Mine arrived today! As you can see, it's very official-looking, no? So now that I have this, it means I can get my visa application in. The consulate in Kansas City shut down in 2004, so I have to do mine with the Chicago consulate by mail. I need to take yet another passport-sized photo (I wish I'd just gotten like, 15 copies the first time I went), fill out a bit of paperwork, make copies of everything, and then I can send that off. I'm going to try to get all of that done tomorrow before I go into work (since I don't work until 3pm, that should be quite do-able). I also need to call the consulate and make sure I do everything right this first time.

I've also begun making lists of things I need to get done before I leave, along with things I still need to buy. I've searched online, and I think I have all the basic stuff taken care off, like toothpaste and deodorant and things like that that are harder to get the good kind of in Japan. I always feel like I'm forgetting something, though. I'll make a final list of everything I end up taking and post it, so you can see. I trying to take as little as possible, but we'll see how I fare.