I'm gone...to Chicago

I am now moved in to my apartment in Palatine, Il. It's about 1hr from downtown Chicago by train. The apartment is huge with lots of nice features and my employer is subsidizing the rent.

I feel that this is a good stepping stone for me to get ready to go to Japan. For one, it is my first opportunity to live outside of Michigan and in a different time zone (both of which I will have to face again). Plus I'm making the money I need to finance the trip.

I found out on friday that I have been awarded another scholarship for Japan, that's exciting and will allow me to go a bit more deluxe with my new laptop and camera.

It turns out my passport is expired. So that sucks. I'm gonna go to the post office tomorrow and get the ball rolling on that. I've now had to get like 3 different sets of passport photos because I've needed them for different reasons.

I'm not sure what day specifically I leave for Japan. It's makign it very difficult to keep my day-to-day countdowns that I like so much. So in the meantime:

-----Days until I move back to Michigan: 85 (that seems like alot, I guess 12 weeks)

In conclusions, I really want to figure out what my schedule is going to be like for the summer.
I really need to start studying Japanese again (so far I have set up my desk and brought out my box of Japanese things).

This summer is just starting so much different that last. Last year I rushed out of Ann Arbor and moved back in two weeks later saw everyone in Ann Arbor, Rochester friends were still in Rochester. This year I took my time leaving in Ann Arbor, then moved to Rochester, then moved to Chicago and my Rochester Friends are all in Ann Arbor this year. I just feel like I don't know anyone here (I actually don't, though) and that I'm going to be racing off to Japan so soon. There are many people I worry I'm never going to see again. It's hard to deal with right now.

First Post

This is meant to be a test.