Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...

I got an email today from one of the three JETs currently present in Kitsuki. She will be remaining there for another year and the other two will be replaced by me and a guy I found on facebook. We don't know which one goes with who yet, but I am only down to two choices. The JET who is remaining is the High School one so I am most definitely elementary and middle school. They said I would have 1-2 middle schools and 6-7 elementary schools I will be rotating between.

She gave me a lot of helpful information about the weather and the type of clothes I should wear. Khakis and polos/blouses it is! No suits required except in April for graduation. I can breathe a sigh of relief on that note at least. She also gave me some insight into tattoos though. Turns out if they can see it I will get reprimanded and sent home to change. This creates some problems because my tattoo is on my wrist. I can't wear long sleeve shirts all the time so it is time to start investing in some cuffs for my wrists. Any ideas on where I can find thick bracelets?

Apparently it does snow in Kitsuki though. Bummer. I have decided I will buy winter clothes there though because I don't have any as it is and it will be cheaper to buy them there than buy them all here and ship. Well, this is about all I've got. Still waiting on the government and the FBI to send me my paperwork back. Everything is slowly falling into place.

Love.

A new day

It feels really weird that I haven't updated in a few days. Unfortunately I still don't have much information. Waiting on word from my predecessor and trying to be patient. We have received a little more information about flights; apparently we will receive more information from the travel agent directly as the summer progresses. Thing is - summer is progressing. I can't believe it is already the last week of May. Holy crap.

I have been trying to have a more relaxed time the past couples of weeks but since all my friends have been leaving in slow succession I have been stuck partying and going out with friends non-stop. Everyone is leaving this weekend though except my roomies so hopefully things will calm down from there - at least for my wallet. I got a second job to help save money faster but it seems to be going out as fast as it's going in. Such is life. I know things will calm down soon and then I won't know what to do with myself. Time is funny like that - you don't appreciate it until you don't have it then you have some to spare you don't know what to do with it. :-).

JET has been occupying quite the niche in my brain though. I dream about Japan just about every night and even have day dreams about it when I doze off at work. People ask what I'm doing in the fall and when answering that "I'm moving to Japan" still feels weird. Kinda fulfilling though, like telling someone you won the lottery. It is a dream come true for me still and the more I think about it the more excited I have been getting, hopefully there will be no more emo - at least for a while. I know Brian might be sad if I don't have one occasionally :-P

Love.

PS - JET update posts:

Maybe a bad idea but I was reading the forums about placements and people across Australia, New Zealand and various countries in Europe have received their placements. I wonder when I will find out where I am going... Hope it's soon!

As of noon today consulate says "Placement notifications will be emailed today around 5 PM!"

EECK! SUPER EXCITED!

Oita-ken prefecture in the city of Kitsuki-shi is my new placement. Should be a lot of fun, looks really beautiful and it's right next to one of the most famous hot spring areas in Japan.

JET alumni

Yay for Miami. They are really on top of this JET thing. They put us all in touch with an alumni from Florida-ish who went to an area near ours in Japan. Mine has been so very helpful!

Been really busy with work and friends so I haven't been thinking about Japan too much... until people bring it up all excited-like. It makes me giggle a little on the inside when people are like "So you're going to Japan?!?! That's awesome!" and it has been invigorating me slowly until I am now feeling super excited! Hopefully these feelings will continue while I buy clothes. This is a tough process.

Love!

So far so Good

Keeping up with the blog is turning out to work really well. I think I am going to reduce it to a minimum weekly update with ones in between on a needs only basis. I don't really have anything to update today. The Miami consulate is giving us an alumni partner to ask questions to who lived somewhere near were we are going to be living. Our predecessors will contact us somewhere between now and the middle of July :-(. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Oh I did talk to my friend Hitomi in Japan though and she mentioned trying to meet me in Tokyo on August 1st since we get the evenings free. It would be really amazing to see a familiar face and I haven't seen her in over 2 years so it would REALLY be amazing! Hope it works out!

Love.

Welcome to the rest of your life... or at least the next year

Kitsuki-shi in Oita-ken is a small, little known city with a population around 22,000. They have hot springs (onsen), a castle, volcanoes, big hills and mountains and they are on a bay with ample beach space. They also have year round weather patterns identical to Florida except snow is possible and happens sometimes. I don't know that I could have asked for a better placement. It is also only slightly smaller than Gainesville which is by far my favorite city. It is big enough to get lost in and small enough to feel like home.

I also talked to Lauren today on Skype. She is in Japan currently and doing JET. She graduated last year from UF and worked with me in Japanese club. She answered a lot of the questions they don't cover in the general information handbook... Can you meet nice Japanese guys interested in American women? Do you have time to date? Travel? Take up hobbies? If I wanted to get a tattoo could I get into an onsen? What's the status on filling prescriptions in Japan? Can I buy condoms and tampons and that crazy stuff? What about underwear?

It was very informative and on top of learning more and more about my new home I am feeling much less apprehensive and more anxious and excited. I have been busy the past couple of days but the work has helped me to pass the time waiting.

The next step: Compile a list of the things I am going to pack, buy luggage, finish acquiring clothes and shoes, go to dentist and eye doctor, and enjoy the rest of my time in America!

I also promised to help Joe think of a name for his JET blog, he is going to Nagasaki and wants to incorporate it into the name. Any ideas?

Love.

Placement information

I just got the opportunity to post this. Busy day! I have been place in Oita-ken 大分県 in the city Kitsuki-shi 杵築市. Pretty rural around 22,000 people but I am excited nonetheless, if not a little worried. More update tomorrow.

Love.

Getting anxious :-X

People across the world are receiving information about their placements and some predecessors are even making contact with their replacements via facebook. I hope someone contacts me soon!

No other information really though. Showed my mom the video we were sent about the program and she feels a little better about it now. Grandma even read a bit of the general information handbook. It's definitely getting closer.

Love.

Reflection

Man this has gotten emo! I never intended to only talk about the negative feelings I have been having in association with this big life step. I don't talk nearly enough about how excited I am to make this journey. I have been talking with a friend on facebook lately and she said something really insightful in regards to the big travel decision we are both making. "I guess attacking a whole new situation is always a bit stressful, even if you know you're going to have a blast. I mean, I've done crazy things before, and mostly they've turned out to be fantastic opportunities that i didn't even know were lurking around. So hopefully, this will be the same. Maybe the scary part is giving it up to gut decisions, or instincts? Intuition says hell yes, its the stupid thinking brain that's saying hold on. Figuring out which one to trust is harder."

She is absolutely right. My mom mentioned while I was visiting home that I was much more nervous about my first trip to Japan back when I was 17 prior to my 6 week homestay. I had a blast though! As soon as I got there all fear and apprehension yielded to excitement and amazement at the new environment. Yeah I got homesick and sad and I kept a journal throughout the whole adventure which I reflect on sometimes when I get nostalgic. But those feelings were so shallow and under them were so many more positive emotions. Thinking about this, blogging about so much negativity, while therapeutic, may not be the whole story. So those of you reading these emo posts know that I am actually very excited and enthusiastic about JET.

Hopefully I will have an update soon about where I will be going.

Love.

PS - I moved the side post of JET updates to here because I wanted to remove the long thread. Every week or so I will probably do this.

Joe got his information packet in the mail yesterday. Three big thick books they already warned us would be boring and dry. Said we should read every word of it though... Here comes the horror stories to give JETzilla some real power.

I got mine in the mail too and already asked Joe to make me a copy of his Japanese language book since his assumes you are already a capable speaker.

Joe says the video is really entertaining except for the crazy narrator who is apparently homosexual?

I agree - the narrator is homosexual to the extreme!!

New problem - clothing and shoes. I have never had to dress dressy before! EEck!!

Family

Such a complicated subject. I found it interesting that in the JET video no one mentioned their family - if they came to visit, if the JETs returned to the US to visit, if they had significant others back home, if they were dating in Japan, if they had brothers and sisters, if someone back home got really sick or died. These things can happen in a year, though I am told I shouldn't think about them.

I was sitting on the swing at my grandma's house today, reminiscing about when I was a child. Children never know how good they have it until their childhood has passed them by. Amy and I were talking about it two days ago - what child sits around and thinks "wow it's great to be a kid!" Seems unfair that by the time you are able to appreciate it - it's gone. I don't know why I am talking about this really, guess I am just deep in thought. What do I do if I get to Japan and A passes away. This is likely to be the last time I ever see her again. What about my great-grandmother, or grandfather? He is turning 99 in a few days. What about my sister and dad who are undergoing surgery this summer. If something goes wrong and I'm not there for them? So many things to think about - things I shouldn't be thinking about.

I came to Tampa this weekend to celebrate my friend's birthday. She's 22 now. I spent more time with my family than I had anticipated as always happens, and I just got kind of nostalgic. I mean nothing negative in terms of my family - it's actually quite interesting how when I am away from them I forget just how much I love them. I think about all the mistakes we have made and bad paths we have taken through the years and I wonder if things would be different. Then I remember when I see them how happy I am they are who they are and I have become who I have become.

It's amazing how much this JET decision is making me reflect on my life - am how much I feel myself growing.

Still no word on placement. Of course you all will know as soon as I know. I guess there are official forums where people are gradually posting news as they find out. Maybe next week?

Love.

Just another day

I do not like where this is heading. Had another nightmare last night, this time I don't remember it but I know I was in Japan with an old high school friend. This is really impeding my work abilities because I am having a lot of trouble waking up to my multiple alarms and getting out of bed because of lack of sleep. I think I am just going to try exercising really hard core during the day so my body has no choice but to pass out at night. Anybody have a better idea?

Apparently applicants in every other country besides the UK and US have received their placement information so maybe I am looking at next week knowing where in Japan I will go? I will of course update as soon as I know. Going to Tampa in like an hour and I am afraid I don't have much else to update. Still trudging through the reading material and I began using this awesome study site, renshuu.org, for kanji practice. Oh, and Sensei is going to let me sit in on her beginning Japanese classes hopefully starting next week so I can back in to flow of hearing Japanese everyday and adjusting my ears to it. I also got another job! Yay! I am being paid to do what I have been doing as volunteer work for 2 years. Guess besides my dreams everything is kind of falling into place. Hopefully JET will soon too.

Love.

Sad dreams or nightmares?

I can't tell if this is the start of a good day or if something really awful is going to happen. Last night I had a pretty bad dream - I was in another small town in Japan like the night before but this time there wasn't any housing available and I had to live in a tent. Not like military style with a bed off the ground but a sad, decrepit tent with hardly room for a sleeping bag let alone my luggage. I was still expected to get up every morning, dressed like a professional and have my hair done but I didn't even have a toilet. I was so miserable. I kept trying to contact my higher-ups but I didn't have any internet and my phone was damaged from the snow which had fallen over the past few days. No one would listen and I woke up around 4 in the morning shivering and sad... Then I went back to sleep only to dream of accidentally deleting my placement email and never knowing where in Japan I was meant to go and because of lack of response I was removed from the program. Bad dream night I guess.

Then I came to work and got free lunch though so I just can't tell if this is meant to be a terrible wrong-side of the bed day or if everything is going to work out fine... weird. I even got an orange and blue brownie - Yay Peds poster presentations!

So back to the point of the blog - JET. I honestly don't have many updates. I am still trudging through the vast amount of reading material and trying not to get too worried (though it appears my subconscious got a little carried away). I did start a Japanese novel yesterday but the chapter is title "A depressing Wednesday" so I don't know if today is a good day to continue reading.

I keep thinking about how much I am going to miss America. I even started thinking yesterday about what kinds of drugs I should bring with me abroad - they don't have TUMS or anything so I don't know if I should rely on the medicine there or if I should stash this stuff in clothes in my luggage. I am getting contrary opinions. Some people say the drugs over there are awesome and I shouldn't worry about it while others (including myself) think there drugs are weak and if I don't want to look like a drug addict to get the right dose I should bring the American stuff. I am still open to ideas if anyone has any. I know Vanessa will be over there on the military base and I can always see if I can visit her on a weekend and restock if it turns out the drugs are weak or I run out of stuff. Maybe I will see if this is sufficient, assuming the invitation is still open from her.

Regardless, I should get back to research. The food is making more inclined to sleep so if I don't do something soon I might just conk out. :-) Oh, I also went through my closet yesterday to see what kinds of clothes I had to wear for work in Japan. Apparently some of my high school stuff fits again. YAY!

Love.

Information Overload

Yesterday I began thoroughly examining my JET information packet and reading through it. It is really full of helpful information and even an informational video. I am really impressed to see how well organized the program clearly is. All the information did bring about something unexpected though... information overload. I am so filled with tax filing, packing tips and teaching techniques that I don't know which way is up and I am feeling a little overwhelmed and scared. These feelings are most likely irrational and will disperse within a few days to their proper place (being somewhere not in my head) - but until then I am shrouded in unease. Just knowing I have to file taxes in not one but TWO countries when I haven't even filed my own 1040EZ here in the US is cause enough for alarm but the thought of scraping ice from my vehicle every morning leaves me with a foul taste in the back of my throat.

I dreamed last night of being in a small mountain village outside of Nara and enjoying swimming in a lake every morning and biking up a massive hill to work everyday. While this is a little idealistic and most likely to never happen, I woke up feeling really peaceful and calm. This was shattered when I realized I should read more of the information book and I stumbled upon the page concerning which items I would (or would not as the case may be) be able to bring with me to Japan - namely deodorant and contacts. Seems both have a limit on importation into Japan and I am debating the merits of smuggling them in through my luggage anyway (contacts are small right ^^). I am beginning to see up sides and down sides to living in Japan. It would take me all together too long to enumerate them here and since no reads this yet (truth be told I don't blame you) I will refrain until either the list has narrowed or I no longer feel these insecurities.

I never realized I was so long winded... maybe I just have a lot going on in my head? Regardless, I will end here for today and try to read some of the Japanese novel I decided to start in order to get a little Japanese practice prior to my departure.

Love.

Day 2

Well, I am excited to say I maintained my daily updates so far :-P. I got my JET packet in the mail yesterday but only skimmed it because I was tired - it had been a really long day at the hospital.

Speaking of which, this JET thing has got me thinking about what can happen in a year. My great grandmother is trying to scare me into not going by threatening to die during the time I am gone. While this is always a possibility (she's 90 years old), I know that she is in very good health and her and my great grandfather (who's 98!!) still have a few years left at least. But it is not those two I am really concerned about. Doing Streetlight has enabled me to meet a lot of really amazing people, both young and old, and some of them may not last the year. I was talking to one of the other volunteers about it last night and I started thinking about how my friend A may not be there when I get back. I may not be able to go to her funeral or hug her again... This job is so much more for me than taking the first step toward adulthood or a vacation from school - it's the first of many real goodbyes. I honestly don't know how ready I am for that...

Thinking back on the few short years I have been cognizant on the planet - high school was the only time I have really had to say goodbye to people who I knew I would never see again - save the deaths I have encountered. Of those people, while I had spent four years with them and built friendships and a relationship over that time, I speak to few and only occasionally. This is not for lack of trying, but we had moved apart in many ways and those with whom I still share a connection are in the same position I am now, trying to sort out life and saying goodbyes to college friends and entering adulthood. This will be the first time of many when I will say goodbye to people I truly care about and hope and pray (assuming someone is listening) our paths will cross again someday.

Sorry this has been a little emotionally weighted but I have a lot on my mind about the whole process and while I am concerned and scared, I am at the same time anxious and exhilarated.

Back to the main point on the blog - JET. The packet contained a beginner's Japanese guide which is meant to assist those people who have never studied Japanese. I doubt it will do much for me but you never know. I really enjoyed seeing the hiragana poster which could be removed and placed on a wall for more intense viewing. :-). There was also a packet explaining in detail my life insurance policy and detailed explanations about how much coverage I get for any possible injury. I think I will have to go through it with my parents though because I didn't make it very far on my own before I got lost in lawyer speak. The last item is an information guide. It also has an included video which I guess some of my fellow JETs already watched. (We have an email listserv and they were talking about it there). I might try to watch it tonight if I get in the mood. The book is really informative particularly concerning crazy ass luggage restrictions. Not to mention apparently when we arrive in Tokyo for our orientation we will receive over 11 pounds of paper?!?! Amy decided this was composed of the JET bowling ball and/or JET brick rather than paper. Regardless, reading things like that really hit home.

I should really be getting back to work. The boss probably thinks I am a total slacker lately since I have just been on the computer doing research into professional schools, JET and crime in Japan for the past week. Oh well.

Love.

We can't let these moments pass us by...

Hello. So I guess I should get started by mentioning JET related business and talking about the blog. It's called JETzilla not because I am afraid I will be destroyed irreparably by the program or because I am worried about getting eaten but because I wanted something catchy and easy to remember. No negativity towards the program I promise, quite the contrary in fact because I am feeling very positive vibes so far. I wanted to get started early on this blogging thing so I could get into the habit. Last time I was in Japan for a prolonged period of time I kept a journal by hand and four years later I still haven't managed to type it up (to my dad's dismay).

I began the whole JET process back in November like most of my colleagues and although interviews brought about pandemonium, once they passed things really died down. Most difficult interview of my life though, if you ask I will tell you about it sometime. I heard it compared to professional school interviews on crack. Regardless, I will change the topic since I don't want to get myself or anyone else in trouble by giving too many details about it - I will probably include more details as we go though since it has in fact been branded into the back of my mind in the trauma section next to my car accident and getting fired from my first job.

Still have not received word about my placement yet. Most people haven't apparently. We got an email a few days ago about people in Hyogo getting emails - I don't know how much of this is rumor and how much is fact. Has definitely put me on edge though because the time must be approaching for me to know as well. I have been thinking a lot about it though I am sure everyone in my position has. As most of you know I am really scared of cold weather so hopefully I won't be somewhere too cold - otherwise I will be flying to Hawaii frequently to visit Amanda and thaw. Besides waiting patiently for my placement and to get started on the next round of paperwork, JET is on hold in my life right now while I sort through finishing up my research, job and MCAT prep in Gainesville. I will also be in and out of Tampa and Fort Myers visiting family so if you wanna hang facebook, twitter or call me.

I don't know how good I will be at recording my life via blog but read as you see fit and keep me updated on how absurd I sound or whiny I get about how much I am going to miss you guys... This is the most depressing part about leaving. I should really get back to MCAT studying and work but I will try to add a little bit to this everyday just to keep everyone up to date and get into the blogging rhythm.

Love.