preparations

i thought that a week would surely be enough time to make rounds of goodbyes, pack, and buy omiyage (gifts) for my future supervisors and colleagues. WRANG!

it's crunch time, but i continually finding myself spending time with family and friends, playing piano, and eating too much pan cookie; in short, doing things i won't be able to do in japan. however, i'm also taking very important preparatory steps.

tonight, for faja's birthday, we sojourned into gardena for some authentic japanese tempura. normally, not being a seafood person, i would sort of pick at everything and try to sneak food onto haha's plate (haha = "my mother" in japanese. HAHAHAHA! or should i say...mommomomomom). anywhoodle, i decided to give myself a much-needed food attitude adjustment. one of the most valuable lessons i learned in college is that if you go into any situation determined to have incredible fun, it will always result in incredible fun. similarly, if you eat with decided gusto, you will enjoy seemingly strange foods. granted, tempura isn't that out there, but i tried the eel and some strange pickles, and felt proud of myself. and i loved the tempura! each piece tasted like a delicately flavored krispy kreme. ^_^ happy japanese face!

other preparations for my journey have included purchasing a japanese-english dictionary, which already is dead useful. i've learned some choice words for certain foods, colors, and body parts (innocent curiosity, i swear!). yesterday, i casually decided to peruse the mall for some hot-weather and professional clothing. after a few hours, i wandered into forever 21--only to realize that i had absolutely no appropriate clothing for my trip, and to have a damn near mental breakdown in the middle of the store. it wasn't really about the clothes, though...it was more of a "what am i doing?! i'm moving to a place where i don't know the language and will be a total outsider!" kind of panic. i'm over it now; i bought some shorts and professional clothes for an excellent bargain, and somehow that seemed to solve everything. hooray!

and in other news, i've also killed two grotesque spiders, which for me is the equivalent of jamming flaming arrows in my eyes. normally, when spidey appears i squeal and barf and faint and call Haha. i guess i've finally become a woman.

most of what's left is packing. luckily, i'm not totally averse to pack jobs. however, my room currently looks as it did back in high school.

woe to those who ever imagined i was neat!

alas, tomorrow will be work-intensive. but at least it will get my mind off of the people i've said goodbye to already. i've tried to keep my mind blank and soft (like mochi!) while bidding peeps "adieu," and it's helped prevent waterworks--but thoughts of them are still floating around in the old noggin. they will be for a long time, i think.

anyways, i should probably skedaddle off to bed. big day tomorrow! and bigger day after that! and then...IT'S TIME.

dreaming of a giant mochi pillow,
lilly