(almost) All Packed and Ready to Go

Hi there everybody,

So I leave early tomorrow morning, September the 11th. I figure it's probably the safest day to fly seeing that security's going to be really tight.

I have gotten my visa, I have medical insurance, and plane tickets. The final price for the plane tickets was 900 dollars with a stop off in San Francisco. Unfortunately I won't have a day to goof off there, which would have rocked, but I'll just have to do the ~15 hour flight from San Francisco to Osaka right away.

I've met some of the people who are going on the same day, and it'll be interesting to see what we're going to be doing on a plane. I know my address yet, and contacted the two guys I will be living with. They seem nice, one guy's been in Osaka since April and answered all my questions, the other one arrive two weeks ago, so when I contacted him he had just arrived.

Once I arrive in Osaka, I will receive my 'hanko', which is my name etched into wood so that I can open up a bank account in Osaka. Then I have to register at City Hall so that I can do anything, including getting a cell phone, borrowing a library book or renting a movie. My friend Martin was nice enough to pass me his Japanese cell phone because they're only good in Japan. (Thanks Martin, it's definitely appreciated)

I'll have 5 days of discovering Japan before training, and I expect to get lost every which way. I'll let you all know what's going on once I get connection to the internet. I still have to finish packing (nine and a half hours before departure), but I've got most of my stuff together and ready to go.

I'll post again in Nippon.