The guest list for the department meeting confirms that the rumor mill was accurate. So that's something, I suppose.

I'm glad Starbucks isn't on strike right now, I'm gonna need a drive through treat for my commute.

I forget, how long will Matilda be there, and what are her living arrangements?

Matilda will be in Kyoto from January 29th to April 19th. Slightly under three months so you don't need a special Visa. We'll be in Tokyo to start from 1/23 until 1/28. I'll be in Japan ten days in total. I promised Cashmere I'd look for Japanese Roller Derby merch.

Matilda will be living with a host family, and we'll get that assignment probably next week. We have to get gifts for the family, but never in sets of four (according to Cash!). It's bad luck.

The program is with CIEE: [link]

The CIEE center is walking distance to the language school, and includes people in Junior year abroad programs, Freshman year abroad, gap year and post-grad. So, Matilda will get to interact with people in a variety of different programs and ages.

The language school is not limited to the CIEE program so there will be a nice cross section of ex-pats and others in the classes. In other words Matilda won't just be lumped in with her Gap Year cohort: [link]

The CIEE center is literally three blocks from the Kyoto Manga Museum, and two blocks from the Cultural Museum of Kyoto. Our Ryokan is a few blocks from the Kyoto Samurai Ninja Museum and the famous Nishiki market.

Matilda will be in language class from 9-12 M-F, and then there's an hour or two of cultural studies. So she should be done about 2pm most days. She can walk over to the CIEE center and meet up with different people who are making group outings in various configurations. There's an organized outing weekly, and once a month they take a field trip (one is to Osaka which is 15 minutes away via Bullet Train).

I'll be flying home from Osaka because Kyoto is such a classy old school city, it doesn't have an airport.

Oof -t, that's too much stress for the first Monday of the year.

I've been supremely lazy today, but in fairness it is my only day off within a 10-day stretch. I had planned to get groceries, and do some laundry and cooking. Instead I have done some reading and deleted about 3000 emails from one of my personal accounts.

That sounds just phenomenal, David. So excited for her! Well, and you both for your visit there together, too. So exciting!

That sounds so great, Hec!

Good for you, be lazy, aurelia!

Here's a look at the new retro travel poster art I put up in my bathroom. [link]

Matt, I love the colors in that!

David, does Matilda have any public facing social media (Instagram?) so we can see a little of her journey?

Very nice, Matt!

So excited for Matilda. Brendon loved his years in Japan. He lived with a family on a farm for a bit of the time too in a student program.

Ooh, good one, Matt!