Hello Tokyo!

I'm in Tokyo for JET orientation!
This is going to be really brief (and in bullets) because I need to get to bed, so I can be up and early tomorrow for the variety of mandatory activities. Here we go! I'll come back and elaborate more.

• Packing was a bit ridiculous. 50 lbs or less for each of my 2 checked bags. Trying to pack your life into those requirements = not easy.
• Last Friday was Pre-Departure Orientation followed by a reception at the Ambassador's Residence. The reception was beautiful and full of delicious food. Orientation was at times, quite funny, and pretty much always informative
• Instead of 7:30 at the airport, it was changed to 6:40...oh boy!
• 13 hours without a completely properly working TV = not as bad as I thought because I managed to get sleep, and I had my Kindle and Nintendo DS Lite.
• Arriving in Tokyo is like a dream. It doesn't feel real yet, like I'm not in Japan yet. The weather is not what I expected - as in, not unbearably hot and humid. In fact, while walking around at 9:30 pm outside, it was cool even! Who would have thought!
• I had udon for dinner, followed by karaoke with two friends. Perfect way to start my year(s) in Japan.

Anyway, that's all I'm going to share now.

To Toyooka City

So, my new home will be somewhere in Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture

Here are some pictures from the city's website:

I will be southwest of Tokyo (about 4 hours away via train) in the Kansai region - home to the Kansai dialect! This will be something I will have to get used to considering I have been learning standard Japanese. Of course, people in Kansai know standard Japanese too but the dialect is still used. I have plenty of friends who grew up there that can speak it, so I'll probably be bugging them about how it works :D . The Sea of Japan is pretty close to me. How cool is that? I can go to the beach. Four seasons, apparently, with lots of snow and monsoons. A very wet place. It makes me a little concerned about my hair (I know that sounds vain, but such is the life of a black women with with a perm). We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Anyway, I'm terribly excited. It sure is nice to actually know where I'll be living! I've been reading more about the area to get at least a little more familiar with it. I wonder whether I will be living in a house or an apartment. I wonder what my neighbors will be like. I wonder what age my students will be! The contracting organization that I will be working for should be contacting me soon, sometime after the 20th, according to JET.

I still have lots to do before I leave - making time with family and friends, finding things I want to bring with me but keeping my suitcase light at the same time, making some money...July 30th is sure going to get here fast the way that the summer is going!

Japan Bound

Well, now that I have finished school (this semester was simply bananas, by the way), I have time to tell you good news!

I have been accepted into the JET Program! After waiting about a month after my interview in February (which apparently went pretty well!), I got that congratulatory email. Talk about a wave of emotions. I called my mom first and after I excitedly spit out the news, she said her congratulations and then she said a tearful "I'm going to miss you." That's when my waterworks started. It's unfortunate that I will have to leave my family and friends again, but this has been a dream of mine for quite some time. I can't wait to go back!

I will be leaving July 30th. This summer, needless to say, is going to go by really fast!

My friends, both those who have been accepted into JET as well and other friends in general, and I have been discussing whether JET will be placing teachers in the affected areas of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. At first we thought, "Well, maybe not because, you know, it's sort of a mess right now." Yet at the same time, someone brought up, "Despite everything, they are still going to need English teachers, you know?"

So, I have decided. No matter where they place me, I will go. I won't know of my location until June but I've made up in my mind, that I will take my placement happily. I didn't work this hard to end up not going in the long run. This is an experience of a lifetime. I'm not going to give it up. Sure, I would rather not be placed in Tohoku (North-east), but if I am, so be it.

Honestly, I feel like I bring a lot of joy into the lives of my family and friends. I don't mean to sound cocky or anything, but it's something I noticed that I can do and it makes me happy, knowing that I can do it. I would bring me even more joy to share it with a community that needs it. Wherever I go, I want to share it.

Eventually, I'll have to edit the tagline for this blog

Hello! Long time no see, again. There has been an update in the JET application process. I have an interview in less than two weeks! I'm more than excited. Thrilled. Ecstatic. Overjoyed.

If everything goes smoothly, God willing, I will be back in Japanland some time during the summer, probably July. I'll know for sure whether I have been accepted in April. So much waiting! Not enough patience!

Once that happens, I will continue this blog again (consistently) and be talking about my adventures not as an exchange student but as a teacher~

More good news to come! *crosses fingers*

Surprise!

Well, it's been a long time since I've visited this page and over two months since I have left Japan. I'm writing here today because I've officially decided to join the JET Program and will be working on the application this week. So, I'm hoping to be shipped back to Japan next year. (I sort of wish I didn't cancel my bank account...I didn't think I'd be coming back so quickly.)

So, in the midst of this crazy senior year, I'm going to work on getting my application in before November 18th. Wish me luck~