Pack it up, pack it in

I always get really apprehensive about packing. Whether it's to move or just for a trip it always becomes a big deal. Packing to live in Japan for a year is certainly no exception! This is the hugest task yet - its somewhere between taking a long trip (like study abroad) and all-out moving. I don't get the benefit of a larger scale event (boxes upon boxes) like I would with moving, but I still have to fit a year's worth of stuff - at the very least conceptualize how much I'll need/want for a year - in the same amount of space that I would use to go away for 3 months. I'm going for 12. So I can check two 50lb bags and have a carry-on. Knowing that right there is enough to make my head swim, because I know it won't all fit! But that's ok... because I've resigned myself to the fact that I will have to ship boxes 2 months in advance of when I'll need them, and I'll need to take measures to make sure my items don't grow mold as they are shipped, literally, overseas. Even so, am I supposed to pack up a year's worth of clothes and whatever else I may need into boxes now? That's the logical conclusion, but it seems like such an extreme action. I'm imagining an empty closet, and a row of boxes all packed up and labeled: 'winter', 'spring', 'summer'; all ready to be shipped, with the dessicant inside and everything. That requires a lot of foresight though, to go through everything I own and cull all the items that I'll want in a given year.

This is all compounded by the fact that I am very attached to a lot of what I own. Every item - be it a sweater, bag, or pair of shoes, has a specific function. I can look at something and know under what circumstance, what kind of day, I would wear it. The problem this creates is twofold: I don't know what circumstances I'll encounter in life in Tokyo. I look at a bag and I picture the situation in which I'm carrying it. I can't picture any situations in Japan, so how do I know what to bring? This is not just a new country - its a new lifestyle. This is my first time not being a full time student, and I have no clue what that is like. Second, when each bag has a specific assignment it's hard to imagine it doing something else. Sure, instead of bringing 10 different bags with 10 different uses, I could probably take only 4... but that means that some situations won't be accounted for. Unless I reassign uses, which is something I know is logical, but still somehow doesn't make 100% sense to me. Why would I use this bag for a,b,and c when I have other bags for b and c?

I was telling all of this to a friend on the phone tonight, and he suggested that I just take favorites - advice I'm going to try to follow. I do have a lot of favorites... but its a good way to try to be decisive. It's kind of like how I shop. Is something calling to me? Yes, ok then we're going home together. No? Well then, you're cute but thats not good enough. On the flip side, most of what I own has spoken to me; maybe now some things will be shouting louder than others.

In an attempt to counter the confusion that tends to materialize when there is a suitcase in my presence, I donned my halloween hat and one or two other festive items. If someone came to the door they would probably think I'm crazy, but they wouldn't know... red fedoras can cure a lot of ills.