Finalizing Travel Plans

I've got about two days left with these blokes before I go, and the end-of-trip sadness is kicking in. In my posts about France, I mentioned the honeymoon period that one typically experiences when exploring a new region; I'm sad to say that I don't think I ever experienced this here. I think it's mostly because the SAS setup is much more business-like (SAS being a business and all): stay in a pension/minihotel with most of the guides from Nepal and walk to work each day, do whatever is asked of you, go back to Australia House and do your own thing.

Retranalysis (Yay! New words!)
Forced to stay at a place like SAS, I would try to spend less time on my computer doing my own thing and more time studying Japanese in the common area, where I can get to know the Nepali guys better and be a bit more sociable. This way, if they're going out or doing something interesting, I can at least be involved in that. (I mean, I could've theoretically learnt some Nepali, if not Japanese, during this trip, right?) Given the option, if I were to use a place like SAS just to be able to travel, I'd try to keep the stay down to a week, maybe two, as a transition period--this is what I should've done this time, because I could've moved to another host after a week or so and gotten more Japanese.

The ideal would be to plan ahead. I'm pretty notoriously laid-back, tending to tackle each problem as it arises rather than planning out all the minutiae in advance so as to facilitate everything. (This is one of those things where Ashley is good for me.) I like solving problems, but once I have the solution, I don't like losing a lot of time on implementation: I'd rather figure something else out. A useful skill though it is, it reduces the excitement once I'm involved in a long-term project, unless I can find new ways to improve efficiency and so forth.

That turned into a bit of personal exposition, but the reason I brought up planning (dooming us to that short schpiel) is that, with sufficient time, I would only ever choose to stay with a host family. The time that I was able to spend with Ashley and the travelling that I shall shortly do redeem this trip, but I could've benefitted much more from the experience had I chosen a family to visit rather than SAS. (Perhaps if I'd listened to someone's urgent requests that I message a particular host sooner, rather than later, I might've succeeded in this venture...)

予定
This evening I'll join the rest of the guys in Kutchan for the second day of the Kutchan Potato Festival (some photos forthcoming) and try to do some laundry (maybe?). Tomorrow I'll make an attempt at Youteizan in the morning and spend the day doing that, so that I can go canyoning the next day. After that I'll finish up my write-ups and stuff for the SAS site, jot down some notes on what else they can use for the project, and get packed. The morning of 6 August I'll leave for Sapporo, perhaps stopping in Otaru along the way to see the beach. I hope they'll let me exchange my rail pass on the 6th so I can leave early on the 7th for Akan National Park.

In Akan I'll try to see the Ainu museum and village, maybe try some Ainu food, go on a boat tour of Lake Akan and see some marimo, and head to Onneto, where there's an outdoor onsen (in which everyone wears bathing suits; told you so XP) that's supposed to be gorgeous. If I've time, I'll try to take a bus or hitch to Lake Mashu, which is supposed to be particularly gorgeous.

Sometime on the 8th I'll head to Nara where I'll spend most, if not all of the 9th. The 10th I'll go to Hiroshima, where there's a festival (is that the ride word in this context?) re the atomic bombings.

Though I'd like to do Kyoto if at all possible, I intend to spend the 11th, 12th, and 13th in Tokyo. The night of the 13th I'll spend at a hostel near Narita International Airport and head out in the morning, assuming that Ashley and her mum have no problems changing Ash's departure point.

I arrive at MCO the afternoon of the 14th and head to school on the 16th (classes starting the 18th).

Intense, eh?

Postscript
Should I buy the current TeeFury shirt? (It was designed by a friend.)