Forward, Ho!

After inquiries from friends and expressions of amazement from relatives, I offer you my official itinerary:

Mon. 6 Oct. - Last day of work
Sat. 11 Oct. - Farewell party (details TBA)
Fri. 17 Oct. - Fly to Tokyo with my friend Esther to visit our Swiss friend Mike (arriving Sat. 18)
Wed. 22 Oct. - Fly to Seoul with Esther to visit her Texan friend; take bus to Ochang to visit our English friend Lucy
Sun. 26 Oct. - Depart Seoul, with an 8-hour layover in Shanghai and a 1-hour layover in Sydney
Mon. 27 Oct. - Arrive in Auckland, New Zealand
1st week of Nov. - At some point, go to Wellington, find temp job
Dec. - My family visits for 20 days
Thurs. 25 Dec. - Find someone to spend Christmas with

On Sunday, when some friends and I stopped by to see my grandpa in Champaign, I told him Esther and I were going to Tokyo. "I was in Japan once," he said, darting a glance at Asian-American Esther. "But it was under circumstances I'd better not get into..." I wanted to shout, "SHE'S CHINESE! Don't worry!" It was actually kind of funny, the way he put it.

I'm looking forward to going to Asia, especially since I think the trip will be a nice buffer between uprooting my entire life and moving to a strange country I've never been to, where I've never met anyone. It's all to scary to contemplate, but go I must. I'm sure I'll be fine...especially if you all visit.