I Think I'm Turning Japanese, I Think I'm Turning Japanese
I really think so (do da do da da da da)

I've hit one of those points where I haven't written in so long (of anything of consequence, anyway) that I don't really know what to say.

I leave for Japan tomorrow, which I'm excited about. I'm packing and trying to solve tough questions such as what kinds of shoes, are shorts acceptable, etc. It's going to be hot as hell and humid as all get-out, so I really want to wear shorts. I'm not sure how acceptable shorts are in Japan, but my friend Charlie (who lived on Japan for a few years) seemed to think that shorts and tank tops are fine...but most Japanese don't wear shorts because they don't see them as fashionable. Also, I want to wear my birkenstocks because of the heat and (like in Korea) you have to take your shoes off a lot. But I think it also might rain a lot when I'm there...and then sandals might be annoying? But do I want to bring along an extra pair of tennis shoes that I'll have to carry around?? Man, the tough questions. Then again, whatever I do I'm sure will be fine.

I'm super annoyed because suddenly out of nowhere my computer monitor has this thin vetical line running down it, a bit left of center. It's bright blue (about the width of a pixel). Against light backgrounds it's barely noticeable, but against darker backgrounds it very annoying, especially when watching tv shows on my computer (such as 'So You Think You Can Dance' and 'Project Runway' and 'Stargate'). I did minimal research on it (perused the Dell forums) and it seems like it's probably an unrepairable problem with my LCD display and it'll have to get replaced. Which means I'll have to wait until I get home. Then I freaked out because it's apparently pricey to replace the screen and I thought my warantee would have just run out. But then I looked up my warantee on Dell.com and I guess I have it for another year. Phew. What's up with these friggin' monitors?? They really good when they're functioning properly, but crikey--Upon arrival of my computer the LCD screen was 'broken' and had to be replaced, and now, only a year later another issue has come up. They don't build things as they once did. (That last thing was for you, Liz--in one Stargate episode Teal'c said that in reference to 'an old Jaffa saying') :)

I got a haircut. Pretty drastic. As opposed to my last haircut when I asked for bangs and didn't really get them, this time I got them...and shorter than I wanted. Plus, she layered my bangs so they look almost feathered at times. The rest of my hair is about chin-length, maybe a bit longer. I'm not a fan of it. It just looks kind of shapeless or something. It reminds me of that 'Friends' episode where Phoebe cuts Monica's hair. Monica told her she wanted to look like Demi Moore, but Phoebe thought she meant Dudly Moore...resulting in a bad short haircut. And I thought I was communicating fairly well with the hair cutting lady. Apparently not. I was a bit worried because the style in Korea right now is what I like to call "the shaggy dog" look. Oh well. Hair grows. I'm sure you'll all see loads of pictures of it when I get back from Japan and post my Japan trip pics.

I've been organizing my iTunes library the last couple of days. Which is very tedious and time-consuming. I'm going through every song and making sure it has the proper album, year, and album art attached to it. I have found wikipedia to be most helpful in easily locating all of the above. When that fails I search through cdnow. I'd say I'm a bit over half done (I have over 2000 songs). Have I mentioned that I think I'm a bit OCD?

I got a notice in the mail about my Visa expiring soon. After I get back from Japan I have to try and extend my Visa (it expires on the 14th). I hope I can manage to do it alone, because my co-teacher is going to be in the US. Not like she would have gone with me anyway.

Which reminds me--my co-teacher is going to visit her sister in North Carolina (I think she leaves either today or tomorrow). She asked me last Monday about money. She is bringing $3,000 worth of cash with her. Wtf?? A bit much??? Anyway, she wanted me to tell her what kind of denominations to bring! I said hundreds, but then she said she was bringing $1,000 in hundreds, $1,000 in fifties, and she wanted the remaining $1,000 to be in twenties, tens, fives, and ones. ????? I didn't even know what to say to that. The thought of carrying $3,000 around with me was absurd. I think she's really nervous about tips and stuff. She wanted to bring $100 in ones!!!! I was like, "No." I think I managed to talk her down to $20 in ones, which is still stupid. She's going to have this gigantic stack of cash with her. Then I started to get nervous about her. Korea is still very much a cash carry society. They've never had checks, but they do have credit cards. But people don't use them as often as they do cash. And the biggest bill in Korea is the equivalent of $10. So you see people with big wads of cash a lot, and they don't really hide it. So I got nervous that she'd be in the US and be waving around stacks of money. So then I told her to be careful with it and to keep it hidden and stuff. I think that just freaked her out into thinking that she's going to get robbed and attacked. Koreans think the US is really dangerous. Numerous teachers have said to me, "I thought about teaching in the US but I'm scared because it's so dangerous to be a teacher in America." No, it really isn't. Most places, anyway.

It's been raining cats and dogs here well nigh on 2 days and nights.

I have to do my dishes before leaving but I don't want to.

I don't know how much cash to being to Japan. Apparently it's hard to find international ATMs in Japan, and many places don't take credit cards. So with food and accommodations, I don't know what I'll need. And Japan is expensive. Maybe I'll just bring $3,000 to be safe. :D But Japan is one of the safest countries to travel in. Unless it gets bombed my NoKo. ;)

Ok, I should go now. And finish packing. And sleep. And all that jazz.