Getting Ready 1
Jul. 14th, 2002 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melredcapWelcome to our new forum, where Mel babbles about whatever is on her mind as she prepares to go to Japan. You can expect this to get weirder as the date approaches and she gets more stressed.
GETTING READY: 1
Hoo boy. When we shop, we shop.
It's amazing how many things you suddenly realise you're going to need when you finally get word that yes, you are going on that long trip. It's amazing how many more things there are when you're going alone, for a whole year, and you haven't actually been out of the country since... ooo... about ten years ago? And that little trip was only for a week, to New Zealand, which is where I originally come from anyway and is practically next door. This time, I'm not just visiting a different country, I'm visiting a different culture.
For a year.
Did I mention I was going alone?
Noooooooo, not worried at all, here... honest! The cats know something is up, though; Cen, my big black cat who has always regarded me as her very own private mommy no matter what the other cats think, has been behaving like she's been grafted onto my hip. It’s not easy to type when a large sloppy feline is inhabiting your lap and trying to hug one of your arms.
For those who are interested (and I presume you're interested because you’re actually bothering to read this stuff), I'm heading off to Kanazawa, a smallish (by Japanese standards) seacoast city in the middle of Honshu's northwest coast. You can check it out here: http://kanazawa-kankoukyoukai.gr.jp/kanazawa_e/ - it looks gorgeous. Kanazawa University (http://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/~ryugaku/ gets you to their Student Exchange Program page) will have the dubious pleasure of attempting to teach me while I'm there. They seem like pretty nice people too – hey, they agreed to take me, didn't they? I'll be taking a bunch of Japanese classes, some cultural classes, that sort of thing... and also Budo. Heh. If I'm reading the pamphlet right, that’s going to be a split class; half the time we'll be in a normal lecture hall learning about the history and philosophy behind Japanese martial arts through the ages, and the other half of the time we'll be in the gym, wearing hakama and gi, hitting each other over the head with sticks. I'm really looking forward to that one.
I got the official word on when I'm flying out on Friday. "Sometime between the first and the third of October." I guess I'll find out exactly when once my plane ticket arrives, which I'm told will be not very long before I leave. (Apparently the organisers want enough flexibility in the date so they can get the best deal possible, which is fair enough, so long as I don't end up flying via Cargo Cult Airways.) This leaves me less than three months to prepare, which doesn't seem like a lot when you're looking at it from this angle! So, yesterday, Christy and I hit the shops.
My original intention was just to pick up a couple of useful-looking things I'd seen in a sale brochure. Really. A warm snuggle-sack thing for keeping warm during winter (most Japanese residences don't have central heating, and Kanazawa gets feet of snow), and a set of collapsible hanging clothes shelves. I swear, it was Christy's idea to buy the suitcase and fill it with stuff. It's all useful stuff, things I'm going to need to take with me, but... do you have any idea of the sort of weird looks you can get when you're towing a huge suitcase on wheels around a mall, giggling insanely? Or trying to get that huge suitcase onto a bus to take it all home? We ended up explaining why we were acting like surprisingly prosperous bag ladies to quite a few people.
I never did get those shelves... but I have a digital camera now! :) It was a present from my mother. (Thaaaaaaaank you Mum!) After all, I have to be able to take pictures of my home and surroundings to take to Japan, and I have to get pictures while I'm in Japan to send back to people here. It's a cool little thing, a Kodak MC3, but I have to admit that I am totally bewildered as to why anyone would want their camera to be able to play mp3s. Take pictures, yes, that one's a no-brainer. Take short videos, OK, that's cool. But mp3s? It's a camera, not a walkman! Sheesh…
- Canberra, Australia, 14 July 2002
GETTING READY: 1
Hoo boy. When we shop, we shop.
It's amazing how many things you suddenly realise you're going to need when you finally get word that yes, you are going on that long trip. It's amazing how many more things there are when you're going alone, for a whole year, and you haven't actually been out of the country since... ooo... about ten years ago? And that little trip was only for a week, to New Zealand, which is where I originally come from anyway and is practically next door. This time, I'm not just visiting a different country, I'm visiting a different culture.
For a year.
Did I mention I was going alone?
Noooooooo, not worried at all, here... honest! The cats know something is up, though; Cen, my big black cat who has always regarded me as her very own private mommy no matter what the other cats think, has been behaving like she's been grafted onto my hip. It’s not easy to type when a large sloppy feline is inhabiting your lap and trying to hug one of your arms.
For those who are interested (and I presume you're interested because you’re actually bothering to read this stuff), I'm heading off to Kanazawa, a smallish (by Japanese standards) seacoast city in the middle of Honshu's northwest coast. You can check it out here: http://kanazawa-kankoukyoukai.gr.jp/kanazawa_e/ - it looks gorgeous. Kanazawa University (http://www.kanazawa-u.ac.jp/~ryugaku/ gets you to their Student Exchange Program page) will have the dubious pleasure of attempting to teach me while I'm there. They seem like pretty nice people too – hey, they agreed to take me, didn't they? I'll be taking a bunch of Japanese classes, some cultural classes, that sort of thing... and also Budo. Heh. If I'm reading the pamphlet right, that’s going to be a split class; half the time we'll be in a normal lecture hall learning about the history and philosophy behind Japanese martial arts through the ages, and the other half of the time we'll be in the gym, wearing hakama and gi, hitting each other over the head with sticks. I'm really looking forward to that one.
I got the official word on when I'm flying out on Friday. "Sometime between the first and the third of October." I guess I'll find out exactly when once my plane ticket arrives, which I'm told will be not very long before I leave. (Apparently the organisers want enough flexibility in the date so they can get the best deal possible, which is fair enough, so long as I don't end up flying via Cargo Cult Airways.) This leaves me less than three months to prepare, which doesn't seem like a lot when you're looking at it from this angle! So, yesterday, Christy and I hit the shops.
My original intention was just to pick up a couple of useful-looking things I'd seen in a sale brochure. Really. A warm snuggle-sack thing for keeping warm during winter (most Japanese residences don't have central heating, and Kanazawa gets feet of snow), and a set of collapsible hanging clothes shelves. I swear, it was Christy's idea to buy the suitcase and fill it with stuff. It's all useful stuff, things I'm going to need to take with me, but... do you have any idea of the sort of weird looks you can get when you're towing a huge suitcase on wheels around a mall, giggling insanely? Or trying to get that huge suitcase onto a bus to take it all home? We ended up explaining why we were acting like surprisingly prosperous bag ladies to quite a few people.
I never did get those shelves... but I have a digital camera now! :) It was a present from my mother. (Thaaaaaaaank you Mum!) After all, I have to be able to take pictures of my home and surroundings to take to Japan, and I have to get pictures while I'm in Japan to send back to people here. It's a cool little thing, a Kodak MC3, but I have to admit that I am totally bewildered as to why anyone would want their camera to be able to play mp3s. Take pictures, yes, that one's a no-brainer. Take short videos, OK, that's cool. But mp3s? It's a camera, not a walkman! Sheesh…
- Canberra, Australia, 14 July 2002
Teeheehee, Sugoi!
I luv ur site, and this whole deal better not cause u to slow down on updating ur fics^_~! I have been a 1x2 fan for a long time, but u guys where the first, EVER to get me into 2x5. It's now my 2ed fav, and I have read all ur fics. Ur on my top 5 favorite fic authors list.
Bah, I've babbled enough! Anyways, I'm so happy for you! I hope u have lots of fun!