Can you put a price on knowledge?

If there is one thing I've learned about studying abroad before I've even left, it's that going abroad for a year is EXPENSIVE!

Okay, I knew that living in Tokyo for eleven months was going to up my expenses considerably (why else would I apply for extra scholarships/loans?), but having to purchase several months' worth of so many items at once is seriously taking its toll on my savings account.

The costs of my various medicines and prescriptions are really adding up; I take seven pills/supplements a day, plus contact lenses and other medicines I need for various health issues. It doesn't help that I was recently diagnosed with a disease whose monthly medication costs about $100; you don't wanna know how much it costs without health insurance! You know that saying: "At least you have your health"? Yeah, I wish.

My flight leaves in roughly 35 hours, and I'm beginning to feel the butterflies. I'm devoting most of my time tomorrow to packing (duh) and studying. The JLP placement test is Friday, so I have quite a bit of work to do. Luckily, I happen to be an expert crammer (short-term photographic memory), so I should fare just fine. Except the kanji... always the kanji... I maintain that if it were not for the existence of kanji, Japanese would be one of the easiest languages to learn.

Time to get some shut eye; oyasumi nasai!