introductions and salutations

Oh boy. So, in roughly 30 hours, my plane is scheduled to finally whisk me away to Japan, a place I've been dreaming of since middle school. Naturally, instead of starting to pack, I've created this blog, so that I can document my semester abroad at the Center for Japanese Studies at Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan! I'm anticipating/hoping for a slightly larger audience for this than my other, now concluded blog, if only so that when I address my dear readers, the message reaches more than Chinese spambots. :P

Anyway, I don't have any specifics planned for this project; I just want to periodically let friends/family know what I'm up to and also give myself something to reminisce over once it's all over. Hopefully I'll actually write and post entries instead of telling myself I'll do it later (which is usually what happens when I feel like I have something to blog about), and hopefully it'll be on a relatively regular basis.

So, greetings, dear readers (even if you're only Chinese spambots), and I hope you stick around for what I'm hoping will be one of the best episodes of my life! :)

P.S. - For those who are curious: the title of the blog reads 'nippon nikki,' (or 'nihon nikki' if you want - it just so happens that that reading was already claimed as a domain on Blogger; plus I think it sounds better the first way) which basically means 'Japan diary.' We'll ignore the fact that this is technically a blog and even more technically a journal; I just can't stay away from alliteration in titles! I think it's catchy, anyway, and I suppose if I like it that's all that really matters in the end. :)