All Ready!

Wow, almost didn't keep my promise to you all, but you know what? It's still Saturday for me, so I'm safe. :) I'll still get in a post which means that I've done my post for the week.

Anyway, I have officially completed everything. I know, I know, I keep saying that, but seriously, this time I mean it. I have talked to my bank. I've arranged to get yen before I go. I've even gotten myself some new glasses ordered. Yes, I know, it seems like a luxury, but really, they are somewhat of a necessity considering that I'm almost legally blind without them.

I've been doing some studying as well. Today, I studied for around 2-3 hours, and you're all probably thinking, "2-3 hours? That's crazy." Not so when you've been a little lazy recently. I'm only hoping that I haven't neglected my studies too much. I'm sure I'll still have a lot of catching up to do though. Here's hoping that I get caught up to where I should be before I leave.

The purpose of getting the yen is also a little important. I mean, of course I'd get some yen before I left, but I had to get enough to cover me for a while. According to the school, all fees must be paid in cash. I'm hoping that's not true of things like phones and stuff but we'll see. Anyway, so that's all laid out as well.

I have 11 days until I leave. That's pretty cool if I do say so myself. Literally, now I've just got to get studying and packing done and I'll be set. I'll update again soon.

3 weeks

As promised, I'm updating every week. I don't really have much to report right now. I've just been making the last-minute preparations. I haven't packed yet. I'm still wearing the clothes I want to pack, so it will be a while before I do that.

Recently, I've been getting in contact with my banks and notifying them that I'll be abroad. I don't really want them to freeze my account or anything since they notice there are strange charges coming from Japan with my name on them. So, that's all cleared up. I just need to make sure everything is up to date and is visible from online. I don't want anything mailed over there if I can help it.

I've also been studying, which in some ways is a lesson in futility. By this point, I just don't want to study. I'm ready to be back at school though. It's weird. Everyone I know is going back to school, and I still have about 3 weeks until I leave for Japan (almost a month until I start classes). So I'll keep working through that one. I'll probably regret the not studying a little bit. I have to get myself back on course though.

Nothing else to report right now.

Visa

My visa arrived yesterday, so I am officially set. It came surprisingly fast once I had that COE (Certificate of Eligibility) and the NOA (Notification of Acceptance). It's pretty too, all pink and flowery. Anyway, so now, I officially have everything I need and all that's left is to pack. :)

1 month till liftoff

So, here we are, humble readers. It's T-35 days until I leave for Japan. Crazy, right? I know it is because here I am staking out at my house, cleverly wasting time until I leave. Which honestly sounded like a really good idea until I realized, "Hey, maybe studying might be a good idea." And then I freaked myself out, and now I'm kind of regretting all that wasted time. But you know what? I've made good memories. I've laid out in the summer heat (actually managed to tan) and fallen asleep on a raft in the pool more than once. Yes, it's been darn pleasant...But it still doesn't change the fact that I should be studying.

I received an e-mail from Ritsumeikan the other day. It was to tell me that they sent my Certificate of Eligibility. This is good news. If you remember from my last post, I mentioned to you all that I needed this in order to apply for my visa, so all is good. That will be coming in a few days, and then from there, I'll just send everything off. Hopefully I'll have my visa within a couple weeks!

Rits almost sent me a super awesome packet today. It had a cutesy little hand-drawn map of how to get from the airport to the dorm. It's awesome. Once I get something to be able to convert this file to a picture, I'll try to upload it here for you all to see.

That covers it. As soon as I know more, I'll post up here again. :) See you in a few days!

Michelle