3:00 am - Wednesday 31st October 2001

Too late to back down now.

Well folks, this is it. I've paid for my ticket, and in exactly two weeks from now, I'll be in my hotel room in Kansai (near Tokyo). It's a bit of a freak-out for me, because I'm only just realizing how much I am going to leave behind. I'm racing through my list of friends and seeing many of them for the last time. I'm also going out in to the unknown, with only a single candle to guide me, and setting down in a land of paranoia and strife.

Today was the usual hectic compilation of miscellaneous tasks. Paying for my ticket, booking hair appointments (bliss), paying off my accommodation and generally running around. I also worked on my talk in lieu of having anything else to do. I also caught up with the diaries of other people, something which I had been falling behind with. Marron is having a bad time with her father, something I can deeply sympathize with. I wish I could help her more, and this makes it more harder to leave, though leave I must.

9:20 pm - Oh gosh… I apologize for not uploading these entries sooner. I know from my own experience that a whole bunch of occasional entries is less interesting than a daily update. Oh well…

Anyway, today was flat out as usual. Writing papers in the morning, lunch with Szusza, more paper writing, chats with the girl's at God's, an all too brief talk with Tim, and then back to finish writing my alchemy talk. The talk itself went ok, but I wish I had more preparation time.
Alchemy is one of my pet subjects, because to me it is a subtle mix of mysticism and science. I've always been spiritual yet non-religious, and in alchemy I found what I was looking for; the long hard, internal journey towards self-improvement through trials and tribulations. No, it's not all about turning lead into gold… for a scientist and yet a Piscean with a deep mystical yearning, alchemy helped me to bridge those two seemingly opposed worlds.

7:45 am - Thursday 1st November 2001

Halloween passed without incident.

Well, today Dad comes over, hopefully everything will be fine. *fingers crossed*

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