My Japanese Hit List

Not to much to share this time around as not too much has happened. I purchased a suit case finally and got a pretty good deal on it. It is kind of a dark orange (I got this one on purpose: so it will stand out in the sea of black luggage) and it was only $85 at Target. It is one of the ones that has 4 wheels so it can swivel in any direction (this was a must for me).

But that's not really that interesting. The main purpose of this blog entry is to keep track of all the things I hope to accomplish while I'm in Japan. Obviously, since I do not yet know my placement I can't really guarantee that I will be able to do all this. Nevertheless, here are the things that I hope to accomplish during my time in Japan on the JET Program:

• Pick up a working knowledge of the language (enough to speak and listen effectively - I probably wont even try to read and write anything beyond hiragana and katakana. Sorry to say, but Kanji is just ridiculous).
• Be the best teacher I can
• Attend as many of my students speeches/club competitions as possible
• Climb Mt. Fuji
• Operate an English club after school
• Join a Table Tennis club at school or in the community
• Join a Taiko club at school or in the community
• Visit Takeya at least 4 times a year
• Save at least $15,000 USD a year
• Get in shape
• Get a Japanese girlfriend?
• Go to every single Enkai or work party (barring sickness or extreme exhaustion)
• Muster up the guts to go to an Onsen - nude
• See sumo at every venue (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka)
• Document as much of my adventure as possible (be it blogs, vlogs, or photos)
• Ride the Shinkansen or bullet train
• Do (not) become a Pachinko addict
• Visit as many Japanese theme parks as possible
• Keep my apartment clean and tidy

I will probably come back later and add more to this "hit list" as I think of things.

I'm still waiting to hear back about my placement results. Rumors abound on the internet that JETs leaving this year have started receiving the documents/applications that we new JETs just recently submitted. I should find out once the contracting organisations and prefectures make their decisions about which JETs will be going where. I expect to hear by June 3rd at the latest.

To finish up this blog, here are some photos I've taken with my spiffy new camera!

The new suit case I purchased

My cat Callie who I will miss dearly

A simple shot of the backyard - pretty in spring