Preparations...

For those of you who don't know, I started this blog to document my seven month trip to Asia that begins in about two and a half weeks. I will be spending the summer interning at Yokosuka (Japan) City Hall. I'm not completely sure what I will be responsible for in Yokosuka, but as part of the internship I will be doing research on Japanese emergency management. I just received word the other night that, for the most part, I will be stationed in the newly created "Public Safety Division" （市民安全課） in City Hall. In September, I will leave Japan for Taiwan, where I will be spending the fall semester as a student on a study abroad program at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohsiung. I will be studying Mandarin Chinese and International Affairs. I will also be doing research on Japan-Taiwan relations while in Kaohsiung.

With my departure date fast approaching, I am realizing that the three weeks between the end of classes and my trans-Pacific flight are better spent preparing to go than watching TV. I have a lot of shopping, cleaning, organizing, and packing to do in the next two weeks, so I don't expect to make too many posts until I arrive in Japan. I was also given word by my contact at Yokosuka City Hall the other day that they would like me to give a presentation on American emergency management shortly after I arrive, which I assume they want me to do in Japanese. This will be my first presentation in Japanese (aside from a few in Japanese class way back in the day), so I am a bit nervous. I also have a newfound respect for all the foreign students studying here in the U.S. that have to do this on a regular basis.

I hope to post at least two or three times a week while I'm in Asia, so keep checking back sometime after June 6 or so for those updates. I am still looking for a good name for my blog, so the offer still stands: If you help me come up with a good name for the blog, I will buy you lunch!