Living in accommodation provided for us is, of course, a huge privilege. However, it does come with strings attached.
Obviously, it's not our 'permanent' home, for a start. It's not even necessarily ours for the four year posting. If we're lucky, and cost-cutting doesn't affect us, then we will be in this house for four years. If not, we can be moved elsewhere at a moment's notice.
Even four years isn't really enough time to settle properly; especially knowing we will be moving at the end of that time. For example, the plants I put in the garden last week won't be seen at their absolute mature best by me. They will benefit whoever comes here after us. They do help though. I now have a nice view from my desk and can watch the changing seasons.
Décor is bland, to say the least. All the walls are a cold, stark white. Woodwork is dark. And the carpet is utterly disgusting. A sort of dark taupe colour and filthy. I guess it's been vacuumed, but I don't believe it has had a proper deep clean for years. Or if it has, the stains we inherited are more permanent than the house inhabitants.All I can do - and have done - is to cover the clinical walls with as many pictures and hangings as I can find. But it's still cold-looking. I am stuck for other cures. Any ideas? There's no point wasting too much of our money doing anything about it - it's only temporarily permanent!
Possibly as an attempt to counteract the dreary decoration, the curtains are hideous. Cobalt blue and pale yellow stripes scattered with acid lemon roses assault the senses in the downstairs room and other monstrosities of interior design inhabit the bedrooms. So far I've been able to almost ignore the downstairs curtains by not closing them. But with the cold weather approaching I may need to pull them across for warmth. I will be the one wearing sunglasses in the house.
Something that affects others in my situation, but is rarely mentioned, is the fact that other employees sometimes take it upon themselves to look around the house when we aren't there. I find this outrageous and a complete invasion of privacy. Yes, I know the house isn't ours but all the contents are. We try very hard to consider the place our home for the duration, which is hard enough without knowing people may take advantage of our absence. Perhaps others aren't as offended as me; perhaps it isn't such a big deal, but to me it is.
In Tokyo, I was horrified to hear a group of guys discussing when someone would be going on holiday. They were making a shopping list so they could go in while the inhabitant was away and could use her bread-maker and cooker. I also overheard them mention raiding wine cellars. I'm damn sure this was just the tip of the iceberg. They couldn't understand why I took them to task for it.
To my knowledge this hasn't happened here - yet.
There's also the matter of maintenance. Already I've had to wait around for various health and safety checks and chimney sweeps. And the latest - someone is coming to do something to our balcony this week.
Apparently the balcony leaks. Not onto the patio - into the house. So it needs sealing or something before the winter snows come. Fair enough.
But all I've been told is that he will come "sometime between Wednesday and Friday". So that's three days of uncertainty.
Logistically, this presents a problem. A problem that is solvable, but still a pain in the butt. Kita spends most of her day in the garden if I'm at home. The garden is secure, but has two gates into it. If these gates are opened, Kita will escape. She's done it before and terrified us by running straight out across the road. A rather nifty rugby-tackle by me got her safely back, but the result could have been tragic. Since then, she's kept a very close eye on that gate in case she's lucky enough to find it open again.
Due to her over-exuberance with people, and her newly acquired territory-guarding personality, I will have to ensure the dog is inside and keep her there while the work is done. I won't even go into how she will behave while someone is invading "her" garden!
Whoever comes to do the balcony must come to the front door first. But I am not entirely sure this message has actually got through and it's likely they will just appear in the garden at some point. After all, it's not our house, is it? And may mean they feel entitled to just come in to do the work.
That potentially means three days waiting anxiously around for someone to arrive. Luckily, Kita should give me fair warning of someone coming to the garden so hopefully I will be able to grab her before the 'escape gate' is opened. Whichever day they come will be somewhat stressful.
But that's just the way it is and I will have to deal with it.