There are three things all wise men fear:

the sea in storm, a night with no moon,

and the anger of a gentle man.

I, though, am no wise man and the list of my fears might be a mite longer. I am somewhat afraid of my impending re-introduction to Japanese culture and language. Tomorrow morning I shall enter an aeroplane and they will fling me over the sea. I will journey from Wednesday at noon to Thursday evening in the course of 11 hours. The sun will never cease to hang above me as I pass this day and a half. A day, a night, and a day. As if it were one day. A terrible burning re-birth will be my journey to Japan. I'll be lucky to make it out alive, much less in complete control and with the full capability of my Japanese knowledge.

Hannah Brambough told me to pack light. I intend to do just that. Well, I intended to and have done just that. I would have normally just put as many of my accumulated objects as I could fit into two bags, a carry-on, and a personal item, but she told me that when she went to China for two months, she only took one bag. I'm suspecting that's in addition to her personal item. I decided to challenge myself, then, with three bags. Can I survive with just one large bag, a small suitcase, and my Dakine ISP backpack? That's Hannah Brambough's Three Bag Challenge (HBTBC). I've decided that Hannah should marry someone with the last name of Prince, or something else that starts with a P. Prince is preferable, of course, but any p will do. Hannah, I will expect nothing less. Also, keep your maiden name as your middle. It's classy.

So, I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow morning to teach English for three months in Hiroshima. I will return on July 31st. That's a Sunday. But, that's far far in the future and I have greater desires than those tonight. I shall not focus on my return, but the looming departure, instead, and the immediate effects thereafter. I will arrive in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon/evening. My flight is to get in at 3:30 pm, which will be midnight-ish for the West Coast. Then I leave for Hiroshima Sunday morning. I have a training from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm on Friday and, as far as I know, the rest of the weekend is free. So, I find myself faced with a day and a half of nothing but pure Tokyo Madness. I wonder what I will fill this time, with. Obviously, I'll ask the hotel people what fun things there are close and I am toying with the idea of going up to Nikko and pay respects to Mr. Tokugawa himself, but I have no set plan. I feel like Tokyo is a really modern city, so my desires for ancient history are hardly satiated through those attractions, but if this is the only time I'm in Tokyo for the next couple years I should take advantage of it. This will be my first time in Tokyo, after all. I need to do all the fun Tokyo things. Like... drifting? That's really all I can think of right now.