Tokyo, Here I (and a Vitamix) Come!

I decided to take the job offer in Tokyo!  What a relief it is to make the decision and stick with it.  I know a lot of people think I'm crazy, but I guess I've always imagined life abroad.  Maybe it's because I know I'll always come back to California.

In all honesty, I am really looking forward to feeling a bit settled for a while.  This is the first time I've made a solid decision to actually move abroad with the intention of staying for a bit.  So now I'm frantically stocking up on things I feel I can't get (especially) in Japan and being a bit ridiculous about it.

For example, it started out with the idea that everything in the States is cheaper than in Japan (it's true), so I figured I should buy my work clothes here since the sales are ridiculously amazing post winter season.  Then I was reminded about how I can't read anything in Japanese and how I struggled to find cold/flu medicine while I was over there a few months ago.  So I stocked up on common meds and remedies.  Then came Costco food: dried nuts, berries, chocolate chips (seriously, I found a tiny bag for too much money in Japan), and I even contemplated a bag of radiation-free brown rice before my mom chastised me with an AI-YAHH!

While I was in Costco, I saw that the Vitamix people were blending together tortilla soup and talking about pulverizing avocado pits - it was amazing.   Because it's healthy and don't I want to be healthy, too?

So here I am with 3 massive suitcases (1 extra baggage already) full of clothes, shoes, meds, food and a 16-pound Vitamix box that will be my travel buddy and carry-on to Tokyo.

Have I mentioned I need to figure out how to carry my laptop and SLR camera?

Packing in a hurricane.