My Life in Two Suitcases and a Box
Packing up your life is hard. It is even harder when you are going to leave your home country for a year (or two or three) and work in a foreign country. So, the last week or so was spent running errands, buying clothes and souvenirs, and trying to see co-workers, friends and family. There were lots of things to clear up before leaving home: banking, credit cards, MSP, IDP, pension plan. I did my usual cross-border shopping in Bellingham and down in Seattle. Errands got done little by little and luckily with two days left to go, I managed to just have packing to do. My packing was crazy (as usual) and involved pulling an all-nighter to get it all done before checking in the bags at 8 am on Saturday.
It was definitely a time of mixed emotions. Leaving people behind is much harder than leaving Vancouver behind. My co-workers at UBC threw me a Bon Voyage party in May before my South American adventure and their farewell gift of yen will come in handy. I went back to visit them in the last week of July, too. It was great to see all of APSC people again and hope we can keep in touch throughout my time in Japan.
At the last minute, I decided to throw a going-away BBQ. It was a concerted family effort. With Dad working the logistics (i.e. getting tables); David cleaning; Mom doing the cooking; and Chris the BBQing, I was able to have a great party. I was so glad to see all of my friends one last time before heading off to Japan. We had some good laughs about my upcoming JET experience and it is reassuring to know that I have a lot of great people behind me at home. I will miss my friends terribly but know that we can keep in touch so easily in the age of skype, MSN, flickr and blogs.
I wanted to do something special for my parents and my brothers so I decided to take them out to an event they would enjoy. My brothers are basketball fans so we went to see our homegrown MVP Steve Nash play in his charity classic at GM Place. For my parents, I decided we could cry over Tuesdays with Morrie at the Arts Club Theatre on Granville Island.
The morning of my departure, my Dad and brother helped me check in at the special JET Programme counter at 8 am. Then, we went back home to collect Mom and drive to meet Ritchie and Cheryl at White Spot for breakfast. It’s a typical British Columbia restaurant, fitting for my farewell. Rushed goodbyes at White Spot and then at the security gate. With the final send off at the airport from Mom and Chris, I was ready to go to Japan with my two suitcases. Box to follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment