explanation as to why I'm in Japan.

So the long awaited trip to Japan is finally happening. It's really nice b/c it's the first ever vacation I had this year! I kept all my vacation/sick days for this trip and thank you to my agency, they gladly gave me a month to leave them while I "come to Japan to process my final step of my work visa."

I'm in Japan b/c of 3 reasons: 1)vacation 2) Go to Palau 3) To go to Palau, I need to have my visa stamped on my passport, the 'final step' for my work visa I never go to do b/c I never left states when I received the 'approval' for the visa. Approval and receiving the stamp on the passport is different, b/c approval is just getting the ok from the government to receive the visa b/c they ddin't see anything wrong with the paperwork they've received But to get a stamp, i needed to get an interview from a US embassy NOT in states to enter back to states. It's kind of like getting an acceptance letter from a college (approval), but you're really officially a student once you go to the school and get your student ID card (stamp on the visa).

So why am I doing this now? I know I've told everyone the good news about being able to stay in states b/c i got an approval, which is true. But now that work is settled, I started thinking about how I need to visit my grandma in Palau. Yes, it all started with me wanting to visit my grandma while she's healthy(reason why I didn't go to Palau b/c it would cost a fortune to get there). To go to Palau, I need the visa stamped b/c I need that to come back into states when I'm done seeing my grandma...But it takes about a month to get that visa stamped on my passport so now I'm in Japan, just waiting and waiting for the passport to be mailed back from the US embassy in Japan....ha.

So now I'm in Japan which is not the real real purpose of the vacation, but it's still kind of like a vacation, plus a bit of anxiety here and there. Maybe I'll go to Palau if I get the passport back about 10 days before this vacation is over. But if not, i'll have to travel again next year when I get more vacation days. I feel like I'm always in a limbo stage...

Anyways, Japan is as hot as ever. So far, I've been eating like hell, helping mum gather stuff to ship it back to Palau for her business, visiting relatives and old time family friends, and try to be just....care free. No thinking about work, no thinking about moving, no thinking about anything that goes on once I get back to the Seattle reality. But I do miss Seattle, I really wish I can apparate back and forth (spell check underlined apparate in red, but it should be a word, and it should be real!!!) I wish all my friends could apparate to Japan so we can hang out and enjoy this time together!

K, I should sleep soon. Made new glasses today btw. I don't kno why but i thought i'd share this fact. Ok, oyasumi~