Tale of an Expatriate #2
"Finding an Apartment"

My longed-for life in New York has begun. First of all, I urgently needed to find a place to live that would please my wife.　We have no children. Then let's live a dreamy life in an apartment in Manhattan that we can both enjoy.

I asked a real estate agent to show me a number of houses, but even in 1986, the rent for a new apartment was too expensive to afford.

In English, whether it is a new building or a rundown house, it is an "Apartment“ not “Mansion” in Japanese.

The "Mansion life @ New York" I dreamed of in Japan has been downgraded to "Apartment life @ New York" in English.　But it's cool in English. I couldn't afford a new apartment, so I decided on an apartment with cheap rent and a convenient 15-minute bus ride to the office. It is a 50-year-old One Bedroom +Den. In Japanese terms, it is a shabby apartment with a bathroom and kitchen, a bedroom, and a storage room.

I wonder if this will be a sweet home in New York for the newlyweds. -S.M.-