EARTHQUAKE!

Woah- that was totally freaky! I just experienced my first Tokyo earthquake!!! (it's about 5:30pm here at work) -- I was sitting at my desk, writing an email and at first I thought someone was jumping right behind me. It sort of felt like the floor was like jello, bouncy. Then things kinda shook a little (not enough to knock anything down). Everyone in the office was just kind of like "oh an earthquake". Then everyone said to me - welcome to Tokyo! There was a building announcement that said don't use the elevators but that thee building was safe.

I've never experienced anything like that. Apparantly it was fairly big, at least definitely noticable... it was a 4.8 (japanese scale) and was centered out in Tokyo bay somewhere, probably about a 3 in the city. Check out a map at this link (sorry can't seem to make it clickable):

http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/earthquake/?c=3

In a way that was cool but a little scary. We are on the 30th Floor here. People here seem really used to it though. I hope there's never bigger earthquake than that while I'm here!

On a totally separate note, tonight I am meeting up with Sophia (the girl that invited me out last week) for dinner at Nobu Tokyo. She has a friend who's last day in the city is today. Yummm....

The Rough Guide to Blogging

My brother's friend wrote a book about blogging if you have any interest:

The Rough Guide to Blogging

Yes, I know I am obsessed with my blog and blogging in general. According to my latest blog stats, I have a reader or readers from CA (is that you Jeff?), from CT (Modem Media folks perhaps?) and a reader from Arizona (who is that???). Feel free to post comments or drop me a personal note at jennifern at gmail dotcom (my bro said there are web bots that spam people so spelling out my email). You get to stay in touch with my life but I want to stay in touch with yours too :)

I suppose readers would rather hear about more interesting things about life in Tokyo? I have to be honest, in my opinion living in Tokyo is not much different from living NYC. Don't get me wrong - most everyone is Japanese, most everyone speaks Japanese, the people are very polite, the city is much cleaner, subways are more efficient, generally things are orderly and people are (at least outwardly) reserved. People smoke almost everywhere inside (restaurants, bars, clubs, even office buildings have smoke rooms) but smoking outside in some public areas is limited. There are designated smoke spots outdoors - my guess is to eliminate butts. There's a heck of a lot of carbs to be eaten - rice and noodles. But there is also just like NYC, a wide variety of restaurants from Mexican to Italian to Thai to Korean to Indian, you name it. I personally think the restaurant food is better than NYC, at least it's easier to find good food. Produce quality is not as great. What I do like though is smaller portions of everything. They eat normal portions in restaurants not like the fatties we are in America. Even grocery store portions are in neat packages of meat or veggies that are convenient to buy for a single person to cook a meal or two. I suppose not as convenient for families though.

But what I really mean about living in Tokyo being not that much different is that for me at least the "feel" of Tokyo living is the same (you have to keep in mind how laid back of a person I am). It's a big city with all the big city conveniences and big city prices. I'm used to crowds and commuting on public transportation and having no trees and eating out when I want to. The biggest culture shock for me so far is the language. It takes a second for people to realize I'm not understanding them. At work, there are whole conversations I can't take part in. I've already mentioned that I don't have many TV show options. And ordering food or general communicating is about pointing and gesturing. The only Japanese I speak on a daily basis is Thank you and Good Morning. I bet I would experience more culture shock if I moved to Wisconsin.

Visitation since August 28

If you haven't noticed (it's not exactly noticable), at the bottom of my blog there is now a visitor counter. It also collects various stats on my blog visitation, feel free to click on it. It took me awhile to figure out how to add that free service but I was really getting curious to see how many hits I'm getting :)

I'm trying out a poll feature also. Please participate only once:

How often do you read my blog?
	Everyday! I'm a junkie!
	Every few days to stay updated
	I'm pretty busy but I read it when I have the time
	I've taken a look once or twice
	This is my first time reading
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Definitely cocktails and dreams

Saturday night was a blast - that couple took me out with some of their local friends to a club (not like a mega-club or anything, basically a crowded bar with music). It was fun to finally go out. Unlike NYC nowadays it isn't a whole process to get into clubs/lounges/bars here. No crazy lines or velvet ropes or strict dress codes. There is usually cover but typically the cover includes 1-2 drinks. For those who are curious, the music at the place we went to was mostly American popular songs and hip hop. Besides the cocktails, that night I had a dream that Tokyo had an earthquake, a mild one. Tokyo is supposedly due for a big one, hopefully not while I am here. Everyone tells me that over the next year I am at least likely to feel some small ones though.

A recent survey by Pew Internet & American Life Project reported:
Thirty-nine percent of U.S. Internet users, or about 57 million Americans, read blogs; 8 percent, or about 12 million Americans, write a blog; and more than half of bloggers are under the age of 30. ---> I told ya bloggers were young.

On the work front: I had another client meeting today at MSN and although I showed the taxi driver the address and directions in Japanese, he took me to the wrong place. I had to ask a security guard where I was and took another cab to the right building - my first instance in Tokyo of getting lost. I'm sure it won't be the last. The meeting went well though. I am having problems getting my business cards made which is aggravating. I can't seem to get someone from the home office to help me, update me, or at least send me the design/layout so that I can get them made myself. This is frustating because in Asia and especially Japan, business cards are ESSENTIAL to doing business. I basically look unprofessional without them so I'm pretty annoyed. Happy Monday.

Cocktails and dreams

Haha - Cocktails is the movie on TV right now.

Today I walked around Omote Sando - a shopping area much like the Champs Ellesse in Paris or 5th Ave in NY. I stumbled upon a park that had an event with "dance" teams so I stayed for a bunch of their performances. It was pretty cool to watch, pics below.

This first pic below is in Shibuya. That's the famous street where every 3 minutes hundreds of people cross at the same time, the busiest intersection in the world. I couldn't really get an overhead pic but if you're ever in Tokyo you have to check it out.



This pic is of a shopping center. The design of it was really cool. Very narrow and you walk around to all the floors:








Last night, Friday, I tried to make a reservation for myself at this Thai place near my apt that has a good view of the city. It was booked. But while I was in the lobby, I met a girl working here until December. She's from LA and works for Warner Bros. We decided to go to dinner together at an Italian place near here. The company was nice and I got a lot of good tips from her (she's been here 2 months already). To be honest, she talked a lot and was sorta not the type of person I would be good friends with back home but it was nice meeting another expat in the building.

Tonight I am meeting another friend of a friend expat who lives nearby here. Drinks with her and her bf, maybe some friends. Hopefully I'll have some cocktails and dreams this evening. :)

Elevators, Escalators & People Movers

Some very strange behavior I've noticed riding on the above. I don't know if it's just people in this particular building or if this is common in Tokyo but people are obsessed with the elevator open and close buttons! I think this building (my work building) has around 40 floors. I am on the 30th so I have to take the elevator bank for 21-31. This means that most of the time at the beginning and end of the day when I ride the elevator, it stops at almost every floor in the 20s. The person standing next to the floor buttons will hold the open button and then promptly hit the close button on each floor. If that person gets out, someone will quickly take over that position. It's a weird obsession, it's almost like people try to get into the control the buttons position.

Now let me talk about the people movers. From the subway station to my office building, I have to walk through another building/complex. There's a series of maybe 7 people movers to walk through. The basic rules from what I gather are stand on the left and walk/pass on the right. You can also walk on the left slide if you choose to walk slow. Now, there are a ton of people on these things before and after work. People are weaving in an out, walking, standing, passing. Everyday is like an adventure for me on these people movers. I haven't really mastered the art of walking and passing at the right times so I either get stuck behind someone standing or get nervous when I have to rush past someone (it's pretty narrow). And people are not afraid to pull the push aside move where they nudge you over to get by...

And so if people are in such a rush, what I really don't understand is the behavior on the escalators. There are escalators everywhere here in buildings and in subways. Same basic rule, stand on the left, walk/pass on the right. Despite the rush that people are in, they almost always stand on the escalators and do not walk up or down them. I really don't get it. People will actually wait on a line to get on the escalator on the left side so that they can stand. Even if they are going down or the escalator is short, they usually do not walk them. If you ask me, it's totally bizarre.

Busy?

If people are too busy to comment on my blog, I am too busy to post... Hehe j/k

Yesterday I was pretty bored at work in the afternoon. After I answer all client questions, send some emails. do some industry research, work on a few documents here and there, I don't really have that much to do. I guess I am used to having a million projects and a million clients that I have become extremely efficient. I surfed the web most of the afternoon.

By the way, if you use Skype or want to, my username is ThisJenn. I've been talking to Kenn for free computer to computer. It sounds pretty good for the most part aside from the occassional echo.

The daily life has set in. To work, from work, work out, make dinner, etc, etc. Maybe I'll go out for a drink tonight. I have to decide what interesting thing to see this weekend too. Plenty to see but I'm trying to decide what to save for when people visit.

SATC

I'm so bored of the television here that I've decided to watch my entire Sex and the City DVD collection, all 6 seasons, straight through. Not in one sitting of course but thought it might be interesting to watch them all in order. (By the way, Livia, I just watched the episode "Valley of the Twenty-Something Guys" and thought of you - hehe)

I had my first client meeting today at MSN Japan. It went really well, I basically reviewed our product and we talked about the upcoming online campaign they want to test. The rest of the work day was rather boring though I am keeping pretty busy researching, getting contacts, creating training/documentation and answering client questions on projects we're working on.

What have I been eating? I had Chirashi again for lunch (sashimi on rice) and I boiled some frozen dumplings for dinner. I hit the "gym" again today and am considering doing a Rosetta Stone lesson now. Let's face it, not everyday in Japan is going to be and adventure. :)

Girish, a DL NY coworker of mine, made me a photo slideshow of DL'ers on a cd that I just watched yesterday. It's totally kick ass! It did make me miss the folks back home. For any other DL'ers reading, thanks for the awesome poster that everyone signed and assorted candy and snacks. Really, really cool care package!

NBA star?

Wow, I just read Ging's comment to my last blog. I was at the immigration office yesterday getting my re-entry permit and saw this really really tall black guy. I took a double take and thought to myself I wonder if he's a famous basketball player. It probably was!

Posting a much better pic of my and Kenn's boat. This does do it more justice!

Monday

You are all getting your weeks started and I am done with my Monday so to ease you into the week, I'll add some more pics :)



Megan, Kenn and I at our engagement party / going away party.












This is our boat! The pics don't do it justice.















Pretty close by is a McDonald's and Starbucks. Total expat neighborhood!

(Side bar: by the way Jenn Leire, there is Italian and Mexican in the neighborhood so plenty of restaurant options for you - though no Mexico Lindo of course. I found a great wine at the supermarket -a Pinot Blanc! And yes, I have had the clear - but the Asian kind - Sake! )



Another view of the living room and office area.






Standard gallery kitchen, nothing too interesting. It comes equipped with microwave, toaster, hot water hot pot, and rice cooker.














One more shot of me in the Yukata!

Pics!!

The post you have all been waiting for - including pics! First, a quick update on the weekend... My shipment came on Friday. I wish I hadn't packed so much stuff. Why do I have so much clothes I don't wear? Saturday was spent unpacking, relaxing and then I headed over to Steven and his wife's (Noboe) place. They are about 30 mintues outside the city and there was a fireworks festival there. Noboe lent me a Yukata which is a Japanese summer Kimono widely used for everything from festivals, ryokan, summer daily wear to simple night attire. Check out the pics below. His expat friends (all married to Japanese girls) and all of us went to one of the guy's rooftops to watch the hour long fireworks. Great show with impressive displays including cool shapes. Great spot, we avoided the crowds and I had somewhere to hang out after while the massive crowds took the train home at the same time. Sunday I met up with another one of my brother's contacts. Someone he knew from Michigan. A couple that just moved here 3 months ago from the US. They had a car and took me out to lunch, I went to their church, and then they took me to a discount supermarket. Really nice couple and a nice weekend, went by really fast. Enjoy the pics!


Bedroom. Big bed and other than the chair nothing else fits in there. A lot of closet space though.












Small separate "room" with the toliet (left).You can't really read it, but the toilet instuctions are below. :)

The shower room where there is also a washer/dryer is separate.

(Right) is the living room area with flat screen and the far room is like an office. That's the end with the small balcony and those white doors slide shut making a convenient "guest" room with space for an air mattress.

(Right) View from the baclony. That's the Tokyo Tower in the background - day and night.



Check out me in the Yukata!



The view from the roof - huge crowds

I'm back

I'm home. I chose a sushi place just a couple blocks away and turns out it's a pretty good sushi place in Tokyo according to some locals I met there. I sat at the sushi bar and the people next to me spoke English. I figured they were expats but turns out these 2 white guys have lived in Tokyo for over 15 years. One was there with a date (japanese girl) and another was married to a japanese girl. Was chatting with them for awhile and they spoke japanese so i asked them to recommend /order me some food. First thing I got was mackerel - sushi was so fresh that they served it with the body of the fish and it was still moving!! Pretty cool. Also at the sushi bar was some guy who just relocated here with his wife from NJ. Good conversation and I was glad I met people to talk to. I had those locals help me order some good food and good sake so happy I went. Stayed there all night chatting, eating and drinking but after awhile it got kinda boring and tiring of making conversation. From what I could gather from one of the guys, he's some sort of rich entrepreneur who owns his own island or something. I think he might have paid for some of my drinks/food because my bill was only 1800 yen ($15). Whatever, fine by me. Hold on, let me check out his site....wow I guess he really does own the island or something and was named a chief - http://www.vjf-mc.com/press.htm. I totally thought he was full of crap. Guess you never know who you're gonna meet. So bizarre.

Well, I am exhausted being up so late so time for bed. A good night overall and hopefully more adventures to be had....

Friday Night

First off, a shout out to some blog readers - Ging and Kent- what's up! Ging is my uncle, great quote by the way. Kent, a DL coworker, don't be a stranger - feel free to add comments :)

So it's Friday night and I ain't got nothin to do and no one to do it with. I'm not big on dining or drinking alone but I have to give it a shot tonight. I can't be wasting time in Tokyo in my apt now can I?? I've selected a local sushi place where I can sit at the sushi bar - sweet. Maybe after dinner I will walk around a bit to see if there is an interesting place for a drink. Don't worry friends and family - I WILL be careful on my own. I'm a big girl, it's a crowded area, and Tokyo is in fact a very safe city - safer than NYC. I'll even post a blog when I get home so you know I got home safe. Happy Friday to those of you reading at work!

Roppongi

Wow, even Iran's president has a blog....

Anyway, I live in the expat neighborhood of Roppongi. Some descriptions of the area below:

Most foreigners visiting Tokyo, will probably visit Roppongi at least once on their trip. If you are into bars and nightclubs, Roppongi is the place to be.

One important point to remember, is that Roppongi is the nightlife capital of Tokyo and is well known among foreigners for this reason alone. Many of the bars and nightclubs are open all night and it is usually a bustling area after dark.

Roppongi is home to many foreign businesses and the foreign expat community. It is busy most nights of the week, but business really starts to pick up on Thursday night and peaking on Friday and Saturday nights.

Roppongi (六本木) is a section of Tokyo's Minato ward infamous for its nightlife. Unlike most nightlife districts in Tokyo, there are thousands of foreigners visible from any vantage point, and almost all restaurants and clubs cater to the English-speaking crowd. But Roppongi has recently become respectable again even among the Japanese thanks to the opening of Roppongi Hills, a massive shopping and dining complex.

Roppongi Tokyo's best-known nightlife district for young Japanese and foreigners, Roppongi has more bars and nightclubs than any other district outside Shinjuku, as well as a multitude of restaurants serving international cuisine. The action continues until dawn.

Sounds fun huh? Don't you wanna come visit? ;)

Small updates

Do I have to enter a blog post everyday? I don't know if I can be that interesting...

Here are some updates on some of the smaller things I've been up to (for my now 5 loyal readers):
-Jet lag still gets me up at 6am ish so I've been working out in the fitness room in the building
-My commute to work includes a series of people movers inside of a building
-I had sashimi on a bed of rice (Chirashi) today for lunch. It was quite good and a lot of pieces for like $8
-I need to register for an alien registration card before I can get a cell phone
-I am on lesson 3 in my Rosetta Stone Japanese lessons (CDRom). I have learned the basic use of nouns, verbs and adjectives. I have a vocabulary that includes car, dog, cat, airplane, boy, girl, man, women, short, long, young, old, walk, run, dance, swim, fly, and jump. I know how to count to ten and basic colors. :) (by the way, I highly recommend Rosetta Stone for language learning)
-I emailed many of the people that friends gave me Tokyo contacts for and am setting up lunches, dinners, drinks to meet new friends
-Yesterday and today we started putting together a "business plan" and projected work for the next year. Wow, aren't I doing grown up work? ;)

A little lighter

Since Livia claims my last post was deep, I think my devoted blog readers (all 3 of you) deserve some fluff on my interesting Tokyo observations and funny antics so far:

It's hard to find pepper in the supermarket. I found salt but no pepper - weird.

I have been watching the crap out of some CNN. The only other things in English are the Discovery channel and various movie channels showing things like Goonies, ET, Fame, The Sound of Music, and some Will Smith movies.

It's true that most toliets have a million buttons and functions including Bidee's, seat warmers, and of course a button that plays a flushing sound to hide "embarrassing" noises.

Japanese women are short, petite, pale (they carry around umbrellas to block the sun), feminine, and are really into makeup and grooming.....Interesting that I am tall, super tan, have a deeper voice, and I'm lucky if I remember to wear lipstick or pluck my eyebrows regularly. They must think I am a beast!!

Fun fact: there is one vending machine to every 20 people in Tokyo. (I haven't seen anything funky sold in one yet)

This one's for Livia and Jenn Leire: the magic wallet is a real setback here. Coins go up to 500 yen (apprx $4.28) so you can imagine, getting change from purchases means I'm now walking around with a bag full of heavy coins!

All women wear stylish shoes here. I may be the only person in Tokyo wearing flip flops.

Back to work

Without a day to waste I reported to my first day at the office today. I have to say that commuting here already feels natural to me. Being from NYC makes the transition to Tokyo a lot easier, I'm already used to crowds and subways and mindlessly getting to and from work. What I am not used to is the heat here. It's the dead of summer and hot and humid. I was practically drenched by the time I got to the office. The funny thing is when I look around at other people in the streets or on the subway, it seems like no one is even bothered by the heat. It doesn't even look like anyone is sweating! And everyone wears jeans here and long sleeves. I don't get it! I seriously feel like I'm the only one sweating in this country.

This week a lot of people are out because it's a Japanese holiday, summer vacation type thing. Those that were in the office took me out to lunch - Italian. I learned that a lot of people in the office are expats, transplants or have at some point spent time working or studying in another country. It made me remember once again that Americans are really the only people who are not well travelled or as in touch with other cultures. It's kind of sad really. It made me grateful again that I took this opportunity and I know I will get so much out of it, learn so much from a different perspective on the world from others.

Day 2

No, I'm not going to keep numbering my days here... Another great day though - as I write this, I am looking out my balcony window at the Tokyo Tower (looks like the Eiffel Tower and built to replicate it) and there are fireworks going off next to it. What a nice welcome to the city. Fireworks are a big thing here in the summer. They have elaborate 1 hour displays almost every weekend in different parts of the city. Pretty cool.

Today I did some more grocery shopping for some basic items and then I met up with Haruka and her sister. Haruka is someone my brother met through his church. She's Japanese and speaks perfect English. They showed me around the Shibuya area a bit, helped me look at cell phones, helped me buy a 3 month train pass, and showed me how to recognize common items in the drugstore. They were a big help so I really appreciated all their tips. :)

Tomorrow I report to the office. My commute is great, it's just 2 subway stops away. I don't want to jump the gun but I think I'm going to like it in Tokyo. There will definitely be challenges with the language and navigating the trains and being homesick and the prices! But so far my first impressions have been great my first weekend so I am really looking forward to diving in and enjoying my year here!!

Day 1

Mission accomplished my first day. I figured out most of the appliances and electric gadgets in the apt today. I walked around the neighborhood and over to Roppongi Hills which is a pretty cool shopping area that also has a cinema, art museum, and some Tokyo City View deck. I didn't pay to see the view today because it was really cloudy. It even thunderstormed shortly after I got home today. I did see the Pixar exhbit at the Arts Center and that was really cool. They had a ton of original sketches and models from all the Pixar movies. I bought some basic groceries and unpacked my suitcases. I had some trouble figuring out what to buy at the grocery store since most things are in Japanese. I had to rely on pictures or similar packaging/colors for brands that are also in the US. I did a couple of language lessons from my Rosetta Stone cd-rom. I hope to learn some Japanese quickly, I'm so eager to learn and am already frustrated that I can't just learn it overnight. :) After all was said and done today I was pretty tired and had to nap even though it probably ruined my sleep schedule.

I HAVE ARRIVED!

Ouch I just lost my entire blog post so have to write it again...
So I made it! I woke up yesterday morning and could not believe what I saw on the news. Had to be the day I left for Japan with all the mess with extra security. I called the airline and they said to arrive 4 hours early. No way that was going to happen since I just had woken up. After arriving only about 2 1/2 hours early I found there was no line at the business class check-in. There was also NO line an security. Very strange, maybe I just got lucky but it was a very easy check in. After a tearful goodbye with Kenn I made my way to the Red Carpet lounge. What a great way to relax and unwind. Business class was cushy and comfy, I don't know how I am ever going to fly economy again. I lounged, ate, watched the Sentinel, read a few of my new books on Japanese customs & etiquette and pretty much slept/relaxed the whole 13-14 hours. It went by fast. As we were landing in the Narita airport, a wave of emotions came over me as I thought about the new life I was about to embark on.

After a long line at immigration, my first task was to figure out how to use the toilet. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how to flush the it because there were a million buttons and everything was in Japanese but I eventually figured it out. Steven (my coworker in Japan) was nice enough to meet me at the airport. We took the Narita express train into the city and then a taxi to my apt. Steven invited me to dinner with some of his expat friends. I decided to go because I wasn't feeling jetlagged yet and it was near my office. Steven showed me how to get a subway card and the route to the office. Of all places, we went to a Tex Mex restaurant and I had a burger!! Haha- way to ease my way into Japan...

The apt is really nice. It's basically like an extended stay hotel so very comfortable. Though the layout is different than my NY apt, I'd say it's around the same size so definitely not the tiny Tokyo residence expected. There's a concierge/doorman/security desk, a nice lobby with free coffee and a fitness room in the building. The apt itself has a washer/dryer, heated floors and a small balcony. I know people are dying to see pics of the place. The bad news is I just took some but I think I packed the camera cord in the boxes being shipped here so I can't upload them until later. Oops. Check back later, I'll be sure to post pics.

I woke up at 7:30am today. Today's plan is to unpack, figure out how to use the TV, A/C, lights, etc. in this place, walk around the neighborhood, and find a supermarket and shop for food. So far, so good. :)

Last day...

Well, it's my last day in NY- I leave for Japan tomorrow at 12:45pm. I got an an absolutely AMAZING gift from Kenn's brother Rick. He used his miles to upgrade me to business class!!!! But not only did he upgrade me, he went through quite an ordeal to do it. He called United and the rep told him he had to go to an agent in person at JFK to sign something. Wow what a pain, but he drove an hour from LI at 10pm to do that. When he arrived, he found that the counters were closed at 7:30!! Damn that rep for neglecting to mention that. Annoyed, Rick calls United to complain and speaks to multiple people, supervisors, etc. and finds out he could have done the transfer/upgrade online! Ouch. I can't believe he had to go through all this trouble but I am extremely thankful for such generosity. I've sadly never actually flown business class but this will make my trip to Tokyo much sweeter and relaxed. Thanks Rick- I owe you big time!!

My clothes and personal items are en route to Japan. I am packed and just about ready to go. The past week has been filled with goodbye drinks, dinners, lunches...packing, making calls, organizing.... I still can't believe I am leaving. It feels like I'm just going on vacation but I'm sure it will sink in in about a week.

The next time I write will be from my new apt in Tokyo!!! (Well, hopefully my internet connection will be working upon my arrival)

So here it is... my very first blog post! I am 8 1/2 days away from leaving for Tokyo!!!

I don't see myself as a blogging type of person. In fact when I sent out my request for contacts email, a few people replied astonished that I was starting a blog. I really had no clue where to start one and began to make one in MySpace but Kenn steered me to this site instead. Much better choice. My brother pinpointed it exactly- that my "generation" - really around my year in school is sort of the borderline age of bloggers and non-bloggers. When I was in college, pretty much no one I knew blogged or even knew what it was. But those just 2 years younger, everyone is into blogging! I decided to give it a try and start one because I thought it would be a great way to keep everyone updated on my new life in Japan without having to send out periodic email updates. (Got the idea from my childhood friend Johanna actually- thanks Jo!) So feel free to check in and read at your leisure.

On to the Japan details: I have a lot to do before I leave. I am in the process of organizing and packing. I'm also going to doctors appts and sorting out all the little things like paperless statements for my credit cards. I cannot believe I am leaving. I am definitely both excited and nervous at the same time. But every single person I've spoken to or emailed about my moving for a year is very excited for me. I have gotten so much encouragement and well wishes that I can't be anything but thrilled to embark on this adventure. When Kenn and I were deciding whether or not to go, we just could not pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity. I have plenty more to say about my anxieties (like how I don't speak or remember any japanese at all) but feel it might be boring to read. For tonight, I am happy with my first blog post if this works..... More to come soon for sure!