One is an oddly powerful number, as it really is the number out of which
all other numbers are built. In a sense, one divides reality from
nothingness, a checkpoint on the path to infinity, no matter what way
you're going. Start swinging a decimal point around, and you get a nice
cascading series of ones, all crashing down upon the zero that lies in
wait at the end.
One month remains until I leave, and as time marches forward,
that will give way to one week, then one day, and so on, until finally
the last single unit of Planck time gives way and I am no longer waiting
to leave, and am instead on the path to wherever I end up.
Of course, I know where I'm going, and I hope that the same can be said
of the flight crew.
In all truth, I'm not even going anywhere exotic. After all, it's not
like I haven't already spent a respectable amount of time in the land of
sushi and robot cartoons, and Japan is certainly equal to the United
States in terms of technology, junk food, and rubbish television
programming. So for me, the thrill of departure isn't as much linked to
the joy of discovery, as it is the feeling of going home.
This is in no way because I think of myself as Japanese. I think that
steak, bacon'n'eggs, and cheap mexican food are some of the greatest
creations known to mankind, and I am not looking forward to spending a
year without the opportunity to directly and personally contribute to
global warming and the looming oil crisis.
But at the same time, a part of me feels like it's going home. It's
utterly impossible to describe, so I won't even try. I will say that
right now, I would happily trade a human life of in exchange
for a hot bowl of fresh chashuu ramen with a big pile of negi on top.
Preparations have been going well. I have finally vanquished Windows
XP Pro, and so my parents have new computers, which I can fix remotely
in case they break. This is a very real concern, as they call me almost
weekly for some form of assistance, and this way I don't need to worry
about paying David to come over all the time to fix things, as much as I
know he'd love that.
New hard drives have arrived and been loaded with data, backups have
been made of everything important, required files have been digitized
and encrypted, and so on. Even got a surprise visit from both Sarah
*and* my oldest nephew, which on a scale from one to ten, definitely
ranks above going on a date with Dick Cheney.
All is well, and I can actually sit down and really focus on Japanese
until I leave.
Well, that, and the process of getting a company off the ground. Just
that little thing.
