Anchors Aweigh!

I'm not much for lengthy posts, being a modest and softspoken creature, but I just have to make note of this glorious moment...and say hurrah! I'm going to Japan! Of course, this isn't for another 2 months, but still, it's settled! I have a ticket! I have dates! I have canceled going to a work-related event in New York for this trip! My parents know! I have to start saving money! I have written to Katy! She wrote back! I have accommodation! I'm lifting weights for when we climb Mount Fuji! I'm eating cucumber roll (which apparently is less than prevalent in Japan itself, but whatever) like it's going out of style! I must practice my docile smile! I wear flats so no one can be overly intimidated by my stature! I plan to answer the phone today with "Konichiwa!" I caught myself saying "Engrish" yesterday!

And after letting go of all those cultural slurs...I'm really happy this is happening. I make so many plans in my head that never come to fruition, and I've been pining to take a real holiday for months now. I have vacation time. I love to travel. I've never been to Japan, and probably wouldn't enjoy it if I turned up on my own. Katy is there and I haven't seen her since last June. I'm hugely overdue for a big international trip.

Hurrah! I'm going to the Far East! I'm like that wretch Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, off to reap the joys of the Orient! (sorry, I can't help but merge my joy with bad taste; it's just an innate characteristic). And that really is a miserable opera. But I do enjoy the idea of likening myself to a sailor who roams the world in search of pleasure. "Dovunque al Mondo," as the area goes -- he knew what was what...