A Sleep Deprived Exposition: By Kyle

There are times in some people's lives when something so phenomenal occurs that every instant leading up to that event dissolves into obscurity. I think on this morning, January 3rd, 2010 may very well be one of those instances in my life. I can't say for my two colleagues, Mike and Bryan, but traveling to Japan has been something I've wanted to do since I started getting into Anime back in High-School. When Professor Hollen approached us about a potential trip to Tokyo, my mind blew in anticipation and since then ... still blown.

After I started attending Ferris, my friend Jeremy suggested that we take a Japanese class together, and since I'd always had a fascination with Japan, I agreed. I couldn't be more happy that I took that class now, because I'm the only one going on this trip that speaks any of the native language. This, of course, comes with a lot of responsibility because the rest of the team will point to me any time we need to speak Japanese. However, it's a position that I accept and will be as diligent as I possibly can.

The photograph above is a cake that Jeremy and his girlfrind bought for Michael and myself the last night we where in Big Rapids with the expression "Have a Safe Trip" and the following night, we stayed at Michael's parents house where another cake awaited our consumption with the phrase "Good Luck Rube Team". We are currently sitting in Mike's living room eating nachos and dip watching Blazing Saddles. The plane for Tokyo departs Chicago O' Hare in the morning at 10:20 and we arrive at just after 2:00 PM Tokyo time. So the plan is to stay awake all night a sleep on the plane, I've never flown commercially before, so I guess we'll see what happens.

In preparation for for this trip, the team made "meeshi" or business cards. This is a really big deal for the Japanese people and the idea is to be as sensitive and understanding of their culture, showing them that we've done research and are willing to pay them the proper respects.