{"id":8896,"date":"2015-10-12T01:43:12","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T05:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/?p=8896"},"modified":"2016-03-31T21:38:35","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T01:38:35","slug":"money-order-nightmare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/2015\/10\/12\/money-order-nightmare\/","title":{"rendered":"Money Order Nightmare"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\n

Hi, it\u2019s Mizuki.<\/span><\/p>\n

It has been 1 week since I got Syracuse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Various things happened within my first week, and a unforgettable event occurred when I moved in an apartment last week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff and I took bus from the campus to the apartment to see the apartment before the move-in date.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At first, I was depressed because the bus operating between the campus and the apartment is only one per 1 or 2 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe it is very common in most of the cities in the US. (Bus are sometimes not available in some cities.)<\/span><\/p>\n

However for me who had lived in Tokyo for 6 years, it was just shocking and inconvenient.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(The bus in Tokyo comes every 10-15 mins)<\/span><\/p>\n

Also I found the apartment management office is located on the hill, where is difficult for Moon Riders to go up by themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I knew I have to go there and pay first month\u2019s rent and get a room key.<\/span><\/p>\n

I felt it would be very hard for us to come back here with lots of baggages on the move-in day, even if Jeff helps me.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the evening, I emailed to the management office.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOn the move-in day, the hotel we are staying would give us a ride to the apartment and help carrying our baggages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since we have time to go to the management office on the day before the move-in day,\u00a0can we please let us pay the rent and get a room key then?<\/span><\/p>\n

If it is acceptable, our move-in will be easier. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In Japan, although a move-in day (lease start day) is fixed, we can still get a room key in advance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to check if it can be done in the US too,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

but\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNo.<\/span><\/p>\n

We only give the keys out on the day the lease starts, and have a very tight window to get these apartments ready for new residents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Well, this is normal procedure in the US, then we just need to follow this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the move-in day came.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\u2191Our baggages from Japan<\/div>\n
\n

Jeff and I took the hotel shuttle bus to the apartment, and dropped the baggages at the entrance of the apartment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I remembered the email from management office saying I could pay the first month\u2019s rent on my arrival, so had prepared enough cash.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore Jeff went to the management office to pay rent and get a key and I watched our baggages at the entrance of apartment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 15 mins later, Jeff came back by holding nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: What happened?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: They don\u2019t accept cash, but only money order.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: Really?! (Check previous email from the management office)\u2026Oh, it says I have to pay online in advance or they takes money orders.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: I heard I can get money order at the nearest drug store. I will go there by walk.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: Can\u2019t we pay online now?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: Even if we pay now, the process will be done tomorrow, which means we will not be able to get the room key until tomorrow.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: Whaaaaaat!?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff left for the drug store, but came back with no room key in 30 mins.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: What happened this time?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: The machine at the drug store is broken\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: What!? What did the management office say?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: No place we can get money order within walking distance from here. I need to take bus and go to the campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Me: No way! Bus comes only once every hour. We have enough cash\u2026why didn\u2019t they accept it?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: The bus is coming soon. I will just go, okay?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He got on the bus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1 hour and half, he came back with a room key!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: How did you make it?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: You will not believe this! <\/span><\/p>\n

I went to Chase (bank) but they didn\u2019t give money order because they do not sell money order to customers who do not have CHASE account.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I went to CVS (a drug store) but they only sell money order to customers with US passport (or ID) or Canadian passport. My Taiwanese passport does not work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally I went to a post office and they sold money order to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Me: I\u2019m really sorry. I didn\u2019t check the email carefully\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff: It\u2019s alright. Actually it was pretty fun!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n

It took 3 hours to get in the apartment.<\/span><\/p>\n

I realized there is more strict rules of payment or receiving a key to rent an apartment in the US, compared to Japan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

People says renting apartment in Japan is not easy for foreigners, but not as hard as in the US, I thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, this is another interesting experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After setting up my new life here, Jeff went back to Japan yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n

We will live separately for 1 year from now.<\/span><\/p>\n

I miss him of course, but gotta focus on my research!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been 1 week since I got Syracuse. Various things happened within my first week, and a unforgettable event occurred when I moved in an apartment last week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[86,85],"class_list":["post-8896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-different-thinking","tag-life-in-usa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8897,"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8896\/revisions\/8897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonrider7.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}