packing

medication, popcorn

I am leaving in six days. I have my passport, my visa and I am mostly packed. My medications have not all been resolved yet, and i've been having bad dreams about it. Yesterday, I went to the Japanese Embassy in D.C. to pick up my visa and asked about the medications (Are any of these banned in Japan? Are these quantities allowed?). The woman at the window gave me the phone number of someone who happens to be on vacation. His secretary told me to go to the embassy. Why do they make it so hard?

Also, after much research, I have decided to bring microwave popcorn as gifts for new friends, as Japanese people exchange gifts all of the time. I will have to find out where there are exciting flavors (which apparently exist, like caramel and cinnabun). How did I not know about this?

mailing address

(apartment #) LeSoleil
5-3-26 Wakamatsu-Cho
Tondabayashi City, Osaka-Prefecture
584-0024, Japan

luggage puzzle

Northwest airlines has on international flights to Japan (and elsewhere) the following luggage constraints:

• 2 pieces of checked luggage: 50lbs/each (23kg), linear dimensions not to exceed 62" (158cm)

• carry-on: 40lbs maximium, linear dimensions not to exceed 45" (9"x14"x22")

• laptop/purse: 15"x11"x6" maximum

I am a very petite young woman, ( 150 kg, 50 kg - look, metrics!). My luggage alone will weigh as much as me. I tend to pack lighter than most women, being a bit of a tomboy and therefore not caring what I smell like/look like (no make-up, perfume, weird smelly spray products), and I wear the same clothes everyday. Still, I will need studio supplies, such as inks, reference books, palette knives, pencils. Is there a mathematical formula that will help me work out weight/size to price/quality abroad? I also have no idea how I will be travelling from the airport to my apartment (and therefore will possibly be carrying all of this luggage on the rail/train/subway what-have-you all by myself). The school may be arranging to pick me up, but that has yet to be determined. According to Google, the image at left is an Osaka transit map. Actually, I think it might be a Universal Studios Osaka map for children.

Later, you will have the good fortune of reading my packing list. I know I'm excited.

getting it together

Two weeks from today I will be leaving Boston Logan for Osaka, Japan. Given no flight delays, I should arrive at my apartment in Tondabayashi City on April 4th around 7pm. I will have ten days to adjust to the time difference and get to know the area before starting school at the Osaka University of Arts. My apartment is 19 square meters, including a living room, kitchen, bathroom and a bed built into the wall. There is a washing machine in the kitchen and a dryer built into the ceiling above the bathtub. Theoretically, there are bedclothes, curtains, a table, chairs and a tv. These are things I imagine I will be very upset to realize have been left out, particularly the bedclothes. I should start practicing "Excuse me, where are my bedclothes?" (Sumimasen, watashi no shingu wa, doko desu ka?) or "May i have some bedclothes?" (Shingo o onegaishimasu?) This is mostly for my personal reference. My favorite detail in the apartment is the little cubby in the corner of the bed. It is standard to have a little cubby above the bed! And the plant. Does the apartment come with a little tree?
Aside from concerns about missing bedclothes, I have made about 15 different packing lists. Is it reasonable to bring so many books, or should I just get on without them? What about toiletries? Should I bring what I like, or just assume I'll be able to find something when I get there? Is it worth more trouble lugging the heavier baggage around so I don't have to embarass myself at the convienence store pointing at rubbing alcohol asking "Wash animal hair, does it?" (Since i don't yet know the word for human hair).