Departing ALT's and cleaning your APT.

[Musashi]

So I'm leaving this year, and I was wondering what other departing ALT's are going to do when they get ready to leave their apartment for the newcomers. Also, maybe get some new incoming JET's opinion on what they would expect when they get their new apt.


The reason I thought I'd ask is because when I got my apartment, it was DISGUSTING! It had about 6 gigantic bags worth of junk I had to get rid of, and tons of spoiled food the guy left. The bathroom and shower smelled really foul and was also very disgusting. Basically it was covered in mold, and just plain filthy.

I was really annoyed at the BOE for even giving me the apartment in that condition. Anyhow, I wasted 2 days cleaning the place and getting it up to par. (and I'm not even a clean freak or anything)

****Back back story over****

Anyhow, I leave next week, but I was planing on removing all the stuff I feel is junk, removing all food products, cleaning the everything from top to bottom (including appliances and dishes) and leaving some cleaning supplies for the successor in case they want to clean themselves.

Basically I want to have it so that they can walk in, and not clean. (and waste precious drinking time ) Sound good? Am I missing anything? Input, advice? Thanks!

P.S Also, this post is to discourage the slobs that were going to leave their apartments a mess for their successor, but can't know that they read this!!! :p

[Sooyong]

Sounds about right.

When I arrived about two years ago, my apartment was pretty clean, no spoiled food or anything. I even inherited a stash of alcohol, which I was able to enjoy for my first few days here So it was a surprise when the other ALTs told me how disgustingly filthy the place used to be when my predecessor was here. The evidence was the one or two cockroaches I had gotten over that first summer that had probably made the apartment their go-to spot for food.

So yeah, I'd say just have the place clean, and leave some essentials like cleaning supplies, toiletries, etc. and that should be enough.

[teabot]

my apartment was in ok condition, but there were a few really, really dusty areas, and the broiler of my range was pretty gross. also i had a lovely pile of metal pipes on my balcony left over from some broken shelf or something. i actually still have the pipes (as well as an undisposed-of, but scratched up to hell nonstick frying pan) because metal is such a pain in the ass to get rid of, so i would definitely emphasize getting the broken crap out for all you leaving JETs. :/

[BookMuse]

My pred was a rock star and as he put it, "I tried to think how clean would a girl want this apartment?" Everything was cleaned out- no food or drinks left behind. He left behind some unused cleaning supplies and bug poison. There was also a TV, PS2, iron, ironing board, things along those lines. I'm a neat freak and I felt perfectly fine using what he left behind.

My BoE cleans the apartments before the new ALTs move in and all I had to do was throw out any things that I had no use for or were broken (broken fan, broken food scale, no big deal). I also re-cleaned and sanitized the bathroom, furo, kitchen/living room floor, etc. just for my own peace of mind. I think I came into an ideal situation and it was sort of fun going through the drawers and containers left behind and seeing what goodies were there lol.

[Namisuke]

My pred cleaned the apartment somewhat, but I spent my first weekend in my town cleaning mold and caked-on dust from things. I also got left with bags of garbage as some garbage can only be thrown out once a month. For a newbie in Japan, that is difficult to deal with as the garbage system can sometimes be confusing. Departing JETs should really get that kind of garbage sorted NOW so that they don't miss the last garbage day. If you need to get futons cleaned, do it about 3 weeks ahead of time. I had to sleep on the couch for the first week and then pay for the dry cleaning of whatever my pred sent to the cleaners. My pred was super sorry for leaving me with all this and was a really nice guy, but it would have been nicer not to have to deal with this.

You should also contact your successor to see if they want you to leave behind things such as:

-bath towels
-shampoo/conditioner (these things can weigh luggage down a lot)
-a few dry food items (in case you live in a remote area and the new JET doesn't have time to shop on the first day/have access to a conbini)
-a list of what belongs to the school/BOE

[word]

...smelled really fowl

Honestly, if you do all that, you'll be doing a lot more than a lot of other folks, and your successor is lucky to have you. I also inherited a gross apartment full of garbage.

[Musashi]

You should also contact your successor to see if they want you to leave behind things such as:

-bath towels
-shampoo/conditioner (these things can weigh luggage down a lot)
-a few dry food items (in case you live in a remote area and the new JET doesn't have time to shop on the first day/have access to a conbini)
-a list of what belongs to the school/BOE

Nice, I never even thought of that. He actually bought a ton of stuff off me, so I'm going to go way out and probably just make a gift basket with all that stuff, and add some alcohol and other drinks too.

...smelled really fowl

Honestly, if you do all that, you'll be doing a lot more than a lot of other folks, and your successor is lucky to have you. I also inherited a gross apartment full of garbage.

lol, sharp eye. But he probably had a bunch of birds running free in there the way it smelled. :p



Thanks for the input!!

[Namisuke]

Honestly, if you do all that, you'll be doing a lot more than a lot of other folks, and your successor is lucky to have you. I also inherited a gross apartment full of garbage.

I feel like anyone should simply be keeping good upkeep of their places by simply living in them. I guess the number of [edit: single non-gender specific people] that come and live alone for the first time make for some nasty inherited dwellings

[Patryn]

hahaha. man, I guess I was lucky too!

My pred left me some food and cleaning supplies and all sorts of miscellaneous stuff. I bought most of the furniture off him, and told him to just throw out the broken stuff or anything that would go off and I'd have a look through and throw out anything else. It was pretty fun for me to go through the drawers and find all this random stuff! xD

but I'd say if you have left over ramen or rice or something, to just leave that there for your successor so they don't have to go to the supermarket/conbini if they don't want to. I was super tired when I first got to my apartment, and I just wanted to crash, so the leftover food in my apartment was so nice. ^_^

I did get left with a lot of strange liquids though, and not entirely sure what most of it was, so I just poured them out. It was food stuff though, so hopefully down the drain was ok. *shrugs*

[king]

Mine was super clean but apparently that was all my supervisor's doing. Given the Japanese have far higher standards of what is clean than westerners I have to wonder how much of it was an exageration on her part but she says my predecessor had left the place in pretty horrific condition- dead mice, having to wear slippers indoors lest the bugs would bite you, meat left out on the counter in the middle of summer, newspapers/leaflets from three or four years ago piled up in a cupboard etc....

Good going Musashi, I'm lucky my supervisor felt guilty for me, if it had been left totally up to my pred...ugh.

[bittersweet]

You guys should try to throw your garbage away at the school's shed so it isn't left in the apartment to rot before the next ALT comes.
My apartment was somewhat clean but piles of crap in the closets from years of ALTs who were either too afraid or too lazy to throw anything away. I don't need 3 different sets of silverware and 20 sake cups, and 3 strings of christmas lights that don't work...

[teabot]

newspapers/leaflets from three or four years ago piled up in a cupboard etc....

that reminds me... clean out your mailbox!!! i had a literal years worth of chirashi/junkmail sitting in mine when i arrived. :/

[temoshi]

You should definitely clean out your apartment before you leave. I mean, bags of filth and old food? Yeah, no, thanks. My predecessor did an okay job of cleaning out the apartment before he left. There's nothing wrong with leaving some random things behind that you think your successor might actually use (household stuff, etc.), but you definitely shouldn't leave a mess for them to have to sort out right as they're getting to Japan.

[Gizmotech]

PLEASE do not leave food that isn't in a sealed package behind for your successor. My pred left behind a big open bag of rice in a cupboard under the sink. I never bothered to look in there, as I didn't really care, and about a month or so after I got here I found this giant bag. Full of bugs which was quite gross. Had it been sealed it probably wouldn't have been a problem, but it wasn't soo... ya.

Dry food is fine, and a REALLY nice gift for your successor is a small stash (like 10 or so) of your favourite instant ramen. Even better if there's a bit of variety for them to try, as they will really appreciate it when they get here. (I mean what uni grad doesn't know how to make ramen in a pinch)

[Cytrix]

Can I just say, be a SENSIBLE HUMAN BEING and clean your crap up before you leave. I can't believe the reports I hear of people arriving to disgusting apartments etc. It's called being responsible and a genuinely nice person.