Tom's travels

And so the adventure begins...

Arrived in Osaka Tuesday night, after almost a full day stuffed into flying
metal tubes. Got into a rolling metal box to get from the airport to
Bentencho Station, called my new landlord Andy to meet me there. Just a
few minutes walk to the apartment building; loaded with heavy baggage, I
was grateful for that! Signed papers, dragged my stuff up to my room, and
ran down to the Family Mart for a good old konbu onigiri for dinner (and
beer, of course).

Yesterday, shopping; hit the 100 yen for various housewares, bought a bike
(more on that later), stocked up on groceries. Mundane but pleasant; a
place is not home if there's no food there. Sent some e-mail from my
rental phone, as my internet service isn't up yet.

Dear friends, family, and colleagues,

Well, I've been talking about it for a while, and the time has come to commit. I've gone and booked my tickets - I'll be heading to Osaka, Japan for the spring!

I will be leaving March 5th (yes, Trish and Nicole, I'll still be here for Picesfest 2007) and returning May 31st (yes, just in time to get my camping gear together and go off to the Free Spirit Festival two weeks later).

It is a little scary, and means borrowing some money for a while, but if I don't take advantage of the opportunity to do this while circumstances allow I will be kicking myself forever.