And it begins.

It's nearly 3 am here in Cincinnati and I have yet to go to sleep. In about 5 hours I will be embarking on my day-long travel to my new home and I am not nearly as prepared as I figured I would be. Packing one's LIFE away when moving across a giant ocean is really difficult - especially when you're doing it solo. See, this is why I wanted my parents to fly with me: more bags for my things. I feel like there's too much in my carry-on bag and that it won't fit under the seat. And I just KNOW I'm going to forget SOMETHING.

I can do this; I'm a big girl. I'm so tired that I'm not even worried anymore.

Well, hello there!

ALRIGHT! Melissa's official blogging has begun. For the record, I leave in one week - April 19th. I arrive in Japan the next day and here's a hilarious fact: on my 14 hour plane ride from Chicago to Tokyo, we are following the sun. That means I won't experience "night time" for a full 24 hours. Not sure I'm so fond of that but it will be cool! My goal in these final days is to wash a mountainous pile of laundry, successfully pack and visit some of my favorite people. I'm already super stressed and nervous and I HATE when I get like this because my stomach hurts constantly. Most people overeat. I wish I was one of them.
On the way over, I'll be taping my (inevitable) tearful self and you'll get to see what each airplane looks like. The major flight has personal TVs on the back of every seat with not only movies and TV shows (American and Japanese) but VIDEO GAMES. Thank goodness I'm heading to the video game capital of the world!!! :)