One Step Closer

So, it's official now! I signed my contract to "accept" my acceptance into the program, and with $2000 down (eeek), I'm definitely going abroad! I think I've finally passed the extreme anxiety stage I've had about the trip for the last couple months, and now the excitement is resurfacing once again.

I also just finished writing a letter to my home stay family (whoever they may be...I don't find out anything about my living situation until I land in Japan) about my personality, lifestyle, family and friends, as well as what I hope to gain from the experience. It got me all excited, but this was definitely a difficult task, to explain myself sufficiently in one page, worrying not only how my personality could be interpreted on paper, but also how it would be once translated into Japanese for my family to read of course. It's really important that I be extremely honest about who I am so that I will be matched up with the perfect family for me, but it's difficult to reexamine who you are and portray exactly who you think you are in words. I'm sure I did a good enough job though, and this really got me out of the nervous slump I was in and made me realize I really am one step closer to this experience. It really just hit me that I've now reached out to my family in Japan, that they are a tangible entity and not just a dream, and that I will be meeting them and living with them very soon! Japan is real and all my daydreaming will be coming true before I know it! I almost don't want to count down the months...I'll get all nervous again!