Totally impractical.

The words to describe my approach to pre-departure preparations.

Instead of sending in necessary forms, which is timely and important, I keep making abortive packing maneuvers. Observation: it's nigh impossible to begin packing for a trip that is two months away, especially when you're either still using or don't yet own the things that need packing.

Tonight I spent ten minutes ineffectually moving around toiletries, fifteen minutes cleaning out my closet, ten minutes putting things in my closet, and at least half an hour trying on the ridiculous (and in some cases, outright bizarre) articles of clothing that I had weeded out for the Salvation Army. (Or, as my father likes to call it, Starvation Army.)

My already half-hearted attempts at productivity were interrupted by this man:







He's so schmoozy cute in that last one that I want to die, just a little bit, and in a good way.

Edging towards a verdict.

I have been accepted by the JET Program, a fairly competitive system sponsored by the Japanese government, wherein native English speakers with an undergrad degree in pretty much anything move to Japan, and help teach English in public schools. So have several of my good friends, including one Fig and one John.

According to the powers-that-be, I am to be placed in Kyoto-fu; that is to say, Kyoto Prefecture. Hopefully that will put me close-ish to Kyoto proper, but the prefecture is pretty stretchy, so I may end up out in the country somewhere. Either way, I'm pretty happy. (Coincidentally, both Fig and John are relatively close to the Kyoto area, so we may be able to see each other now and again.)

Whereas most people know their exact city, though, I haven't been placed that specifically, yet, so the waiting continues to some degree. I can't wait to find out.

In the meantime, things which need doing:

1. Buy nice clothes for the workplace.

2. Send a few things to the Japanese Consulate and my recently departed alma mater.

3. Save up some cash working for the man, a.k.a. the DeKalb County Library System.

4. Spend time with as many friends as I can wrestle to the ground.

5. Review my quickly fading Japanese.

6. Many, many more things that fail to come to mind at present, I'm sure.

As Beck might warble: "People gettin' busy."