Twiddling Thumbs - 13 days before departure.

It's a really surreal feeling, getting ready for bed while knowing that two weeks from tonight I'll be on a plane to San Francisco. You might read this and go, "San Francisco?" but it's true. My flight leaves on September 9th at 8:25 p.m. and arrives at San-Fran International Airport at 10:50 p.m. Pacific time. I get to chill out in the airport for about two hours before departing again at 1:40 a.m. on Friday the 10th, and finally arriving September 11th at like 5:20 a.m.

I know, I'm sure my pick-up people are thrilled at my arrival, but hey, it saved me like $200. Waste not want not.

But back to feeling strange getting ready for bed. It's starting to get to the point where I'm being constantly peppered with questions like, "What will you do?" or "Where will you live?". Those aren't too bad, I've gotten a pretty mechanized response going for an answer. I'm finding a lot more people are astonished at my next year than when I ever talked about going to Japan - I guess for some reason Taiwan just seems way more foreign and un-traversed. I don't mind the curious questions, and I actually prefer when people don't pretend to know where I'm going and BS their way through a conversation. Perhaps my biggest annoyance is people who keep wishing me happy travels to Thailand. Seriously? I know they're in the same general area, but Thailand and Taiwan are two very different countries. People don't mistake the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, now do they? Or Congo or the DRC?

Well I guess people do mistake the latter, but still. Slip up and say Thailand once, no big deal. Say it several times within the same conversation? Here's your sign.

Departure to-do list got smaller.

Pack

Another dentist appointment - guess who has a cavity :(

Earn more money

Get Visa

Get haircut

Get Taiwanese money

Organize banking.

Ok, not really smaller, but at least I finally bought a damn dictionary. Over and out!

I'm not jumping the gun, honest! - 22 days before departure

Seriously though, I only have 22 days left until I hop on a plane and fly to the other side of the world. Anyone know how crazy that feels? Everyone who ever traveled to the other side of the world certainly does, but there's just something about counting down every day in your head that really makes the anticipation bad. Just earlier I was at work, thinking to myself "I only have two more Tuesdays that I'm working before I leave!". It's thoughts like that that makes my imminent departure all the more real.

Until then, I'm just hanging out here at home, working insane amounts of hours and trying not to buy more clothes every time I go to work. I never really thought I'd be spending this much by working retail, but at this point I don't think there's enough room in my suitcases for all of my stuff. Just to be sure, I've gone and laid everything out on the guest room bed. It makes me feel vaguely less panicky but I think it freaks my mom out, she kind of stops every time she walks by the guest room now.

Pff, I'm just rambling at this point. Anyways, to-do list before I leave:

Pack

Earn more money

Dentist appointment

Get visa

Haircut

Get Taiwanese money

Buy Chinese dictionary <--- important

Make sure I have a place to live.

Awesome. To be continued...