I suppose my travels officially started when I boarded the green double-decker bus bound for Osaka. Leaving Izumi has been one of the most heart-wrenching, stressful, emotional events I have ever experienced in my entire life. I just didn't expect it to be so hard. For almost a month before my departure I was so busy I could hardly see straight. There were goodbye parties, leaving speeches, dinners, packing, packing and more packing to do. So many loose ends to tie up. I was even doing last minute paper work in the car on the way to the bus station. 6 of my fingers were bloody and in bandaids by the time I finished all the cleaning and packing to be done in my last few days in the village. In fact, leaving was so completely
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