Oh, the Places You'll Go!

It's been a busy/stressful period these past couple days. The deadline for all my paperwork is May 9th, so I had to stay fairly proactive to get everything in on time. Today I just sent everything off and away to the Consulate of Japan in San Francisco. What a relief!

The title of this blog serves two purposes.

Firstly, and most obviously, its also the title of a book by Dr. Seuss. I don't own the book - at least not yet - but in thinking of things to bring to Japan to teach with, it instantly came across my mind as a must bring item. I know that it will be especially helpful around graduation time (as I intend to read it too all my graduating students each year) but I also think that there will probably be other times to utilize the book in instruction as well.

Secondly, the title of the book got me thinking about my time in Japan. I've only just now realized what an opportunity I will be presented with while living in Japan. Far away places in Asia and Australasia will suddenly be much more feasible destinations for vacationing. When once these places were 13 hours away or more, I will now be able to get there in probably 5 or 6 hours at most. This made me begin to wonder: which countries near Japan do I want to visit before my time on the JET Program is up?

The list that I have for now is (in no particular order):

• South Korea
• China (maybe)
• Vietnam
• Singapore
• Russia
• Thailand
• Australia and New Zealand (maybe - already been to both)
• Hong Kong/Taiwan (maybe)

Shoot - Japan alone will provide me with enough distractions as it is. Perhaps I shouldn't be thinking this far ahead, haha.

This thought process then got me thinking about all the places in America that I've always wanted to go to but have never had the chance to visit. These places are only a few hours away by plane, and its really quite sad that as an American citizen I've never been to them. The places I'm considering visiting before I leave are:

• Las Vegas (this REALLY needs to happen)
• The Grand Canyon
• San Diego (my poor Louis - I'm so sorry I havent made it down in the nearly 3 years you've been there)
• Vancouver, Canada
• Portland, Oregon
• Seattle, Washington
• And I've still never been to Mexico - but I can't decide if I want to go or not

In other news, I've been powering through my Japan prep by buying even more stuff. The big ticket item is a new 13" Macbook Pro, which will become my one and only computer while I'm over there. I've also bought a nice guidebook to Japan made by LonelyPlanet. It lists some pretty good places to visit in Japan, and a lot of them are places that would normally be hard for someone like me to find in the first place - so thats nice. I also got two phrasebooks which I've been trying to skim through each day. Some of the lines in these things are priceless though. One of them has a line which translates to, "Let's go somewhere quieter," and another has a line translated as, "Will you come home with me?" ...uhhh - creepy much? Despite some of these odd lines, the books appear really useful and they are nice and pocket-sized so I can easily see myself carrying them on my person 24/7.

Here's a fun fact: I haven't had any soda since March 9, 2011! Can you believe it? Don't worry, I can't either. But it is true.

Okay. Enough rambling. Have a great weekend and be seeing you next time!

Jordan

Japan-o-Vision

So i knew that I wanted to buy a new camera before going to Japan, but I didn't expect it to happen this quickly.

Basically, I woke up and was looking through the morning paper before heading to work. As usual, I took a quick peek at the Fry's ad on the back of the front page. This time the ad was devoted to a bunch of one-day-only sales and one of them was for a Sony DSC-HX1 Digital camera (originally $400 but on sale for $270). After work, I drove to the nearest Fry's and bought it.

It is amazing. It has a 20x optical zoom (!!!), 1080p HD video recording, a super easy panorama mode (where you simply "sweep" the camera and it takes a nice big panoramic picture), HDMI output, and after testing the Handheld Twilight feature, I can safely say that this badboy can take some DAMN FINE pictures in the dark *WITHOUT* the flash on. It's almost kind of scary.

It's a fairly large camera - its one of those professional looking ones with the huge telescoping lenses. I was running around the house all day snapping pictures of anything I could find; wasted lots of time testing out the amazingly good zoom by snapping pictures of things I could barely even see with the naked eye. I'm beginning to understand why some people are obsessed with photography.

I hope to take a lot of pictures and video while I'm in Japan, and I think its safe to say that I definitely will now that I have a more than capable (and REALLY fun to use!) camera.

Here is what it looks like:

You can bet that I will upload some photos/videos that I've taken with it to this blog later - but for now I'm simply having too much fun fooling around with it. I'll get around to uploading later haha.

There are a few other things that I plan on buying before departure - most notably/possibly a new computer (im thinking a laptop, maybe even a MacBook Pro).

So yeahp! That's all for now! See you later.

Paperwork and Preparing to Move

So much to do, so little time!

Where to begin... where to begin. The amount of paperwork involved in participating on the JET Program and moving to another country for at least a year is rather daunting. I need to get a detailed physical from a licensed MD, obtain an FBI background check (to make sure I'm not a criminal lol), apply for a visa to legally live and work in Japan, file a bunch of stuff with the IRS (to exempt me from Japanese taxes - awesome!), I need to get an international drivers license from AAA, and I probably need to file for a 'Power of Attorney' in case I become legally involved in stuff while I am away (Jury duty anyone?).

I need to buy a suit case because I only have one (I'll be bringing two large ones, a medium carry-on, and a shoulder "under-the-seat-in-front-of-me" bag). I need to cancel my cell phone service. I have to stop my car insurance. Depending on where I am placed, I may have to buy a whole new wardrobe (the Japanese dress really nice, ladies and gentleman - much nicer than anything I own).

My biggest frustration is that I have to sell my pride and joy - my baby - my car! I realllllllly don't want to sell her, but I can't really find a way around it. I have nowhere to store her. The tires would go flat, the battery would die, the paint would wither away in the sun. It's such a shame. I paid for her in cash, up-front, and its amazing not to have a car payment. She is going to be missed.

I also need to be on the eye out for omiyage (gifts for all the new people I will be working with) as well as "rewards" for my students when they perform exceptionally well. I need to prepare a jikoshoukai (self-introduction) because lord knows I'll be giving it at least a dozen times in my first couple weeks in Japan.

All that being said, there is really one thing that needs to take precedence above ALL of this. I bet you can guess what it is.... it's Nihongo. Yes, that's right, Japanese. I need to study my ass off....

Well, I suppose this wasn't particularly interesting to read, so if you made it this far I thank you!

Stay tuned for my next blog, and see you later!

JET Program: Accepted!

Today was the day!

I received an email at 2:45 today which confirmed that I have passed the interview and will be heading to Japan on July 30th, 2011. Its quite a relief. I started the application process back in September, so I've been waiting for just a little over 6 months. I'M SO EXCITED!!

I found out while I was at work, so I did a little happy dance in my cubicle before letting people know that I was accepted. My initial position is contracted for a year, with the potential to re-contract up to four times (five years total). Ideally, I'd like to stay 3 years or so, but who knows - it could be more, it could be less.

In about a month I should find out where specifically in Japan I will be headed and whether I will be teaching at an elementary, middle, or high school.

Things have a way of working out!!!!

More later

Introducing Myself and the JET Program

Hello and welcome!

First, let me say that while I'm writing this, I'm not yet in Japan or on the JET Program. With that out of the way, I suppose an introduction is in order.

As you can tell, my name is Jordan. I just recently graduated from the University of California, Davis having double majored in political science and psychology. It was a great experience and I am completely blessed to have had the opportunity and financial backing to go to such a great school. Sometime during my junior year in Davis, I found out about the JET Program (aka The Japan Exchange and Teaching Program) and decided to apply for the 2010 application cycle.

The easiest way for me to describe the JET Program to you is to have someone else do it for me! So... according to the United State's official JET Program website:

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Program seeks to help enhance internationalization in Japan by promoting mutual understanding between Japan and other nations. The program also aims to improve foreign language education in Japan and to encourage international exchange at the local level by fostering ties between Japanese youth and foreign youth.

The objectives of the program are being achieved by offering JET Program participants the opportunity to serve in local government offices as well as public and private elementary schools, junior high and senior high schools [in Japan].

The program is conducted by local authorities and other organizations of Japan in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations.

The program started in 1987 with the cooperation of the governments of the participating countries. As of July 2010, there were 4334 participants in the program from 36 countries.

As the JET Program has achieved an excellent reputation over the last 24 years, it is of great importance that this high level of respectability be maintained. Participants are invited to Japan as representatives of their countries. Therefore, they are expected to be responsible in all of their activities, especially those concerning the promotion of mutual understanding between nations. It is desirable that participants be adaptable and have a positive interest in Japan.

Suffice it to say, I was not chosen to participate on the program after I applied in 2010. Of course, when the 2011 application cycle rolled around I was eager to apply once more. This time I was granted an interview in San Francisco in February of 2011.

Since the interview, quite a bit has happened. As everyone is already well aware, the 9.0 earthquake which destroyed the coastal areas of northeastern Japan struck on March 11th. It truly is sad to hear the death toll continually rising, but I think that if any country can handle such an awful catastrophe, it is Japan. Another important change in recent days is that I just secured a job at the company where my mother and sister work. It pays pretty respectably and it is nice to have money once again after so many years of being a poor college student.

What I am really waiting for though, is the JET Program results to be announced. According to the timeline given to me at the consulate in San Francisco after my interview, it was originally planned for results to be announced in early-mid April. And as you can tell, that time is right about now! In fact, I expect results to come in by the end of next week at the latest! As those of you who know me already know, I'm quite nervous  and also very excited to hear the final results. I hope I get in!

In actuality, this blog is a bit of a gamble right now - I only intend to keep up with it if I make it in the program. So, I suppose if you are reading this, it means that I made in it to the program! If I don't, well... let's just say this blog will slowly disappear into nothingness.

So yeah, that's about it for right now. I will definitely be back later to post a new blog when results are announced and the brutal waiting is finally over!

See you next time