"Couch"

Yesterday we broke down and bought this:



We haven't had one of these since July 2009, if you can believe it. We were living in that basement apartment across the alley from my old office in Whittier, Mpls. Our couches were hand-me-downs from my sister but they were the nicest we'd ever had. Sadly, they wouldn't fit up the stairs to the attic we were moving into and we had to do what all good Minneapolitans do--put them in the alley for dumpster divers. As we were bringing them out some gentlmen walked by and seemed interested. I said, "Hey--we're bringing the matching loveseat out next, if you want both." They said they lived in a sober house down the street and could really use them. So, while they went to get more guys to help carry them, we brought out the other one plus the matching pillows. It felt good to help our neighbors out even though we were resigned to throwing blankets and pillows on the floor when friends came, pretending we were lounging about like sultans when really everyone was quite uncomfortable.

We figured we were preparing ourselves for life in Japan where everyone sits in the floor. Indeed, there is a LOT of floor sitting going on here. Oh sure, there are cushions and petite floor chairs but essentially you are low, very low. Since a friend offered to take us to the second hand shop (and has a van!) we decided to try our luck. It was the only couch there, but it only cost 2600 yen ($30) and folds out into a bed. It was a huge score. Last night we watched Project Runway while sitting on our couch AND drinking a Dr. Pepper and were sure we had found bliss.

The quotations around "couch" are because it is still quite low and our knees are above our hips when we sit on it. It's not a proper American couch, but it's better than the floor!