Japannery
I have so much Japanstuff to do. I have to buy travel insurance and send off forms and go shopping for all the random stuff I'm going to need...crap, I have to make a list. Several lists! I keep on coming up with things I know I'm going to forget.
I can't believe I'm going to have to to fit a year's worth of stuff into one suitcase. It's just stupid. The plan at the moment is to pack up the suitcase with things like clothes and books and my computer, then leave it at home and set off for the summer with my backpack and travel essentials, and have the suitcase sent on somehow so I can get hold of it shortly after my arrival in Tokyo. I'm still on tenterhooks hoping that my student visa arrives on time. I thought that if it didn't it would be a disaster and I would have to cancel my summer plans, but then my father reminded me that I have dual nationality so it doesn't actually matter. If necessary I can travel out on my Swiss passport (I'm allowed 90 days there as a tourist with it), and then have my British one sent on when the student visa is sorted. So, it's all fine.
I have also evolved a plan for my first few days in Japan (it involves renewing Youth Hostel membership...crap...*adds to list*). I'll get out there about a week before my Kyushu volunteer camp starts (that was the latest I could make it, as my parents were also off on holiday then, but it's actually worked out rather well), and I'm flying into Osaka. So, I'll book a couple of nights in an Osaka hostel, then travel down by local train to where the course starts (no, I'm not taking the bullet train. I shun the bullet train. I like travelling slowly). Hiroshima is right on my way, and luckily I missed it out of my adventures last summer, so I'll spend a day or so there, and then down to my beloved Fukuoka for a couple of days - from there it's only a couple of hours by bus to the village where the volunteer thing is.
Look at me being all cheerful and optimistic! The trick, as suggested to me anonymously by someone, is to only ever think of it in bits. So: I'm going away for the summer. As far as the rest of the year is concerned...well, I'll think about that when the summer's over.
I can't believe I'm going to have to to fit a year's worth of stuff into one suitcase. It's just stupid. The plan at the moment is to pack up the suitcase with things like clothes and books and my computer, then leave it at home and set off for the summer with my backpack and travel essentials, and have the suitcase sent on somehow so I can get hold of it shortly after my arrival in Tokyo. I'm still on tenterhooks hoping that my student visa arrives on time. I thought that if it didn't it would be a disaster and I would have to cancel my summer plans, but then my father reminded me that I have dual nationality so it doesn't actually matter. If necessary I can travel out on my Swiss passport (I'm allowed 90 days there as a tourist with it), and then have my British one sent on when the student visa is sorted. So, it's all fine.
I have also evolved a plan for my first few days in Japan (it involves renewing Youth Hostel membership...crap...*adds to list*). I'll get out there about a week before my Kyushu volunteer camp starts (that was the latest I could make it, as my parents were also off on holiday then, but it's actually worked out rather well), and I'm flying into Osaka. So, I'll book a couple of nights in an Osaka hostel, then travel down by local train to where the course starts (no, I'm not taking the bullet train. I shun the bullet train. I like travelling slowly). Hiroshima is right on my way, and luckily I missed it out of my adventures last summer, so I'll spend a day or so there, and then down to my beloved Fukuoka for a couple of days - from there it's only a couple of hours by bus to the village where the volunteer thing is.
Look at me being all cheerful and optimistic! The trick, as suggested to me anonymously by someone, is to only ever think of it in bits. So: I'm going away for the summer. As far as the rest of the year is concerned...well, I'll think about that when the summer's over.