The End is Near

We're in the home run stretch of actual training. Of course, this doesn't quite mean a break - we kick off the year with one of it's most stressful events: move-in day. For now it continues to be tough, but things are coming together. My bulletin board is almost done. It's huge, but it filled up faster than I expected.

I picked up my textbooks, and got to my storage bay today to bring everything I was missing to my dorm room. I also went on a trip to Wal Mart to get other things I needed. It was a pretty stressful Wal Mart trip because I was on a tight budget. You see, I dipped into my August money in Japan, so I'm not working with much cash at all at the moment, and I had a pretty long shopping list. About 1/3 of the items are things I will need regularly (aka groceries), 1/3 are things I will need occasionally, including at the beginning of the year (aka laundry detergent), and 1/3 are things I need (new!) for this year (aka landline phone).

I went 16$ over budget, and came to 116$, but I bought:

- Five cheap ceramic microwaveable bowls
- A set of four ziplock tupperware containers
- Dish soap
- Dish sponges
- Dish drying rack and tray
- 8 rolls of paper towels
- Laundry detergent
- A set of towels - 2 full size, 2 hand, 2 washcloths
- A pretty nice bathmat
- A plug-in thing that makes the bathroom smell good. :)
- Super cheap landline telephone
- Clear push pins, coloured push pins
- Nice stapler set with stapler, staples, and staple remover
- Pair of scissors
- A big white binder
- Pilot G2 Pens (One set of black, one set of multicolour, see note below)
- Canned carrots and mushrooms
- Granola bars
- A few bars of candy, and gum

Note: The only things that I really consider luxuries are the pens I picked, at about a dollar per pen. But they are really nice and should last me the semester for sure.

I am trying to get everything in the room. It's starting to get interesting, but I know that I now have everything I will have, so it will be okay. I moved the table in and set it up. It goes very nicely in my last available corner, and I think the room needs the additional bulk, but it's not yet in a super functional location. I may wait until Laura and Tabi move in (not long now!!) and ask their advice on room arrangement. It would be nice to have the table in the center of the room, even though I like my empty hallway now. :P

I emailed my Figgies (refuse to call them Figlets, the official term. My Co-Fac calls them Figgers). Four of them have replied and they seem cool. I already feel attached to all of them although I have no real reason to. :P The P.A. luncheon was today and my Co-Fac and I had a good discussion. As soon as FIG move in is over I'll have time to write up the syllabus, even though we agree that a very flexible syllabus is best.