Almost There…!

I just came back from a weekend up at New Paltz and… there’s only five days left for me in the states!!

It feels extremely surreal, as though I’m not actually about to get on a plane to live and study in a foreign country halfway across the world for four months. It’s a childhood dream for me to visit Japan, and for that dream to finally be coming true feels so… well, surreal!

While having to adjust to a completely new environment is frightening, I’m extremely excited for the classes in Nagasaki! Off the top of my head, I’ve got anywhere from only 1-3 classes a day, save for Wednesday where I’ve got a full 9am-6pm schedule of five 90 minute classes… Regardless, the classes sound so good that I don’t want to drop any of them! I’m taking classes in Japanese history, culture, pop culture, society… the list goes on!

Saying goodbye to my friends this weekend was what really help the fact that I’m actually leaving soon settle in. Walking them to class, saying goodbye… Even though it’s only four months, I couldn’t help but cry. These are friends who’ve really made New Paltz a second home for me. I know that in a few months, I’ll probably be saying the same things about the friends I’ll make in Japan!! I just can’t win with these things… I’m always going to be left crying and missing everyone!!

In order to help me adjust, and have a constant reminder of them, one of my best friends let me take a little Gunter figure with me! I’ll be sure to take him around in place of everyone!! He’ll be my little reminder of home Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

 

30 hour trek from USA to Australia

Driving to the airport was….driving to the airport, nothing special. We were there plenty early. On our flight from New York to San Francisco we had a few rude crew members on United Airlines, but on the next flight, San Francisco to Sydney, everyone was super kind and friendly. That flight was also United Airlines so you just never know if you will get someone who just had a bad week. On that second flight, Dad and I made a friend. The way we started talking was cliche, well it would have been cute/cliche if it was a start to a love story, but the guy who worked on the plane bumped into my dad with a food cart. (SPOILER: It was not a start to a love story.)Then we striked up a conversation with him every time he passed by us. This second flight was the longest one, 15 hours. Dad and I got up every few hours to stretch, walk, and let the blood in our legs flow. To everyone who lectured us on doing this, you would be proud. I even woke Dad up a bunch of times to walk. We listened! During one of the stretching sessions, we went behind our seats (we sat in the last row), went to the back of the plane, and met our friend again He was telling us some of the differences between The United States and Australia (One was how in Australia the police enforcement was strict on bar fights, speeding, and other things).

We got served food on the plane. It wasn’t the best quality but that is what I expected. I mean, after all it was free food so who could complain? (I guess it wasn’t free, I mean we did pay for the flight.)

After a layover in Sydney, Dad and I finally got to the destination that would start an amazing trip down the east coast of Australia. That destination was in Cairns, the northeast of Australia, and we arrived there around noon local time. The total time of our trip from New York to Cairns was about 30 hours (including the layovers). It was a long and tiring trek all the way here, but it was definitely worth it!

The better blogs of the scenery and each city is still to come! And get ready to be amazed by pictures! Lots of them!

Thank you for reading!

Stay awesomely beautiful! <3

 

One Week?!?

(I meant to post this before my first entry, but messed up… sorry!!!)

Well, I just got back from visiting friends on campus before my flight. It still doesn’t feel like I’m going, but I’m leaving for Japan on the 31st! I’m not really looking forward to the 13 hour non-stop flight, but I’m really happy I’ll have a friend at the airport to help me when I land… I’m gonna be exhausted, but probably excited enough to stay awake!

I’ll be jumping around different friends’ houses for about a week until the dorm opens and I can move in. The trains in Tokyo are apparently really easy to navigate and I’m confident enough with my Japanese speaking level that I’ll be able to get around. Lugging around my suitcases may be a little annoying, but not a big deal.

I’m excited to go to Shibuya and Shinjuku to meet up with some friends that I haven’t seen in years and walk around the cities with them. They said they have a lot of places they want to show me, so I can’t wait! I think I may have to wait to shop until I’m settled in, but I think it may be hard not to…

Orientation starts about a week after I get to Japan, and two days after I move in, so it looks like I’ll be pretty busy figuring out how the commute works, getting everything I need before classes start, and all that. It’s going to be such a different experience from New Paltz in that sense for me too, and I think it’s a good one to have and compare so I’m looking forward to it a lot.

And now that I think about it I’m gonna miss things I take for granted, like my mom’s cooking…

… I should learn how to cook while I’m abroad…

Alright, I should probably pack some more, so I’ll write more when I’m half way across the world!