Oosouji - "big cleaning"

In Japan, New Year's is also a time to spruce up, polish up, clean out, and clean up.  It is a time to clear out the clutter and dust from the old year, in order to start the new year fresh.  It is considered unlucky to ring in the New Year with clutter or dust from the old year.  It is also considered good luck to completely empty one drawer or closet shelf for the start of the New Year.  Lots of cleaning-related tasks happen in the weeks leading up to "oshogatsu" (New Year's).

When I came across these window washers last month, I couldn't help but imagine the excitement on the other side of the windows - this is an international preschool!   Can you imagine window washers suddenly appearing outside your classroom window at Russell Street?

Last month we had a "fire and pipe inspection" in the apartment.  Uniformed workers came to the apartment, and checked to see whether we were properly cleaning the bathroom drains (it's complicated and we wouldn't have known how to do it if a friend hadn't shown us!) and the kitchen sink drains (also somewhat complicated).  They also inspected our fire alarms and the hose from our washing machine.  They came in quietly and were in and out within five minutes, but it was nerve wracking!

Walking home from errands yesterday morning, I happened to come across our garbage collectors.  They pick up our garbage faithfully each Wednesday and Saturday, and we are grateful!  This was the first garbage pickup day in our neighborhood since the New Year's week when businesses were closed and services suspended, so there was more garbage than usual piled up along the streets in the neighborhood.

We follow very strict rules for recycling and garbage removal, and everything needs to be put out in clear bags (so that officials can check to make sure we aren't cheating!).  We have five (!) garbage cans/bags in our tiny kitchen, for:
1.  Regular garbage, which goes out twice a week.
2.  Miscellaneous plastics, including baggies, packaging, etc.  We are amazed at how much plastic we throw away!
3.  Paper products - also amazing how much paper we use and throw away!
4.  Cans/ glass bottles/PET bottles.   We further sort them into separate piles when we put them out for pickup.
5.  Unburnable garbage (old junk like a flower pot or a broken pair of scissors).
 
This makes recycling at the Transfer Station in Littleton seem like a piece of cake!

We refer to this chart to make sure we are doing the right thing: