In my hands I am holding my passport; contained inside it is the Student Visa I picked up yesterday from the Japanese Consulate in Detroit. About three weeks ago I had to take a 36 hour break from camp in order to drive down, file the paperwork and drive back up. Of that 36 hours 21 of it I spent in a car. Now, that wasn't yesterday's trip. Yesterday's was just a 2 hour jaunt to downtown Detroit, 30 minutes going up elevators and escalators, and another 2 hour trip down the freeway back home. After doing the 8 hour trip to the U.P. so many times it feels more like a day errand than what most people down here call "a trip across the state". Never-the-less now that I have my Visa, coupled with the Rikkyo University supplied "Certificate of Eligablity" and my plane tickets, I have every slip of paper I need to essentially go to Japan for a total of 15 months.
Not that I will actually spend all 15 months in Japan, my housing contract is only for the school year. Not to mention I think I am contractually obligated to attend one more semester of school at Western when I return. (Nevermind the fact I still need a few credits to graduate).
Point is, I have all I need to get there. Baring some unforeseen asteroid or zombie apocalypse intervention, in two weeks time I will be sitting on a flight to literally the other side of the world. Therefore yesterday I figured would be a good time to start taking down my words in this log. I mean, two weeks before. Have everything in hand. It all should be good to go. Good place to start ranting about it all.
The truth of the matter though, even as I sit here and look at the pretty paper with it's colorful holographic anti-forgery marks, is that I still haven't come to the complete rationalization that this is happening. Sure I had an eye opener when I bought the plane tickets. And there was that one night at camp where I sat up at 3 A.M. and said in glossed over voice "Oh shit. I'm going to Japan." Even when I was first using Google Maps Street view to look at the Rikkyo International Student Dormitory (RUID), where I would be living for the next year, it didn't really click in. At this point I am fully expecting it to be two weeks into Japan when I wake up and scream in terror as by brain fully comes to understanding with where it is I actually am.
I wont lie, somewhere new in my mind there is a little voice scraping away. Screaming, "Duuuude! It's happening! EeEeeeEeeeEEEeeeeeeee!" But it's still quiet enough I can still disregard it as I go about my last two weeks in the state, making my final preparations for this journey. For those of you who play video games, the best way I could describe it would be like... that moment where you know the final boss is around the corner; and you're getting all the armor you need, extra ammo and/or health potions, prepping so that you can make one last save and go through the door to fight some god-beast. Thing is I do at least know, logically, that I don't have save points. So I am just going about my preparations zealously. I know it wont be enough, it's never enough, but I can at least try to have it be enough. Scout Motto after all, "Semper Peratus", be prepared.
To those ends I have my last meeting with my study abroad adviser at WMU Monday, shortly after picking my mother up from the Kalamazoo airport. It's my last chance for questions and concerns and everything else I can't find or Google on my own. Most of my questions will revolve around my future banking and using to the trains to get from Narita Airport to my new living arrangements while hauling my suitcases. I'm sure I will have more questions than just that, or someone will point out a glaring flaw in my plans before then, but for now my list has me at ease.
I have more preparations, more things to do. Still have yet to pack most my junk I am bringing... But it's true, it's happening. I have the Visas, Certificates, and Plane Tickets. Come the 7th of September it's finally happening. Sam is going to Japan.
Ohhh boy.
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