’s a fun place to live in... And there’s a lot worse when it comes to power lines around here haha

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Flavien Vidal
03/05/2018 at 11:43

Family house in France?! 1870?! I need to hear more about this please...

Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW! > Flavien Vidal
03/07/2018 at 22:54

My wife loves everything I have told her about your experiences there. She lived in Yamagata prefecture for 3 years. Her friends used to joke that winter originated in the house she was in. She is going to show me her stamp because I didn’t believe that was a real thing. She says she used to sleep underneath her heated table (kotatsu). She said her breath would condense while she was sleeping sometimes and it would settle on her face and wake her up in the winter.

OsakaRory > Flavien Vidal
03/07/2018 at 23:13

If you have a house warming bbq let me know! Costco is on the way to Itami.

Flavien Vidal > OsakaRory
03/07/2018 at 23:22

Sure man, you’ll clearly be in my neighborhood! Maybe we can also organize a few drives on Mount Rokko :)

Flavien Vidal > Duck Duck Grey Duck FTMFW!
03/07/2018 at 23:26

And I’m in Aichi prefecture! Yamagata, she must have been freezing to death haha. And yeah I know a couple people who sleep inside their kotatsu from time to time... I’ve lived 8 years in Montreal where temperatures at night could reach -30 degrees celcius... I feel colder here.

AdverseMartyr > Flavien Vidal
03/08/2018 at 06:41

Well, how do you propose one rolls up a bed in the morning like a properly fastidious person should? One doesn’t want clutter after all. :)

Flavien Vidal > AdverseMartyr
03/08/2018 at 06:53

https://goo.gl/images/3pjqGy

Voilà!

Steve in Manhattan > Flavien Vidal
03/10/2018 at 02:14

So if you sell the RX-7 will you include the Secret Senna Hot Wheels car? Probably you should keep it to remind you.