Preparation and Planning

It recently came to my attention that I have less than a week left before I don't live in Canada for a month, and I still have a lot to do.
See, I'm that person that constantly puts things off under the guise of "I'll do that later", and when I realize that later is here I'm in a big rush-and-panic to finish everything on time. In this case, that was mostly the learning of the language, and studying manners. I know there's no way I'm going to learn to speak Japanese fluently within the next couple of days, so I have to settle for the next-best thing which is teaching myself all the words and phrases that are the most important. I can already say single words like hello, thank you, please, good morning, goodnight, excuse me, stupid, and cat, but there are still some life-or-death phrases I would like to learn. These include:
"Can you direct me to the bathroom?"
"I don't speak Japanese."
"Do you speak English?"
"Where can I find a giant Hello Kitty plush?"
"Help! There's a giant squid after me!"
"Please help, I'm dying!"
"Do you know where I can find the anime merchandise?"
"Where's the hospital?!"
"Help! I'm drowning!"

Looking back at this list, I'm thinking just learning the word "help" will cover at least three of these potential problems. But I feel I should try to learn the sentences anyway, because you never really know how oblivious people will be. And I'd feel pretty stupid if I got eaten by a giant squid right in front of potential saviors just because they didn't perceive the violent, many-legged creature as a man-eating threat. This may be an unrealistic fear, but the day I don't prepare for it will be the day it comes true.

The second thing I crammed into my brain was manners. They have different etiquette there, and I'm sure I'll be getting myself into enough awkward situations without further complicating lives with my lack of manners. I figure if I take notes though, I can study on the plane ride, but I'll bet there'll be tons of things that I don't think to search until I'm in a situation requiring the information. Which will be extremely awkward. Fortunately, I've coped with many an awkward situation in my lifetime so far, so I'm fairly familiar with them.
'Though I'm not sure if this is handy or just sad.

There's also packing. I have an incredible amount of packing to do. In fact, every time I think about how much packing I have to do, I die a little more inside. So to help myself stay semi-organized (because I have recently learned that I will never be organized no matter how hard I try), I will include a list of items for packing. This is mostly for me, but perhaps some future human will find this useful. Or a dragon could find this useful for all I know. Perhaps they worry about remembering their laptop and pajamas as well. Just putting that out there.
List of Objects to Pack For Japan:
~Laptop and charger
~iPod and charger
~Camera and charger
~Kobo (Umi) and charger
~DSi and charger (possibly)
~I did not know I owned that many electronics
~Pajamas (warm-weather ones)
~Passport
~Money
~Wallet (preferably with money)
~Swimsuit and cover-up
~Dresses (Yay. Love dresses. My passion.)
~Scarf to- as my mom says- "change it up"
~Shorts
~T-shirts/Tank tops
~Socks
~Thank-you cards
~Books with info on Japan
~Various undergarments
~Healthcare card (because as you can see from my previous list, I'm very concerned with dying)
~Bathrobe/Housecoat
~Toiletries (shampoo/conditioner, brush, elastics, face stuff, toothbrush, blah, blah, and blah. You get the idea.)
~Pre-purchased train ticket/pass thing (cheaper than just buying tickets in Japan, and unavailable there too!)
~Sunscreen/Sunglasses
~Gifts (for hosts and others I may meet along the way)
~Canadian candy in case of homesickness (because apparently this helps)
~Pufferton The Traveling Bear Agent (basically a bear-shaped pillow/blanket combo for plane rides.)
~Walking shoes and fancy sandals (for going out)
~Advil or Tylenol (For that sickness I'm so terrified of getting)
~Textbooks and work (Ah, school. How I'll miss you.)
~Chocolate eggs to hide for hosts for Easter (This may be more of a seasonal thing)
**SIDE NOTE** If you are a boy, you probably won't need everything on this list. Like your passport. Because according to the all the romance books I've read, guys have this superpower that allows them to illegally cross borders like they don't even freaking exist.