JET Program Placement!

On Wednesday, June 15th I found out my placement. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect location. I will be living and teaching (for at least the next year of my life - hopefully more!) in beautiful Miyama town, Kihoku city, in Mie Prefecture! (A prefecture is basically a state)

Here, let me show you:

Here you can see all of Japan. The "A" Marker is my town.

Then we zoom in to the Osaka/Nagoya area. As a prefecture, Mie snakes down the coast.

Here we get a little closer. Owase is the next biggest town just over the mountain to the South. Aiga is the name of my train station. The actual town is called Miyama.

And here it is! The striped black/white line is the train. There is one convenience store in town.

It looks as if I will be living in paradise. This photo was taken from a mountain in the bottom left corner of the photo just above.

I have briefly made contact with my predecessor, so more details will come later! I know for a fact that I will be teaching at Junior High and Elementary schools, and by looking at maps, I suspect that I have 2 Junior High Schools and 5 Elementary Schools. This may sound like a lot, but I suspect that the elementary schools probably have no more than 30 kids each, and I can't see the JHS's having any more than 150 each.

It's also looking like I won't be needing a car, which is awesome! As far as travel, I am ~5 hours from Tokyo by train, ~4 hours from both Osaka and Nagoya, and ~2 hours from Tsu/Ise (some of the bigger cities in Mie to the north). One other JET from SF is going to Mie with me, and he/she will be going to the town of Kumano (a 45 min train ride south of Miyama). I will be meeting this person on Sunday, and I suspect that we will become good friends!

Six weeks from today, THIS is where I will be living! Life is way too good right now!

Stay tuned for more updates!

Jordan

Something's Gotta Give

My parents got an email this morning from some old neighbors. The email said that one of the men in the neighborhood suffered a heart attack yesterday and died. He was 35 years old, had a wife and 3 kids, and was in excellent shape.

I really only met the guy once, but it's still very sad. To pass away at such a young age is devastating. I can't even imagine what his family is going through right now.

And it got me thinking: I'm in terrible shape. I've probably gained 10 lbs in the last year or so, and when I look in the mirror I am ashamed. Lately I've been telling myself that my habits are okay for now because I'm moving to Japan soon. My mind was of the thought that I will move there and instantly start losing weight and be in much better shape. But assumptions and expectations alone are not enough to make a difference. It takes action.

This in mind, I have committed myself to working out everyday up until Japan - and hopefully beyond. I've already cut soda out of my diet (haven't had one since 09 March 2011), and I'm looking to ingest less food in general. Lately I've been eating to levels of uncomfortableness... so no more of that.

I'm not sure if I'm going to start jogging or riding my bike, but I am definitely going to take up one of them because my current lifestyle is unhealthy. I am oftentimes lethargic, sore, and my overall complexion is somewhat dull and lifeless.

All I know is that I cannot continue on like I have been. Something's gotta give.

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

The Ups, the Downs, and the In-Betweens

Talk about an emotional roller coaster.

You know, applying to the JET Program takes a lot of patience. To be a serious applicant, one has to begin the preparation for applying in probably September of the year before departure. You have to get all your ducks in a row and really fine-tune the application (less than 20% of applicants make it in), but you don't actually know if you've made it until April (a whole 6-7 months later).

I thought THAT would easily be the most painful part of waiting. However, now that I've made it in, I can safely saying that KNOWING you've made it - but having to wait 3 long months before departure - is absolute torture. I suppose it doesn't help that I'm completely miserable with where my life is at now: my job is dull, I live with my parents, being single isn't as spectacular as I remember, and I don't have any real friends here in Livermore.

That said, Japan is the perfect opportunity for me, or for anyone for that matter, to get a reset on life. I can make whatever personal changes I'd like and no one will know the difference. I see it as a true opportunity to really become a better person.

So yeah - those two thought processes describe the roller coaster of emotions pretty well. On the one hand there are the up-days: where all I can think about is Japan and what it will be like and the people I will meet and the friends I will make and the adventure it will be. But on the other hand there are the in-between days: where life goes on as normal and I pretty much don't even spend a second thinking about any of it. And of course there are the down days: where I worry about my colleagues not liking me, my students not being interested, and of course the current radiation concerns in Japan.

These bad days tend to be the days on which I end up buying something to take with me (perhaps I get comfort in buying things lol). Just recently, I purchased 4 really nice dress shirts and matching ties. One of the ties is bright orange, but I like it a lot, and I kinda want to be the odd gaijin with all the crazy ties. No jokes.

In other news, the Consulate of Japan in San Francisco (where I applied and interviewed) will be hosting an alumni-led orientation on Saturday, June 18th. I'm quite looking forward to it. As is suggested by the name, it will be run by JET alumni who will talk about adjusting to Japanese life, as well as the ins and outs of being a gaijin and a JET in Japan. There are so many odd things that run through my mind from time to time - stupid things like "When I first meet my boss, should I offer my hand to shake hands, or should I bow?" or "What do I do if someone offers me whale to eat?" or "How will I operate my microwave... All the buttons are in Japanese!" Haha. But I think that this is the point of the orientation. And despite all these silly questions, at the end of the day, I know I'll survive.

I think the worst part of waiting is not knowing what part of Japan I'm going to. For all I know right now, I could be placed in the bitter cold of northern Hokkaido or way down south on the tropical island of Okinawa. But the good thing is that work has been keeping me busy, and I've just now realized how quickly time seems to be passing. And, at the end of the day, I can only think about how lucky I am to be able to do this - not many Americans go abroad to live. Even if I only spend a year in Japan, I know that it will be completely worth it.

I'm just so darn excited! I'll even admit it... I have a white board at work counting down the days until departure. Yes, I know... I suppose I should just get back to being worried about whether they have cheese in Japan or not...

Be seeing you next time!

Jordan

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!