This, my last day in America

9/12, 7:56am, RDU
(This is the last packing blog, I swear! But there is more too… read on)

I didn’t sleep last night. At first I thought I might get a couple of hours, but around 3:30 I was still going strong (thanks to two espresso shots in my Driade shake), and didn’t envision a nap happening before leaving the house at 6:15. That’s when I basically finished packing. As of last night I thought I would have to ship a small box by airmail in addition to paying an extra fee to pack two bags up to 70lbs but I worked some magic last night, and the result is NO box to send over airmail, one suitcase at 53lbs that I wasn’t charged for, and one suitcase at 60lbs that I was charged for.

At one point I went through the staging area (my sister’s room) like a tornado! I had my friends’ words of advice – or rather their leading questions of disbelief – in my ears. ‘Adelle, do you not think you’re going to buy stuff while you’re over there? You don’t need to bring all that stuff!’ ‘It’s taking you this long to pack? You need to get it together!’ I went through stacks of clothes, and if I didn’t love it at that moment it was out!

So now that this daunting task is over, I can focus on more exciting things… like the fact that I’m moving to Japan!? A lot of people keep asking me – are you excited? I must say, I’m not not excited, but I’m not excited either. Let’s just say, I’m easily distracted. For the past 6 months there have always been issues more immediate, more pressing… and certainly easier to wrap my mind around.

Like right now. I didn’t sleep last night, and I’m about to spend 15 hours in the air – 2 between RDU and Detroit, 3.5 hours on the ground, and then 13 hours straight from Detroit to Tokyo. I leave Raleigh at 9am Tuesday, and I arrive in Tokyo at 4:40pm on Wednesday. All this is to say, I wonder when I’ll get the next good night’s sleep. I’m not too broken up about arriving in Tokyo tired. I don’t think it matters how well rested a person is when arriving in a foreign country for the first time, its always a bit discombobulating. That’s a fun word. I hope my flight boards soon, I can’t wait to go to sleep!!!