I'm excited to be studying abroad in Japan. I'm excited, but before I leave (which is next week: Sun, Apr 1) I have a lot of pre-departure preparations I need to finish. Fortunately, despite difficulties cropping up due a mix of procrastination, last-minute details, and complications, the people around me are doing their best to help me out. Once I step on that plane, my thanks will be telepathically radiating to my family, my friends, the faculty and staff at the University of Pittsburgh and Kobe University, the US Post office staff for kindly, safely, and quickly delivering my mail, and the government officials (American and Japanese) who okayed my Certificate of Eligibility and my visa and are helping me legally bring my prescription allergy medicine into Japan.

Studying abroad is a complicated process, and I'll be posting more about the intricacies of going through the process in later posts. Wish me luck--moving out with no car is hard!