Home. Busy.

I've been really busy the last few weeks--too busy to think about adding posts to the ol' blog. Here's what's been up:

My parents came out to Japan for 2 weeks in mid-July. We hit up Kyoto, Obuse, Karuizawa, Tokyo (they went there on their own), and my adopted hometown of Ueda. I think they dug Japan: my dad loves ramen more than he loves me, my mom spent over $100 on cell phone charms throughout the trip, and both folks think Japanese people are "cute".

It was awesome having them out here so they could finally see the country/school/friends that have cradled me for the past two years.

After the folks left, I spent three stressful days cleaning up my apartment and packing my bags. Do you know what it's like trying to clean out an apartment and throw things away in a country that expects you to remove labels and bottle caps from plastic bottles before you throw them away? I do, and let me tell you something: you NEVER want to leave an apartment in Japan...ever. It's horrible and requires impressive amounts of ingenuity when dealing with garbage disposal.

My friend Rich called me a few days before my flight and asked me to take his little dog Brooklyn back to Jersey for him because his airline sucks and wouldn't let him take it. I agreed. It took me 24 hours of traveling and about 3 quarts of sweat, but somehow I made it back to Jersey with a dog carrier, a 50 pound snowboard bag, a 50 pound suitcase, and a big backpack.

Since being back in Jersey, I've done the following stuff:

(Disclaimer: Some of what you'll see below are notes to myself to help me keep track of what I still must do to prepare for the bike trip. If you hate notes or hate lists, turn away now.)

1. Purchased 80% of the camping gear I'll need for the trip. This has been going on over the past few months, but I've picked up a bunch of stuff since coming home.

2. Purchased a bike. I ended up buying a Novara Safari and I'm having a bike mechanic outfit it with 36 spoke Sun rims and disc brakes.

3. Sorted out my banking bidness and found an on-line savings/checking account that will pay me 4.5% interest on my savings while I'm away. ING Direct--check it out, it seems pretty awesome.

4. Visited friends and family in north and south Jersey.

5. Mailed off my passport to get 48 extra pages added.

6. Made an appointment to get vaccinations for the trip.

7. Ordered tires from Schwalbe, the tire company that's sponsoring me for the trip.

8. Unpacked and re-organized all of my shit at my parents house. It's really not that much, but it took me a good two hours to unpack the five or six boxes I have stored in my parent's basement so I could squeeze in some Japan things.

9. Consumed vast amounts of spectacular food and dark beer. This has taken a while to do and I'm still not finished with it.

10. Sorted out my travel insurance for while I'm away on the trip.

Stuff I still need to do in the next two months:

1. Meet the Delaying the Real World crew to talk about my blog writing obligations while away and pick up my check. Wooohooo!

2. Ride the bike allllllllllll over the damn place to brake in the saddle and work out any kinks in the bike set-up.

3. Take the bike maintenance class at REI in September.

4. Visit the schools in Jersey I'll be working with while on the trip. I still need to meet classes, brainstorm with teachers on possible project ideas, and create a Powerpoint presentation to accompany my speech (to be used when speaking to both American and non-American students.)

5. Get maps. Outline route to at least the U.S. border.

6. Buy the rest of the stuff I need for the trip.

7. Talk to Landon about camera/film stuff.

8. Talk to Bill about website stuff. Set-up website.

9. Read more. Write more.

10. Ride more.

11. Keep convincing myself that this is in fact a good idea and something worth spending my life savings on.

OK, so that's it. I've been busy. I'll be busy for the next two months. I'm going to try to keep posting on here regularly, but keep your eyes peeled for news of the start of a new website/blog that I will use to document the trip.

If I haven't seen you in a while and you think I might not have your contact info, send it to me.

peace through cheese,

A