T- 1 day

Today is Sunday- less than 33 hours before I'm on my way to Detroit. I'll be in Detroit for a few hours and then at around 4PM it's on the plane to Nagoya. The flight will be a 13 hour nonstop flight of crazy cramming, sleeping, and general nervous excitedness.

Pictured is the book I've been reading. I've been raving about it to everyone. The author shows the character, examples of words that contain the character, the meaning, and a paragraph explaining the theories surrounding the origin and evolution of the character and a way of remembering the character. I find it fascinating, and the format is perfect for my attention span.
Where did I find this picture of the book I've been reading and why do those shoulders in the background look suspiciously like mine? No, not my evil Chilean drug lord twin Reynaldo Sanchez, I got a webcam! Now I can video call people with Skype, woo hoo! The webcam works swimmingly, but you'll have to take my word for it for now. It's late, I'm tired, and I don't want to upload a video right now. I'll upload one of me in my dorm room in Japan!

That's my luggage. The one on the left is stuffed full. It's soooo awesome; it's the sweetest color of brown, it's HUGE, and has a heavy-duty zipper. Momma Allen, if you're reading this right now, I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT! THANK YOU! The one on the right is about to be filled with the overflow clothes on top of the brown one, the other random stuff I have to take, and the お土産 (o-mi-ya-ge, or souvenirs) I'm taking to Japan. The Japanese are big on gift-giving. Bee tee dubs, if anyone has any suggestions for transporting a 3 foot long panoramic picture halfway around the world without it getting wrinkled, I'd love to hear them. Oh, don't let me forget to bring a towel. Not pictured is the new matching carry-on bag I also got for my early birthday/sayonara party. Yay stuff! I love stuff! I'm such a consumerist; I'll fit right in in Japan.

I gave Laura her birthday present today instead of tomorrow during her early birthday/sayonara party. I think she really liked the seven pounds of buttered-popcorn jelly beans and random chocolates; who wouldn't? The FM transmitter was probably coolest though. For those of you who don't know, an FM transmitter can hook into your iPod or other MP3 player and transmit the music via radio waves to your car radio tuned to the specified frequency. The result: "107.3-we play all your favorite music with no commercials, no interruptions, no announcers, and the ability to skip to music that fits your mood." Super cheap at Marshalls- hurry go get one before they're gone...go NOW!

-Jonathan

ps. The Japanese will think you are rude if you don't have an umbrella in the rain. Their word: meiwaku or "pesky." Don't worry, I'm bringing two, just in case.