Leaving on a Jet Plane...

       

So.  The Chicago leg of this trip has been a comic tragedy.

Our train to Chicago from Winona, MN was delayed over 3 hours.

First of all, have you ever ridden an Amtrak train?

I'm sure it's typically very respectable and fine.  So the following is only an account of my experience and not a reflection on the industry as a whole.  And, the staff was hilarious and did try their best.

Cool things about trains:
1.  You have 3x the room you have on airplanes, and sliding curtains on the windows!

2.  No security--at all.  Seriously.  Don't even check ids.

3.  Lounge cars.  Floor to roof windows, and skylights make even boring prairie look very cool.

4.  Being able to wander around between different cars, get snacks, and even have a full meal in the dining car.

Not cool things about trains:
1.  No security.  At all.  We could all be axe murderers named Phineas holding a ticket under the name Betty Smith carrying explosives and no one would know or care.

2.  Dirty.  Not clean.  Yucky.

3.  You are in charge of dragging your own junk down the platform, which seems to popularly be in the middle of nowhere.  In Winona, we drug our stuff down by a dirt path along the tracks, in Chicago they dropped me off in the middle of nowhere in the pitch black with 3 flights of stairs to go up to get to the street.

4.  Don't ride a subway with 2 large suitcases and a backpack the size of Brazil.  People look at you *very strangely* and want to know intimate details of your life.  Then, they laugh at you while you try to drag your bags everywhere without offering to help.  One nice man boarding the NCS train in Chicago did help me get one of my bags up the stairs. But that was it.  No where else.  And he wasn't even American.  People wonder why we're moving to Japan...

To top it all off, because our train was running so late, Alan had to literally run for his connecting train to St. Louis.  We weren't able to say goodbye at all.  I'm so thankful he's coming only 3 weeks later rather than the original 3 months.

The fun continued today with a three hour breakfast with some of the other girls on our floor.  They locked us in to the breakfast room with the food, and we had a momentary panic trying to get out.

During our orientation meetings, the entire hotel lost power.  We sat sweating in our suits in the dark listening to speeches shouted down the room.  The bathrooms were pitch black--I'm still not sure if I went in the correct receptacle, but it did flush, so I think I was ok.

We could have all used these today.

We had a romantic candlelit send off dinner due to the lack of power, and spent a ridiculous amount of money for very little to drink at Harry Carey's for our nijikai, or post-party drinking party.  Seriously, my gin and tonic (in a very short glass) was $9!  I did get a slice of flourless chocolate cake that I will not be able to get in Japan, and watched the very strange opening ceremonies on their big screens.

Off to Japan tomorrow at 10 a.m.  Last night in the United States.  Tomorrow--Tokyo!

Cats and existence

Moving van loaded!

We made it to Minnesota uneventfully.  A little rain and construction in Iowa (of course) and lots of fun jabs at each other during the loading and unloading process.  I say fun in a way that in no way should actually be interpreted as "fun".  I'm not sure how my parents managed moving an entire home and two children every two years.  I am already dreading moving our stuff out of my mother's basement.

So now the entire sum of my existence has been relegated to two suitcases just barely clocking in under the required 50 lbs.  Life is heavy.


Our cat, Dara is staying with my mother until we determine A. whether we want to stay for several years in Japan and B. when my mother is coming to visit and could bring her.  She has been such a trooper, bravely riding in the moving van unfazed with the exception of Iowa.  However, transitions like this are difficult for a

Dara's opinion of Iowa

cat, and she suffered post-traumatic stress yesterday by hiding all day in the boxes and under the stairs.  When we lost her under the stairs, I lost it myself.  

There is no one person I feel guilty about leaving, because they all have a support system and some ability to take care of themselves.  Egotistically, I feel the most guilt about "abandoning" our cat, and have had a very difficult time resigning myself to the fact that I will not see her and when I do, she may not be the same cat I know now.  She has much anxiety around people, and unfortunately, has been babied excessively.  She is doing fine here while we are around, but I worry what she will do when we are gone and she is left alone in the basement.

I know she is in good hands, and my Mother is excited and willing to take care of her.  I remember when my cousin was married and his bride threatened to cancel their wedding because her cats were missing.  We all thought she was a crazy person and my cousin was doomed (sorry guys:).  However, now I understand exactly what she was feeling, as the only thing that could keep me from going overseas is the guilt I feel every time Dara looks at me and meows.

Crazy brides ain't got nothing on crazy JET's
preparing to leave the country

It's also a strange feeling to be leaving the country, because I sort of feel like I'm living out my life in a movie like Men in Black or James Bond. Though I still have my social security number, I have slowly been "erasing" my existence here in the U.S.  I have no home, job, phone, insurance, or car here anymore.  It's an odd sort of limbo before I establish myself in Japan that unconsciously tugs a little bit at the mind.

Two weeks and counting...

Panic has finally set in.

We leave for Minnesota in two weeks, to store our belongings and our baby kitty, Dara with my mother.  Tonight is the last night we don't have a social or work event, and from here on out it is an ever-quickening descent into D-day.

Miss you Dari

Last night was the premiere of Alan's movie he has worked on for several years with friends and colleagues, and the ultimate reason we met in the first place.  It's been so difficult to focus on enjoying our last moments here when we are always thinking so far ahead to be prepared for everything we need to have done.  It was a great night, with good people and a good show, and I hope he was able to put aside his worries to enjoy the moment... before any critics, distribution pressures, or doubt could spoil it.  Watch the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1546790/videogallery

I, on the other hand, have been battling hookworm from the last two foster cats we had. I have two pills the size of Brazil to take tomorrow, and am hoping that tidies it up right quick, as I certainly don't know how to say "I am infested with hookworm" in Japanese.

I am totally not kidding--this bastard is a hookworm.

 
                                                     

Despite my attempts to be Zen, serene and not stressed, I can't help but wonder which airline I have been placed on for our trip to Tokyo as we find out this week.  In a horribly smug way, I hope I scored a spot on JAL as I was ignored when I pointed out a flaw in the registration form by others in my group, only to have it turn out that everyone else had the exact same problem, didn't follow up on it, and were threatened with losing their spot entirely.  I'm hoping maybe my super anal, hyper-vigilant tendencies might have actually paid off for once by scoring me one of the coveted 20 spots on JAL... the other 100 seats are crammed in coach on American.  Most likely I will be one of those 100... but I can hope!

                      vs.     

On a more positive note, we have so many outings with friends and family in the next two weeks, though busy and a little hectic, we are so blessed to have so many who care about us.  I was privileged to have my boss let me cut out from work for a little over an hour to have brunch with my friend and former co-teacher who is battling ovarian cancer.  Looking at her life, and seeing her awesome attitude makes me feel like I need to quit stressing over my piddly problems and do a happy dance for all that I have.  I hope that I can be as optimistic and inspiring as she is when life hands me a little more than I think I can handle.