04/04/2008: "junbi shiteru (preparing)"

Finally went out and bought be ticket to go to Japan today. I have to say, it's really weird to say "one way" when buying an airplane ticket. It has a certain finality to it, you know? Kinda weird to not have a return date.

Basically, I have a start date for work and I need to get there about 2 days ahead of time, so it's a balancing act between giving myself some time to travel and enjoy myself and dealing with my stuff here in America and being here with people I know. After I got that kinda figured out (I should have about 8 days to travel), I need to figure out how much time I'm spending in each place. I was going to do a multi-city tour (and 2 days in each place), but that didn't exactly pan out due to not being able to get the right train-pass (visa issue) so instead I'll go to two cities. Half the trip in Tokyo and the other half with a friend in Nagoya. Fortunately, I know alot of people in Tokyo, so I should be able to meet quite a few, ideally.

Got part 2 done as well, which is booking a hotel. It's kinda funny because I've stayed in Tokyo 3 times before, and I always stay at the same place ($20 a night for a hotel is markedly hard to beat). So, why break tradition? Besides, I know that part of Tokyo pretty well now. You pay a bit more for your own room instead of sharing one with 5 other people, but.. I think I'll live with the cost this time. With any luck, I'll only be in my hotel at night to sleep anyway, so I just need a bed, a roof, and someplace relatively safe.

So, got my contract in the mail along with all my documents. Got my ticket and reservations. Making appointments with people. Kinda strange, but it really doesn't feel 'real'. I'm looking at my room now, at all my stuff, and I honestly have no clue how I'm going to pack it all up, and send some of it to Japan (the other stuff will be boxed and stored). I know I can't possibly be the first person to do this before, but the logistics of it all certainly are daunting.

I know I've booked several other trips in the past, even down to hotel details, reservations, what-have-you. But it just all feels different this time around. What's really funny, though, is that I've done more with less in the past. I had less resources, less of a budget, less language skills, and less planning. Strange how I worried less than I do now. OR! This could be a "the grass is greener" moment and, while I remember being petrified, I feel that I was more confident.

Then again, sometimes the less we know, the better. You don't know what you don't know.

Anyway, everything's actually pretty decent, just been busy today looking at calendars and preparing my travel plans. It's at least good to have that out of the way. Like usual, I have homework, studying, and reading to do this weekend, and two tests to prepare for coming up next week. Nothing too exciting, in all.

So, until later, off I go!

Oh, assuming you're not a crazy stalker (and I actually know you), if you want to know my travel plans more-indepth (when I leave, where to, etc, etc), just send me an e-mail. I don't know who actually cares about the minutia, so I didn't want to send out e-mails to people 2 months ahead of time with all these little details.


Jason