This is from the family party we had at my sister's place the night before she graduated from university. That's me, my sister Kate, her 'love man' Aaron, and my brother Scott.

P-money had two too many a bit too early. This is about six seconds before Pete Buonincontro and Dan Eling dumped him on his face. He quickly climbed back in and fell back asleep.

Ryan Lucia from way back in May of 2004. Zita and Jesse's wedding in Brandon, VT.

Frank Stole My Shirt!

Travis, me, and Frank at Zita and Jesse's wedding in May, 2004.
Me and Frank following Lorissa and Aaron's wedding in October, 2005. Well if it fits him, then it must have been way too big for me. And I cash in at about six feet even.

Frank Stole My Shirt!

Lorissa and Aaron's Wedding

I was looking through my photos, and I realized that this is a photo nobody has seen before. This is at the church in Lincoln, VT where the marriage took place. As the best man, I was supposed to be helping him get ready. Instead I took pictures of him while he got dressed.

Lorissa and Aaron's Wedding

My boy, Dan, and I

An excellent photo of Dan Eling and I. Please click the title to see the photo. This was taken at my wedding reception in September, 2005. Dan flew all the way from some place called Alexandria, Virginia to Pusan, South Korea for the big day!

My boy, Dan, and I

Leo Palace

When Yong-nam and I first moved to Japan, we lived in a Leo Palace apartment. It was convenient because they don't require a guarantor, deposit, or key money. The apartments are fully furnished, and there's a relatively small amount of fuss involved when moving in.

One drawback is that they're kind of pricey, even though utilities are included in the price (not sure about their new broadband connection service). You have to pay for everything up front. If you plan to live there for 3 months, you have to pay all three months from the start. The more months you pay for up front, the cheaper it gets. Another problem is that the walls are a bit thin.

http://www.eg.leopalace21.com/ is a good place to start. They have buildings everywhere, but unfortunately the English version of their site doesn't let you scroll through them. If you are able to read Japanese, I suggest clicking over to the Japanese side and checking out some of the apartments that are available. You can actually check exactly which apartments are available, and when. The Leo Palace headquarters for Tokyo is in Shinjuku (west exit).

Leo Palace

Housing in Tokyo

It's a nightmare that many foreign people in Japan have faced--finding a place to live. Racism can be a big first hurdle, but there are other obstacles as well.

'Key money' is one of my least favorite parts of the process. This is basically gift money (at least one month's rent); a humble 'thank you' to the property owner for letting you live there. This isn't something that only applies to people from out of town. This form of robbery has been standard across the board for all tenants for a long time.

It is possible to get a good place in Japan without paying it though. Property owners are slowly waking up. They realize that there is plenty of housing to go around now, so some people are starting to drop the 'key money' part of the equation.

One agency that I found that lists rental properties (they also have listings that are for sale) is http://www.res.jp/. They have listings in English and Japanese, and they have a lot of apartments that don't require payment of 'key money'.

I haven't actually rented with them myself, but their website seems promising. This agency specializes in housing in Tokyo, so my apologies to those looking for places to live outside the city.

Housing in Tokyo