I spent my last day in Michigan today with family and getting some last minute things together. Packing has proven to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be. It’s hard to chose what to take and what not to take when I know I will be gone for so long. I also have to think about the different types of weather and how to prepare myself for that. Tokyo is generally warmer in winter than Michigan (30s-40s typically) and they don’t get much snow at all but I should expect rain. Plus I’m a girl and I love clothes and shoes just in general.

It is a surreal feeling to think that tomorrow I will be getting on a plane going to Japan. Right now all I can think about is the stress that awaits me from the process of going through all the motions at the airports. I’ve been very anxious checking and double check the airport maps and processes, since this is my first time flying alone. But I’m sure once I’m actually there, checked into the hotel, and eating Japanese food and speaking Japanese it will all be come very real for me. My plane leaves at 12:50pm (Chicago time) and lands Tuesday 3:35 (Tokyo time), it’s a 12hr45min flight. The longest flight I have ever been on was eight hours and it was a horrid experience. So, I’m not looking forward to it at all. I hoping sleep deprivation (because I will be getting up at 6:30am tomorrow morning to get to Chicago) plus some self-medication (benadryl to make me extra sleepy) will do the trick.

Someone from the organization, CIEE, will be meeting me at the airport along with the other participants. Then we will go to the airport hotel to stay the night. Wednesday we will be changing hotels to Tokyo Green Palace Hotel which by the looks of it from their website, sounds pretty spiffy. We will stay a couple days at this Hotel until we move in with our assigned host families. I don’t know who my host family is and I probably won’t find out until I meet them.

I know that the Hotel will have internet access, so I will try to update when I get the chance. However, my host family may or may not have internet access. I’m really hoping they do.