The First: A post from Home

Somehow I convinced my dearest, and sweet mother that it was ok for Luna (my super cute puppy) to sit on the couch with me. Because she is a dog, this is really not something that is allowed. In fact, dog-face must stay off of all furniture if there is to be peace in this household. So how did this happen?

Well...I'm leaving for Japan in, T-minus 2 days...and won't be back for about 10 months.

Actually I'm studying abroad in Japan. Kumamoto to be precise. BAM --> 熊本市 Look at this Kanji usage. Through the University of Montana (the college I'm at now) I have arranged this...beast. I pay tuition still to my home college and then pay living expenses, etc to the universtiy in Japan. It's a really great setup. And now, two 50 lbs suitcases and two carry-ons are ready to truck it through 5 airports and one highway bus ride to the dorm I will be living in for the year.

My reasons for this adventure are because I am majoring in Japanese, and I feel I cannot succeed in this major without at least speaking a fair amount of Japanese. So solution? I fly off to Japan!!

Yes I'm excited. Yes I'm extremely nervous. Now I'm mostly nervous though, and having about 3 panic attacks or so a day. I'm very close to my family and any time a major change happens, I tend to get very, very nervous and panicky. Because of this I have to pack a blanket that I have cleverly named "Star Blanky". It doesn't fit easily into my suitcase, but it must come.

I'm hoping that this blog with chronicle my year abroad and keep friends and family up to date with all the wonderful/awful/special/odd things that happen to me while abroad. My other friends who are studying abroad this year are also writing blogs and I am definitly looking forward to their adventures as well.

So I suppose it now begins. Wish me luck!