The Whole Erk Catalogue Tales of a Geek Abroad

I've been thinking of some things to do before I leave Canada, to make my stay in Japan easier for me and to give me a leg-up when I get there.

I want to take some photos of my town. When I drive out to Calgary, I'll snap a few shots of the whole trip as well, so I can prepare a presentation about it, cross-referenced to a map of canada, to show my students just how gall-danged big this country is. I should also go camping with Jen: not only is it something I really want to do, I could get some cool wilderness photos.

On that theme, I want to get some professional photos of me and Jen. I am not going to get to look at her a lot for a while. Maybe I can afford to get one framed.

I want to pick out some canada-themed gifts to give (omiyage) to my peers and colleagues. I already have a big bag of canada and BC pins, I am sure those will go over well with the kids. I am not sure what to get for school teachers; the JET handbook suggests tie clasps and stuff like that. Keychains maybe? I remember getting keychains from my homestay families when I went to Japan, so that does sound good. Golf balls are also popular there, come to think of it, but carrying a lot of golf balls would be annoying. I need something I can take a large number of in my suitcase without adding to my luggage.

I should also get a sheaf of pretty postcards and greeting cards with photos of canada on them, and little writing. There are a lot of gift occasions in Japan where a card is plenty and I'd love to have personal-themed cards.

Needless to say, I need to study my Japanese. I've been going over my old kanji flashcards, that's a great start as kanji also = vocab. I need to review grammar and more basic vocab though, so I think I might go through the JET japanese text book even though it's amazingly basic... regrounding my basics couldn't hurt and from what I've seen I can finish it in a few evenings.

Before I go I may need to upgrade/repair my laptop and/or buy a new one. I don't really want to worry about making it possible for me to read the control panel on my personal computer when I get there. I should be able to afford one by the end of the summer if I am thrifty.

Finally (so far) I need some mailing addresses to send postcards to:
Mairi's
my old landlady Irene's