Pack-Man

As I'm sitting here hopelessly staring at the mess that lies before me, I feel very glad to be procrastinating. Thank my nonexistent deity (for I am atheist) that I have this blog with which I can distract myself.

I've had to unpack, first of all, in order to repack again. Yes, I have moved! Now that I'm right across the river from my future college, I have to get rid of all the boxes and bags, put everything in its right place, just so that I can take those things out again and figure out what I want to bring to Japan.

Speaking of which, packing for nine months is really tough, especially since I need to bring all my prescription medicines with me (because shipping in medicine to Japan is impossible), and I also keep wondering just how much I should bring. Enough clothes for two weeks then keep doing laundry? Or should I bring more, so that I don't have to keep wasting their water with my poor packing foresight? Not to mention that the Japanese have a few customs I'm not prepared to face, such as their toothpaste.

Fun fact: Japanese toothpaste rarely has fluoride in it (the only somewhat findable brand with fluoride is Aquafresh, which I've heard is quite expensive). This means I have to bring enough toothpaste to last me a year. I don't keep track of how much toothpaste I use... So many people have been struck by my odd question: "How much toothpaste do you use in a year? ... Uh huh. And does that mean you brush regularly twice a day?" Can you see how this quickly gets awkward? I've settled on three. I don't think I'll need more than that.

Fun fact: Japanese people don't sweat much, so, naturally, they have no need for deodorant. The only anti-B.O. agent they have is a faint flower smelling spray that doesn't really last for very long, and doesn't even mask much of anything. Again. I have no idea how much I use, and, like I mentioned above, I can't just go around asking people "How much deodorant do you think you use in nine months?"

Another difficulty seems to have been my homestay gift. Whenever I search for good ideas online, it's always ideas for one week or two week homestays, and they always suggest that you throw in more things if you stay longer. Nevertheless, there seems to be quite a gap between one or two weeks and nine months. And considering the lists that they suggest for those one/two week homestays, I'm starting to wonder whether or not I need to get my homestay family a new house or something... Nevertheless, with Japanese culture, less is more. Too much and you seem too... uncultured. I decided upon a Harvard shirt, a set of Red Sox shirt and cap, and a small adorable container of Boston Baked Beans (which, I never knew, usually meant candy coated peanuts rather than... you know... beans). The problem is that I have no idea with whom I will be homestaying, which makes it difficult to know what to bring. Alas, hopefully CIEE will let me know something before the gig's up and I meet them for the first time by thinking "Surprise!" as I stand on their doorstep.

On the side opposite of packing (not sure if it's the bright side or not), I have been getting very good at playing pac-man, since it gets me nice and distracted from things that I don't want to do, such as pack, unpack, keep up with my dying math skills, finish reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series (better known as Game of Thrones), and, last but not least, think about departing and physically leaving these wonderful people I know here in the States.

Whelp! Here I go, back to contemplating Japanese culture and customs (cool place to study this stuff, thanks to my friend Naomi: http://athome.nealrc.org/what.html) and figuring out just what exactly is a bath hierarchy (apparently, many Japanese families all bathe in the same water, one after the other, in some order (that starts with the father, I think))! The journey is nigh!

Cheers and chocolate! <3