It's 4:30 in the morning and I am completely unable to sleep. There are about 10 tasks left to do, but I've already done 30 things to prepare for my journey across the ocean. My motivation to finish is gone.
I'm surprised I feel none of the gravity of what I'm going to be doing in less than 24 hours. My wife's entire family of over 60 people (some of whom will have traveled more than a 1,000 miles just to meet me) will be greeting Miki and I as we get off the plane. This is a big deal, and, seeing as not one of them out of the 60 speaks one word of english, I'm likely going to be a huge disappointment. My caveman-like Japanese will likely not be able to cope with the situation.. I can bark commands about taking the dog for a walk, but this won't cut it in the highly formalized situation I will be in shortly... I hope it's enough that I'm sporting a beard and can make 10 yen coins disappear from behind 8-year-old children's ears.
It reminds me of being unprepared for a calculus exam. I'd cram the night before, redoing the same questions/problems over and over and over again for a few hours and then, about 2 or 3 hours before test time, I'd start calculating what I'd have to get on the next few tests to make up for the disaster coming around the corner. Then calm.... Zen calm.... I'd be resigned to my fate as I am now.
For the next 3 weeks, I have no control over what I'm doing. No decisions, no choices, I get to offer zero input (the entire trip is completely scheduled out) - what they say goes and I'm not going to protest anything. There is nothing they can suggest that will get anything from me but an enthusiastic yes. This will include eating horse, going whitewater rafting, bathing in giant bathtubs with up to 20 strangers, sleeping in the same room as my mother-in-law every night for three weeks... etc etc..
Mikiko, her mother, two brothers and sister will be pulling me around by my shirt sleeves showing me their Japan. I'm completely clueless about what to expect. I figure, might as well write it down... and in the height of narcissism, make ya'll read my thoughts and reactions.
Ok, it's 5:00 now. Time to get back to packing. We leave the house in 4 hours.
