So of course it's a petty over the top and dramatic rant because I am only focusing on the negative things for this post. I was going to take pictures of the annoyances faces and mention first names but that's a step too far. I'm not even THAT petty and shallow.
Anyway I stayed in the Basement floor of the B-Unit. It is technically an "all girls" (girls only) floor, but transgender men live her too... so theoretically it's still a mixed dorm.
I can imagine that the actual mixed floors in the building were much worse, noisier ( I can hear them at night), and dirtier.
I always considered myself to be patient. If people ask me to wait for them or to be understanding I am very quick to be a "yes man" and simply agree and reassure them that it is not a problem. Well after spending almost a year at Sakura House not to mention dealing with the difficult passive side of Japanese natives I have finally reached my limit with patience and have come to the conclusion that I am far from being consider as "patient" and not easily angered.... at least by the standards here.
I always hate that people will push your buttons provoke you, irritate you and insist that you take the bait they have set before you and then the moment you complain, you are mean, rude, impatient, and hate people blah blah blah.
Well now that this cold opening is out of the way we can get to why I had to leave Sakura House.
To be completely honest my main motivation to leave was simply to have privacy so I can walk around in my panties and cami with a messy bun without a care in the world, while taking random pictures, recording my cats, making blog posts, studying, and of course and MOST importantly to make new videos for YouTube!
So I will list my reasons for why I had to leave this gaijin complex very simply and then elaborate on them below.
As I will always continue to say Sakura House is truly a blessing to foreigners all over the world who would like to visit Japan. They offer affordable housing with very little required from you. You can quickly arrange your housing with them and the houses are in great locations, mostly in or near the downtown areas of major cities such as Tokyo.
I would have been lost and probably unable to stay in Japan if it weren't for this company. However I must admit that there are things that I found unbearable both on the companies behalf and on the behalf of my roommates.
The staff is usually very phony and friendly as all good customer service associates should be HOWEVER most of their office staff is not Japanese but Chinese, and some Europeans (as well as other Asians) that make up the entire team. I've never had a problem with the Japanese staff which are stereotypically known for providing great service but occasionally the other staff can come off as not so friendly and in this case rude.
As I am typing this my rent is late and I had the absolute worse customer service experience EVER. I kept a calm tone of voice and this chick just went crazy on me. She continued to talk over me and was very disrespectful. I asked for her manager and as expected was given "the run around".
I felt as though I were being treated like a criminal. I will upload a video to YouTube later explaining what happened.
Anyway after temporarily solving my issue, I came to the conclusion that I need to stop delaying making this post and to simply finish it tonight ASAP.
Once again this rude staffer, Hwang is not my only reason for leaving she just pushed me to decide that this gaijin project didn't deserve my yen whether it be on time or late. I've been a tenant for almost a year and I've almost always had nothing but positive encounters with their staff but now I see that they don't play when it comes to getting their money, even if its just a few days late and you TELL them when you will pay and have accepted the fact that you must pay a late fee. I even had to sign a new lease basically saying I can't pay my rent late again even although it was an emergency situation and I was only a week late. I ALWAYS pay my rent to them. I have too much stuff to just get up and run back to America.
I mainly just wanted space and privacy. This was all I needed to quit being lazy and actively look for a new apartment.
99.9% of the people living here being adults ages 20 and over I can't blame Sakura House for their not so good and sloppy tenants but they are by far the most annoying thing in the world to deal with.
Personally I have never really had roommates in America, but I am aware of how bad they can be. I've stayed at 2 hostel rooms and I've been to summer camp about 5 or 6 times. I am well aware that everyone has their own pet peeves and quirks etc.. I am also aware that almost everyone knows about these horrendous bad, creepy, sloppy, stinky and annoying roommate stereotypes, but as always common sense just isn't that common anymore.
I think my floor was the calmest in the entire building because it was technically female only (I will explain this later in another post).
The House Is Disgusting
Unless you move in or wake up on a Wednesday afternoon, the house is infested with germs, bacteria, long hairs everywhere, dishes filled in the sinks and on table tops, dirty surfaces and even chairs. Everyone points fingers and plays the "it wasn't me game" this forces everyone to decide "do we clean up behind them and they never learn their lesson or just wait until every dish and clean table space is covered in filth?"
Actually I question how clean the supplies is that they use since I swear nobody has replaced our house mop or toilet brushes since I arrived here almost a year ago!
The Tenants Are Even More Disgusting
There's no way to say this without seeming racist or referencing stereotypes but honestly I'm not in the mood for politically correct bullshit at the moment. Asians are stereotypically clean and germaphobes, (according to American culture at least) that is how they are portrayed. Even when I watch tv like NHK or read cultural books and articles on Asia it's commonly something clean, health related etc.. While I will say overall Japanese people fit this mold that cannot be said about the rest of Asia. Now keep in mind yes this is a small group of people. Not all of China or Malaysia blah blah blah I know I know but most of Sakura House's tenants are Asian because well this is Asia and Japan is very close to China. I will also add that the European men here are stereotypically ridiculously loud and rude at night. The Harajuku police have been called countless times because they are drunk and partying at 2-3AM! This is part of why most places don't rent to "foreigners.
The things that I find most bothersome are
1.) Look At Meh Big Toe!
There is a Chinese-Canadian girl clipping her nasty fucking toenails at the kitchen table at almost 3AM! She's putting the clippings on the chair beside her, massaging her nasty stank foot, and she has her toe up to her nose (seriously) and is catfishing guys on Steam.
2.) People put their nasty feet on everything but the floor.
Girls put their feet on the fridge, couch, kitchen chairs, coffee table etc.. And when they aren't putting their feet on something or somewhere they don't belong, they are rubbing them and then touching everything afterwards. It's so gross! This is not your home and you were just walking on the floor. Wear house shoes or footies the floor is for feet people sheesh!
3.) Nobody washes their hands!
I have no idea how e-coli, food poisoning and death-by-bacteria lol is not more common in Asia. People seldom wash their hands. Not when they touch their feet, pick their noses, scratch, or even go to the bathroom!
The soap here isn't good to begin with, handsanitizer is also not common or even available at most public places. I was OCD and a bit of a germaphobe before I came here and thought because of the fairytales I read about and even the Asian news stations and programs that I watched that it would be so clean here. I will say that this is not just an Asian issue. White Europeans here seem to also not be on board to hand washing as about 70% of them in our house don't. My white American friend and I both joked about this. Since I am the only black girl on my floor the only statistic I have for you is that I am the mean stereotypical "black bitch" of Sakura House since I hardly speak to anyone. I've had 3 REAL friends since I moved here, my Chinese mom, Danish little sister, and my American son.
Japan is physically clean in appearance but when you think about the fact that the most basic step to being clean, cleansing one's hands is not common practice it makes me wonder if the lack of hand washing is the reason why people need so many wet napkins, towels, and boiling hot steam baths every evening to rid themselves of their filthy hands.
4.) People are so Inconsiderate, rude and dumb.
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| This bright ass light is coming from my roommates who isn't even at her desk but left this on for when she comes back it's 2AM! |
The girls here aren't only dirty but they don't think about or care about anyone but themselves. If you have roommates and decide to be selfish you are asking for problems. When I first moved in here I had 2 Chinese roommates 1 from China 1 ethnically Chinesse but Malaysian (kinda like me being African-American but they don't use the hyphen thingy to my knowledge, that's off subject so anyway). The girl would stay up until 3-4AM leaving the main room light on. Even with my curtains (which do a pretty good job blocking out the light) it was still bothersome and made sleeping difficult most of the time. Also the annoying mouse clicks and typing on a keyboard when everyone is sleep after midnight is simply disrespectful. I am a student so I understand that you may have work to do but she was mostly just on Facebook and listening to random Asian covers of American songs which were mostly good (I must admit she had great taste in music too) but still you can easily go sit in the living room on the couch go to the kitchen table or even to McDonalds to use your laptop, phone etc.. and you can use as much light as you want!
Everybody has an outlet with 2 charge ports and a desk area with 2 sockets to charge their devices. The kitchen has 3 and the living room has an extension cord which belonged on the wall where it was hooked (it was moved to the ironing board as it kept falling) but these 2 girls got the dumb idea to drag it on the floor across the room to charge their phones and computers SMH then they have the audacity to not even put it back where it belongs but instead stash it on the filthy floor. The ironing board is dirty enough now once it is placed back where it belongs it will be adding more filth. Thanks!
The European girls on my floor were often the loudest and had occasionally had men over to help them move stuff around as well as to party which would be fine if this where not a GIRLS ONLY floor and this was your private apartment. A warning at the very least would be nice so that we could all be presentable.
One of my current roommates stay up until about 3AM and then has her alarm set for about 7 or 8 AM to the highest volume and it wakes up everyone in the room EVERY morning (except for me usually because I am such a heavy sleeper). Set the volume low and at the very least please at least turn off your alarm quickly. It takes here several minutes to actually turn it off and its very annoying and rude (when I am awake).
5.) I've had people move around my groceries to fit their own even after we got assigned shelves
There are 3 fridges and about 20ish women living on my floor at any given time. It is understandable that the fridges get full and we run out of space. However its still annoying when people move your belonging to make space for their own and of course this isn't to say without dropping your food on the floor with or without your knowledge, damaging your goods or misplacing to were you can't find them or aren't even sure if it's your food or drink! This is a petty complaint but it gets bothersome really fast.
6.) Nobody ever takes out the garbage!
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| Whenever the dumpster duty girls don't take out their trash a random housemate will bag it up and tie it the place it by the ironing board and front door |
Every week 2 girls are selected for dumpster duty. They are expected to collect the garbage from the bins that are full and placed them in the designated location. You would think having a dumpster partner would make tis easy right? You can just rotate days or something. Well no. Instead neither girl will take out the trash. The living room and kitchen gets filled with overflowing trash cans "new bags" that just got started lined up with more garbage and then when someone has finally had enough they will place the bags outside and as soon as it rains the girls on garbage duty will get the "bright" idea to drag wet and stinky trash throughout the kitchen and living room.
Setting the trash outside may seem smart. Sure, we don't have to smell rotten sushi and naoto BUT the heat and rain will enhance the funk once you get ready to take it out thus making the house stink even more. Plus you also risk forgetting that there is garbage outside in the first place.
I stopped talking to my former friend/roommate and we are always dumpster buddies I assume because she has top bunk and Sakura House wants to make it easy for themselves to schedule dumpster duty. Well since we don't talk I think she sometimes believes that I am a lazy hoe and don't take out the trash when it say turn and I do its just that I take out the trash when she isn't here to see me do it and it gets full so fast that by the time she notices it and seems like it was never done in the first place. I can't win. Sometimes I just tell her "I got it" so that she knows I will take out the garbage because it is my turn and I want to be fair.
7.) Obnoxious Phone Calls
Commonly (expectantly and understandably) girls will talk daily to their, friends, boyfriend etc. loud on their phones or even worse video chat on apps such as LINE and Skype. Its very annoying when you are trying to work or watch TV when theres 3 people talking in 7 different languages loudly over one another while you are trying to focus on whatever it is that you were doing. They seem to not have a care in the world or even notice that they are being rude and drowning out your program or breaking your concentration.
Video chats are even more annoying because most of the time its done in the kitchen and you have to walk through there constantly so you will be seen without a bra and makeup countless times without any warning or permission which I hate. This could easily be solved by lowering your voice and going to your own room to talk or even outside. Most of the girls who do this have single non-shared rooms! I can't understand why anyone would want to be in the living room or kitchen here if they didn't have to be. I only talk on the phone in the living room so I don't disrupt my roommates because I imagine me speaking loudly in English is like hearing tourists speak loudly in Chinese here.
8.) Why you do that?
The original Pet-peeve of mines is people leaving the microwave open instead of closing it once they are done warming up their food. Anything can get into the microwave if you leave it open like roaches, ant, debris, dirt etc.. Why would you do that?
People have a tendency to touch and unplug stuff that isn't theres. I was playing on my PlayStation in the living room as usual when my roommate that I can barely stand began rummage throw my CD's without asking for my permission. I've had my laptop unplugged before so someone could straighten their hair and she didn't even think to plug my shit back up once she was done! RUDE!
Girls also leave toiletries and clothing on the sink and it sucks if you need the space they're occupying OR if you accidentally knock over the cup crowding the sink on the floor into the nearby trash or into the actual sink and get it dirty or wet. Now I feel obligated to "do the right thing" and clean it and put it back. Just why?
However this quickly expanded into me questioning everything....
9.) Questionable Hygiene
Most people here don't wear deodorant and smell like tankage when they come home. They smell SOOO bad that even after they have showered the ENTIRE shower room wreaks of must that is soon strong not even air-freshner OR anti-bacterial spray gets rid of the funk. It lasts for days sometimes. It is so unbearable and cultural most of the people here don't wear deodorant so they are immune to their own funk.
I understand that it's convenient for you but why do these people was around barefoot when they get out the shower and track their nasty gaijin-paw prints everywhere?! Now the hallway floor is wet and soon become sticky because there is also hair, lint, and dirt on the floors so you're also tracking this into your bed. I just don't understand.
10.) You're Hot & Then You're Cold
The MOST annoying thing that has been consistently an issue here is that no-one can decide on what to do about the temperature. The oldest resident on my floor is Malaysian yet she likes the cold even more than I do! She ALWAYS has the air on extremely low and cold temperature. She spent the entire year being sick. She is ALWAYS hacking, coughing, sneezing, and spitting up her lungs in the common sink like a chain smoker. I don't understand why she doesn't think that she is sick and simply stop blasting the AC.
The girls battle over the kitchen and living room's temp all the time. Some girls are used to hot whether and prefer to leave the AC off others turn off the AC and open the sliding doors, sometimes they stupidly open the doors and blast the AC which is pointless because now the air will escape out the doors. I can go on with the combinations of ignorance over the air.
I got really sick with strep throat back in April and because I didn't have health insurance and I don't speak Japanese fluently I was too chicken to go to the hospital so I self medicated at home. I was furious because I couldn't tell if I got sick from my nasty roommates germs spreading everywhere or from the AC being blasted over night and the doors being open in 50-60 degree weather. This ruined my Spring break. First world problem here but I've never been sick and treated myself naturally technically. I could only drink hot tea, hot water and eat a little ramen for about 2 weeks. I even lost weight but I felt horrible. It was so bad that I thought about going back to Chicago to get medical attention but I was too broke.
I always say I'd rather be cold than hot because I can always dress warmly I can wear layers and turn on the heat etc.. You can only remove so much clothing and even at homey can't remove your skin! Think about it...
There's a reason why Hell is supposed to be a punishment!
The Verdict
In conclusion the guests here and my roommates were overall EXTREMELY friendly. They were helpful to one another and greeted each other daily BUT roommates already suck and adding, cultural differences and language barriers just amplifies the bad parts of having a roommate ten fold.
It was an interesting experience and provided a new perspective on travel for me but I have come to the conclusion that once I get my own apartment I most certainly will NOT ever have a roommate unless it is my boyfriend or husband. I can't deal with anyone else.
I learned to keep my mouth shut and make sacrifices to keep the peace. I finally passed the test. I learned to not be argumentative. I've spent almost an entire year without going off on anyone or complaining to any of my roommates. I tried to be an actual adult and solve issues with wise words and compromising.
This was a complaint post. Some of these things are universal I'm sure but others I have never dealt with in America.
The location and low cost is what makes people stay here. Sendagaya is a beautiful peaceful expensive residential neighborhood in Tokyo. Sakura House handles most of the expenses which also saves you money.
I have too many pet peeves and I am irritable and allergic to sever stupidity. This place just isn't for me.
I'm sure I missed some points here. If you happen to be staying at Sakura House or heck maybe your one of the annoying people I mentioned in my post feel free to bitch in the comments or add some other things you found to be annoying.
You can read my positive but neutral Sakura House Review (coming soon) to see all of the pro's and con's to living at Sakura House Sendagaya 4-chome. It's a mostly positive post. Use the search bar to find it.
Stay Tuned!
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