One Week to Go & Japan Leaving Party

It's taken an age (but yet no time at all, if that makes sense) to get here, but there is now just one week left until I go to Japan for the year!

I'm still pretty unprepared; the amount of packing I've done so far extends to merely buying a suitcase, which is now sitting at the end of my bed, eagerly waiting for me to pack it, having gained a healthy layer of dust in the meantime.

My excuse for not having packed yet is that my bag will contain primarily clothes, all of which I'm likely to wear next week.  This excuse obviously has to run out some time, so I'll have to spend the last day or two before I travel wearing some very old, unstylish clothes which I won't be taking to Japan, or just be naked.  I'll probably do the former, to be honest.  Not that any of the clothes I'm taking to Japan are particularly stylish anyway, if we're frank.

At least all of my really important stuff is sorted, like my visa.  That said, I do still need to get my insurance for the year.  Leeds University offers pretty comprehensive travel insurance for just £50, so I'll most likely get that; it's what most year abroaders seem to do, anyway.

Last night I had my Japan leaving party, where I invited some friends and family over for food, drinks, and just a general goodbye!  As far as I know(!), everyone enjoyed themselves, and I did too!  It was sad thinking that I wouldn't be seeing most of them for a year, and saying goodbye to everyone really did make the year abroad feel a lot closer.  The only people still to say goodbye to are my grandparents, whom I should be seeing next week.  

So last night's party started off with some food courtesy of Mum; chili con carne, chicken bits, different salads etc, and then brownies that Ayu made, with some strawberries and whipped cream for pudding.  Mmmm.  After that we went out for a few drinks at Rocca, Otley's finest (and only) bar.  No, Rose & Crown, you'll never be a bar, no matter how many bad lighting rigs you get.

It was a lovely night, all in all!  I'm really going to miss everyone over the next year, but I'm glad that my last night with them was so enjoyable.

Below are a few pictures from the evening.  The top one was a tribute to Miss Natasha Clancey, who couldn't be bothered to be there.  She also has a very mockable photo pose, hence the setup of the photo.

I'll blog in a few days, after I've packed a bit!  Getting close now!

James