In Like a Lamb

Compared to the rest of this week, today was easy. Really easy considering it is finally the first day of March. My friend Ai left here for Toronto tonight... we have been sharing timelines and tales of our upcoming moves for almost a year and watching the countdown on her blog dwindle to single digits this week has put me into a panic.

March First means I have only thirty days left in my apartment, twenty-seven days left of work (only 19 not counting weekends and a holiday, so Erik mentioned this morning), eight days until my first "farewell party", and four weekends with which to see and do everything left on my list. Yes, flipping the calendar place has brought reality into focus; I need to get a move on.

Tom's company, in a rare moment of good timing, is sending him to China for a week in a half, which will force me to make progress on some of my larger tasks. I need to attack my apartment this weekend and pack up another pile of boxes to be shipped, stored (at Tom's), and trashed. I'm also planning on spending an afternoon at the National Museum in Ueno, one of the Tokyo spots that's been on my list for over a year.

So on a completely different note- does anyone else out there have moments of imperfection that are just so dumb that you feel the need to share because someone's bound to be amused? I swear I must be the only one who, when seated in the dentist's chair with my jaw clenched down on a wad of cotton under the command not to budge will manage to drop one of the rings I'm fiddling with and not manage to catch it until it has bounced off my lap and seat and find its way underneath the dentist chair so that the hygenist and dentist need to get down on hands and knees looking for it while profusing apologizing and worrying about ME? I just had to laugh at the absurdity of it all... after she took the cotton out of my mouth.

Next time maybe I'll share the amazing feeling of acomplishment I get from going to the dentist (or the doctor, or the post office) in this country or the huge amount of annoyance I get from having to call service lines like Yahoo Japan or getting my hair cut. The exchange student in me will never really get bored, I guess.