Pre-Departure 2: NYC

Okay, I'm going to keep this short since it's late and I have a super long day tomorrow.

Today my family and I drove up to NYC, which is not one of my favorite cities, especially on a rainy day. Everything looked gray, brown, and depressing; spring hasn't really settled in here like it has in Pittsburgh. On the highway, I saw evidence of the ivy overgrowth I've noticed before--in quite a few spots the ivy was the only green plant, and it was smothering the trees. We got lost, since our GPS didn't have the address of our hotel. We pulled over twice to replan, the first time to figure out what we had done wrong since we were clearly in the wrong place, the second time to call the hotel and ask for directions. It turned out that we were actually very close by this time, somehow, so less than 10 minutes later, we were circling the block multiple times to try to pull into the claustrophobic, poorly shaped parking lot.

At first I felt the hotel and the surrounding area was really sketchy, but seeing some of the hotel guests and starting to get a cozy feel out of the small but carefully prepared accommodations began to comfort me. Here's a photo of my hotel room.

Like I said before, international flights are really a hassle. I keep checking the guidelines and instructions for luggage rules, departure/arrival procedures, etc. The websites are hard to navigate. I hate online forms that have poor directions and no explanations, and then warn you that filling them out incorrectly can have dire consequences. I have to keep repacking my bags, which is never a fun task. Plus, my family is worried, so they keep asking to make sure I'm ready and making suggestions. I can't wait till I'm settled in Japan so that I can worry about a whole different set of uncertainties. The airports' and airlines' websites don't have all the information I need, so I'm going to have to hope things are clearly marked and explained as I go. Let me just add the facts that I haven't been to an airport for at least 4 years, I've never been to a foreign country other than Canada, and I don't feel very confident in my Japanese, especially the reading/writing.

I'm really nervous. 楽しくしましょうね？