2.5 hours to go before I leave for Newark.
5 hours to go until I leave for Detroit.
9 hours to go until I leave Detroit for Japan.
14 hours plus 14 hours before I land in Japan.
Pretty much packed – I’m trying to figure out how to fit my notebooks into my suitcases. They might end up just cushioning my lap top.
In my carry on bags – Japanese books, journal, ipod (a gift from my brother), ear plugs, laptop, a Japanese novel from Diego and Jenny, my camera, a neck pillow, and my cosmetics bag, plus my change of clothes from casual to work-appropriate. If I am going to be meeting work officials when I get to Japan, I’d rather not look like a hood rat.
I am incredibly congested. Nose dripping every few seconds and head throbbing. I left my going away party at around 3.
Sleeping is a bad idea. Perhaps i ought to dig into my suitcase and pull out some of the many medicines I bought for the trip and have myself some theraflu. Or I ought to write Jean and Frank a note/email thanking them for their hospitality.
Instead I want to blow my nose and mull over my sinus headache.
It’s like when i went to college – I couldn’t see anything ahead. I knew I was moving to New York City and that I would live with girls named Branny, Peaches and Wilcox. I didn’t know what I would study. I didn’t know who I would meet. I didn’t know what my neighborhood would look like. I saw a void, a void I had been aiming towards since I was 13. This new void has been in the works since I realized I needed a new start about a year ago but nothing still seems real. It probably won’t seem real until I get off of the plane in my new slacks, button down and blazer.
I’m going to live in a neighborhood called Abeno, near a train station. I’m going to live in apartment #444. I will teach English to the Japanese. That is all I know.