Pre-flight Check

Hey everyone. I'm here, about 15 hours away from leaving the airport in Moline, and heading off. It's crazy! I'm gonna change a couple things on here, in hopes that more people from around the globe might take part in what is going on here. That includes a recent linkup to Technorati, a huge social networking site. I'll also try to start posting more regularly. I'm looking at a Tuesday/Thursday/Weekend posting schedule, with more in between as needed. We'll see what happens.

Well, back to my life, pre-trip. I went bowling over the weekend with some of my friends to celebrate the fact that I'm leaving. We arranged the bowling party for 5 o'clock. I was the first to show up, at around 4:35. After telling the person at the desk that there would be a group of about 6 of us coming in at 5, I went out and listened to some music in my car. About 20 minutes later, another couple people show up: Blake and Garrin, two of my friends and fellow D&D players from this area (yeah, I know. We're all a bunch of geeks. :P) Another 10 minutes pass, and the last group shows up: Laura (my ex-girlfriend, but we're still close friends), and her entourage of people she brought home from Luther College: Steve, Elin, and Sonja.
By the time that we were all there, the bowling alley had become full, and so, without any open lanes, we decided to order pizzas at the Happy Joe's that was in the other part of the building. About the time that our pizzas were ordered and we had made ourselves comfortable at some tables, however, someone came by to tell us that, yes, now are lanes are open. Go figure. We let someone know that we'd take the pizzas over by the bowling lanes, and set off to bowl. Blake, as predicted, won both games. Elin and I posted second and third once each. That's as much as I can remember. If someone kept the scoresheet, I'll make sure to get the rest up here.

After our hearty games of bowling, I went over to see my sister and her fianceé for dinner. She had come down to the Quad Cities from South Bend, IN, to say goodbye, and this was her way of doing it. We all ate a delicious meal, and we talked about Japan, how their culture and methods of doing things were different than ours. After dinner, I headed home, and, as I typically do, played on the computer for a couple hours, and went to bed.

Sunday morning was a bit emotional. Since it was the last time I'd see any of the people in the church choir for a long time, everyone got a chance to give me wishes of good luck, handshakes and hugs, and prayers. It felt good to have everyone caring so much about me. Fortunately, I know that everyone has a link to this blog, so they can all see what's exactly going on with me as I go. I asked my pastor, Fr. Jack, to place something into our church bulletin about my trip, so I know everyone has a link here.

Monday, I went over to the airport to get some last-minute details ironed out (is this bag too big for a carry-on? Can I get my ticket printed yet? etc.). Everything about my trip, which had kinda been sitting in the back of my mind as a superficial thing, suddenly became very concrete. I realized, "Hey. I'm actually leaving in 2 days." It was awesome - such a rush of excitement and power.
My mom arrived home around 5:30, bringing home a copy of Casino Royale; I hadn't seen the movie yet, and so we spent the evening watching that. It was enjoyable - and Daniel Craig makes a good Bond (he reminds me of how Roger Moore portrayed the character).
After watching the movie, we got everything packed up into my suitcases - all the clothes I'll be taking, all of my extra gadgets (Camera, Laptop, Magazines to read, etc.). After packing, sleep kinda failed me, and so I didn't make it to sleep until about 1:15 in the morning.

So far, Tuesday's been not too bad. We're planning a dinner cookout at my house this evening as a going away party, with my neighbors and a couple of family friends. I've been cooking this potato-cheese casserole thing in the crock-pot, and we've got a couple loaves of bread out that I'll throw in the oven around 5:30. It should be tasty, and a good way to say goodbye to everyone.

Before leaving, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who's helped me out so far. Without all of your care and interest, I wouldn't be going at all. Thanks to all of my Clarke friends - you guys make Dubuque like a second home to me. Thanks to my family - without you, I wouldn't even be here. Now look at what I'm going to be able to do! And thank you to everyone out there who has been taking the time to actually read all of this - you are the ones that make it fun to post here, and let me see what you guys have to think by commenting.

さよなら！