The farthest I've ever traveled...and I leave in 4 days!

That's right: I'm heading to Japan.  Sounds like a plan to me!  Although I'll admit it, for a super planner like me, this trip has caught me a little off guard haha.

It all started a few months back at a happy hour.  I MAY have had a few too many margaritas at Chevys when we were all discussing going to Japan.  My boss, Steve, mentioned the idea of going to Japan to possibly do some work.  Next thing I know, I blurted out. "Shoot, I'll go in a second!"  Of course, it was true, but I think I kind of surprised everyone, including myself.

Well, drunken (actually, more like buzzed) words are sober thoughts.  Steve later told me I could possibly work in Japan for up to a year.  I thought that was pretty cool, although I was a little hesitant to go to work at a place where I could be working 12-14 hour days and couldn't leave work until the manager left.  Either way, it was the experience of a lifetime.  In the end it wasn't meant to be; one of our designers, who had way more experience than me, was sent to help out the guys over the Pacific.

That was until a few weeks ago.  The topic of simulation work came up, and I was again on the possible travel list, along with my buddy Roger at work.  I'll admit, for a guy with less than a year's time in at the company (one year this week) I was surprised that I'd go, plus Roger had more experience in the area they needed help.  It sounded like Roger would be going for sure.  Then, all of a sudden, Steve let me know last week that I could possibly be going to work in Fuji (Japan) starting wither 7/26 or 8/2, which was REALLY soon.  They needed someone who could help the Japan guys with our environment, and I had quite a bit of testing experience.  That was Wednesday...

Then Steve went on vacay to Florida and we never got confirmation from the Fuji manager, so I just assumed it'd be put off.  After all, I'm heading to Europe on September 1st, so I just figured Roger would go later in August.

Monday rolls around, and I got an email saying I'm all set to go, starting work Monday!  Holy crap.  All of a sudden, I got super excited (and a little nervous, but not much).  Today, it was official: I'm on a flight to Tokyo on Saturday.

I'm still a bit in shock from all of this.  Of course I'll be mostly working (quite a bit it sounds like), but I'm going to do my best to get out and see what I can.  It's great practice for Europe, especially with a 10-11 hr flight!  As Roger mentioned, the language barrier might be a bit tougher to overcome; English isn't as prevalent in Japan as it is in Europe.  Fortunately, one of our SJ guys is already there, plus many of the Japan guys speak English pretty well, so it shouldn't be a problem.  I'm a little frazzled also by the spontaneity, but hey, that's what makes it an adventure right?  It's definitely an experience.

After two weeks, I'll be back, and two weeks later, I'll be heading across the pond to London.  Man, this is my first two international travel experiences, and they're within a month!  Man, I truly feel like a guy in his 20s, exploring the world.  I'm glad I finally got my "random" little adventure, even if I do have to work most of the time.

So, in the meantime, I'm prepping for Japan, collecting info, packing, the usual.  I'll try to post often, and the pictures (and souvenirs) will be coming.  I'm beat, later y'all!

-StM