Laundry

I did my first load of laundry tonight. I discovered two things.

1. I overpacked. There were clothes I didn't wear yet and most likely didn't need to bring. I had an idea that I was bringing more than I needed when I was packing, but I added a few things because I psychologically thought I needed more. I only brought about 10 T-shirts, but that was about 4 too many apparently. Knowing that I could do laundry, I should have brought less. I only brought two bags with me as it is, but I still feel like I brought way more stuff than I'll need.

This discovery also made me realize, I have too many clothes in general. If I can get by for 2 months in another country with so little, I should be able to get by at home with not much more. Ignoring my need for work clothes, I definitely have too many casual clothes.

2. My laundry area is probably the dirtiest place I have seen in Japan yet. It doesn't help that it's connected to a Chinese food restaurant. The washers have a little overflow area that they sit in and it seems like the water lines just drain into this area. Then there is a small, barely functioning drain that drains the overflow area. Needless to say I was less than thrilled to clean my clothes in this tiny place (about the size of my bathroom at home). So I must always be on guard against dropping anything into the moat that surrounds the washing machines. The dryers were ok and rather new it seemed. The part that is a pain, is that they only take 100 yen coins and there is no change machine.