T-Minus 10 Days and counting...

Well, it's been a long while since my last post! I'm already not doing as well on the "daily"-ness of the upsdates, so without any further ado, here's the latest:


My Certificate of Eligibility (COE) has FINALLY been issued in Tokyo, and should be here by mid-week next week. It's actually being sent to the Chicago Nova office, where I will meet up with it (finally!) and take the COE, my passport, and myself to the Chicago Japanese consulate to get the necessary stamps that will not only allow me to get into Japan, but actually stay there for the length of my tenure. I'll be flying to Chicago on Thursday morning and returning the next evening, with some business and Stateside sight-seeing in between.

My tickets are in! I've got the paper tickets for the second and third legs of my trip; and I'll get the first at the airport here in town.
D-Day is June 7th, starting off a three-legged trip:
Later June 7th - I'm flying out of Minneapolis/St. Paul for Los Angeles
Early June 8th - I leave LAX for Vancouver; then leave Vancouver noonish for Osaka
June 9th - I'll be arriving at Osaka-Kansai airport around 3pm, local time.

Got Yen? I do! I ordered 45,000 yen from my bank earlier this week, and they arrived yesterday! I'll tell ya though, four 10,000 yen notes and five 1,000 yen notes isn't quite the moneyroll I was expecting...

So things are getting very busy and not a little stressful! Luckily, I was an English major: deadlines breed creativity!

Everything will work out in the end.

More soon,
-Thom

Aeroplane

Well, the pieces are falling into place! I purchased my tickets to Osaka today. The new departure date is Tuesday, June 7th: first to Los Angeles, and from there to Vancouver and Osaka, finally arriving in the afternoon on the 9th.
Whew! That makes me tired...and it's still 3 weeks away! 3 weeks from tomorrow...

More info soon (I hope)...

Start Your Engines!

Well folks, it looks like this might actually be for real! I've received my confirmation, and I'm making plans to fly out of Minneapolis/St. Paul on June 7th or 8th, depending on flights from Los Angeles to Osaka.

I'm still not sure exactly where in Japan I'll be; but I'm leaning towards Nagoya, which is about halfway between Osaka and Tokyo, in the middle of the main island.

For all of you nearby, I'm having a going-away party at my house this Friday, May 20th, starting around 5pm. I'd love it if you could come!

Well, that's about it for now; hope to have more info soon!

Thanks all,
Thom