packing

OK. so i'm going to Japan. On Friday. That's 4 days away (or 5 if you count friday... well... today's monday, and i'm going on Friday... count for yourself!).

Everyone who knows says to me, "Oh my gosh you're going to Japan on Friday... you must be so excited."

And I am excited... i really am. I am just not excited in the usual over-the-top-Tam way...

For example:

- i haven't been mentioning it to every single person i meet for the first time
- i haven't been day-dreaming about it every single minute of every single day
- i haven't been constantly annoying everyone i know with little facts about japan, the people, the culture, the current snow depth (4.6m...) and a detailed minute by minute plan of everything i'm going to do while i'm there.

I'm not sure if it's because i've just got so much work to do before i go, or if it's just one of those things I won't be completely thrilled about because i won't be sure it's actually happening until i get on the plane (ooooohhhh i get to go on a plane. i LOVE planes!).

Or maybe it's because i'm so unusually hyper-organised. For example, i've packed. I packed yesterday. It wasn't the usual Tam-style "last-minute-throw-everything-i-might-ever-possibly-need-and-many-things-i-would-never-even-conceivably-have-a-need-for-but-will-put-in-just-in-case" packing... it was more an orderly "lay-out-everything-i'm-thinking-of-taking-and-make-sure-i-don't-have-too-much" type packing. I was happy i'd packed, but it was more relief than excitement: one less thing to do before i go. *note to self: remember to buy some more socks*

So. for better or worse, excitement or not, i'm going to japan on Friday. And i am happy about it. That place i did a 40-page project on in Grade 5 (for which I, somewhat disappointingly, only received 99 out of 100) will become real to me.
I'm looking forward to experiencing a place so different than Australia, and yet still first-world and civilised.
I'm looking forward to testing out my VERY limited language skills, and improving them considerably.
I'm looking forward to skiing for 12 days (OH how i've missed the snow).
I'm looking forward to seeing places i've only ever heard about and seen pictures of in books (mount Fuji).
I'm looking forward to two weeks off work.
I'm looking forward to travelling on the Bullet Train, at the time of my grade 5 project, the fastest train in the world, but has since been superceded. It still has a cool name though.
I'm looking forward to wearing my new puffy jacket. heh heh.
I'm looking forward to having another stamp added to the very limited collection in my passport.

ok. so maybe i am excited.