Panic Mode

Here are some things I have to do in the four weeks I have remaning:

1) Find someone to rent my apartment. I have an apartment in Bryan that I have been paying rent to despite the fact that I haven't lived there since December. I'm having a lot more fun in San Antonio, so I'm glad I'm here, but it sickens me to literally throw money down the drain like this. My roommate also recently informed me that he's struggling to pay his part of the rent, so it looks like we're going to have to find a way out of this place. The leasing agency allows you to break your lease with a fee (not to exceed 80% of one month's rent, which isn't really that bad). I suggested this early on, but he was lax to move for various reasons (despite constantly complaining about the place, I thought he'd be ecstatic to get out). I even offered to pay the entire fee, whatever it might be. Now he can't afford the rent, I'm leaving in four weeks, and my lease doesn't run out until August. That's right, the lease will run out just in time for me to get back from Japan. Unacceptable. I had tried to find someone to take over my 1/2 of the lease, and got a few hits, one of which was especially promising. He jumped through all the hoops (and there were many) but in the end he couldn't pass the credit check. Nor could his co-signer. Nor could his OTHER co-signer. This is not the fucking Hilton, so I don't know what they're looking for. I am frustrated by this.

2) Get my student's visa. Now, before you start to lecture me about waiting for so long to get my student's visa, you should know that to do this I require a CESR from Osaka University. I just received this YESTERDAY. Now, I have to go get a photo taken and then mail a couple of forms, the CESR, my photo AND my passport (this makes me more than a little nervous) to Houston so the consulate there can send me back a student visa. The only other option is to drive to Houston and I have no idea where I'd cram that in over the next few weeks (remember, this weekend is already taken).

3) Get to BCS (Bryan/College Station) to get some items from my old apartment. There is some stuff there that I forgot and that I want, and if we're going to get rid of this place, I am going to have to retrieve my stuff post-haste.

4) Get Enrollment Verification Forms for Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 to the company that's handling my federal student loans. Happy day.

5) Completely tidy up the room I'm in so it can be used as a guest room. This sounds simple, but if you knew the way I live in my room, you'd know better.

6) Pack! This is going to be complicated because I am going to a foreign country for 5 months, so I need to make sure that one, I have everything I''ll need (and I do mean NEED) that I can't get in Japan (such as clothing that fits, etc.), two that I don't have anything that will piss off customs and three, that I have enough of everything for five months, but that I don't try to take everything but the kitchen sink.

Are we feeling a bit overwhelmed today? We're feeling a bit overwhelmed today.

This has nothing to do with Japan, sorry :)

I keep waking up in the middle of the night out of a solid dream that I'm suddenly IN Japan already. I know one day very soon this will be the reality of things, but I don't appreciate my brain playing tricks on me. I had a difficult time falling asleep, and when I did, I woke up about 5 times last night alone. This is not acceptable behaviour for this far out; I've got four weeks still before I board that plane. I can see this being reasonable 1, 2 or even 3 days before the trip, but COME ON.

This weekend will be good, I hope. I am trying to get time in with friends and such before I go. Months ago, my friend Maggie and I started musing about a camping trip. In reality, what I wanted was to find some gigantic state park and spend 2 or 3 days hiking. You know, the sort where you can pack your tent and all your belongings with you, and follow a trail, resting where you need to, to set up camp a couple of hours before dawn. I have my fishing pole and license, I thought it would be neat to bring along staples such as beef jerky, nuts, maybe spam or canned meat equivalent, but to really try and see if we couldn't fish what we'd need for the main protein source. This was my idea.

I am not in the best shape, but the point is that spending three days hiking would be a challenge, and we could go at our own pace. It's not like we'd have to continuously be on the move, and in Texas even in March, the weather is pretty mild. Well, we had some specifications; I wanted to hike where we'd be close to a river most of the time, especially when we camped. She wanted a site that was within three hours of both of us (her in College Station, me in San Antonio). We invited friends and more specifications came along: the park must allow dogs; there should be shower facilities; etc. So, my hiking idea will have to be put on the back burner, at least for now.

We plan to camp at Inks Lake State Park, which is 1200 acres of state-owned park land in Burnet, Texas, along the Colorado river. There IS 7.5 miles of hiking trails including 1.5 miles of backpacking trails, so I suppose that's not too bad (although at a normal pace, one can walk 7.5 miles in around 3 hours). I want to get some hiking done, for sure. I have never been to Inks Lake, so I'm not 100% sure what to expect, but I have been to several state parks and they're generally run about the same way. We'll be tent camping, however we will have access to full shower facilities and bathrooms, water at the campsite, and even electricity if I recall correctly.

Here's some images to give you an idea of what Inks Lake is like:

I love my state.

Anyhow, there will be five of us in the group, Maggie (I've known her family for years but we became closer when I moved to College Station, where she's lived for about the last ten years), Jessica (good friend I've known for about eight years now, if my math is correct), Pam (Maggie's friend whom I've not yet met), Mary (who is super-cool and I met through Maggie) and myself. We made this specifically an all-girls camping trip because both Maggie and I were lamenting the fact that many of our lady-friends have a difficult time disjointing themselves from their respective significant others. I mean, like ever. It's frustrating for us single gals when our friend becomes our friend+boyfriend on all occasions (think the character(s) Richandamy from the comic Zits). Even if the boyfriend is SUPER cool and they're not all PDA about things, we want and need some time where it's just us friends.

Inks Lake is a pretty good sized lake, and I can't wait to fish it. Plus hiking, and camping. Maggie's picking up all the food and then we'll split the bill. The campsite for 2 nights is only $30, so divided among 5 people, this is going to be a pretty inexpensive little vacation. We're taking my parent's idiot poodle, but I think he'll behave himself once he's distracted by all the NATURE and SIGHTS and SOUNDS and SMELLS and PEOPLE!! If he barks during the night though, I will play "let's filet the puppy." No guys, it's just chicken, trust me. What do you mean, 'where's the dog?'"

Oh, and by the way... 28 days.