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Questions about Japan or JET?

As the date nears for those selected by the JET Program to come to Japan (end of July for Group A…just around the corner!), I would like to remind anyone out there that I am full of, you know…information and stuff. Any questions are fine (even if they aren’t JET related), from what omiyage to bring for your neighbors (hand towels, by the way), to how easy it is to get medical treatment. Any questions are fine, and if you think they’re too personal for the comment page, just e-mail me (as mentioned in the last post, found on the “about” section).

There are some rumors about Japan that are a bit outdated:

• You can now buy real peanut butter at Sunny (a large grocery store chain), and not just that bizarro peanut cream.
• Low-dose birth control is not hard to get here (at least it wasn’t for me, though I had to get a *shudder* blood test). Just ask about women’s clinics to your predecessor (or as I did, ask a friend to take you the first time). It’s still good to have a supply at home for your parents or someone to mail you (only one month’s supply at a time in the mail), just in case.
• Leave your books at home. They have far more Japanese language study resources (and English language *’specially eikaiwa* if you’re level is high enough to reverse the languages of study) here, as well as English-language book sections. Of course, the larger the bookstore, the larger the selection. And the English language books are always next to the Japanese language study resources.
• If you’re blessed enough to be near a Costco, you won’t have to forget the taste of real pizza…or a lot of food, for that matter (such as real cheese,you’ll only find the fake kind in Japanese supermarkets).

And some things that still hold kinda true:

• Make-up is still stupid expensive, so have a bit with you before getting acclimated to the prices. This includes nail polish, by the way, where an average *small* bottle will cost from 400 to 1,000円 (3.25 to 8 USD). Expect eyeshadow to be from 1,500 to 3,500円 (12 to 27 USD).
• Nothing here is vegetarian, unless you make it yourself. Prepare yourself for lots of umeboshi onigiri, and the constant, “but you eat fish, right?”. No, by the way, I’m not a vegetarian…thank goodness.
• Almost all bread here is Texas-toast sized. Finding bread sliced less than an inch thick will seem like a victory to you. And just give up on whole wheat.
• Japan has such a drinking culture!  If you don’t drink, remember this sagely word of advice…you now have an allergy to it!  …unless you’re a girl, then just order oolong tea and be like the majority of women who don’t drink alcohol (though if you ask them why, they’ll also say that they have an allergy to it…go figure).
• You’ll only know what you’re eating at a combini (convenience store) if you can read katakana. My mom can attest to its importance. So learn it now. It will be your saviour, especially if you don’t know Japanese.

I’m going to leave it at this for now. Please ask me anything. Gives me something to do at work.

“Those Crazy SMAP Boys!” and Other Readings

So, I’ve decided to throw away the old files from some old sites of mine that never really saw much light of day.  I found some entries that I had never posted, but genuinely enjoyed reading again.  These are about a year and a half old, and written a month before applying to the JET program.  I was in Canada at the time, finishing up my last semester of university at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  KSU (Kansas State University) called it study abroad.  I called it cheaper than being in Kansas.  I had also lived in Halifax before, and had my first year of university there (before transferring to K-State).  My mother’s a professor at the school, and so I’m sure she enjoyed me constantly harrassing her during my free time.

Start of the Blog     9/7/05 

 Before beginning this blog, it would be good to let you in on something.  I am a terrible public speaker.  My nerves turn me into an adrenaline induced ball of freaking out wussiness.

On a whim…sortof, I signed up last minute for a TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) course today.  The price was up there, but it looks like it could be a very firm foundation for my final Teaching-English destination.  The class is tonight.  Altogether, there will be 45 hours of training and 15 hours of practicum (teaching).  I am so nervous!  I hope I know what I’m getting myself into.  The main thing that made me go through with enrolling and not chickening out was knowing that I was planning on teaching English anyways,…so these 15 little  hours should be the least of my worries!  Even still…though…scary.

Those 15 hours were scary!  Being told to “teach whatever you want” is so difficult!  A note to future ALTs -> Teaching in school is rarely like teaching in an eikaiwa (conversation school) since you will either be working with a teacher, or will be told (typical for elementary schools) in advance the type of lesson they’d like (still vague, but better than nothing!).  Only a few times in middle school have I been told to teach “whatever I want” in an extra-curricular english class.  Immediately upon hearing this, my brain does the equivalent of hands-to-face screaming (Home Alone style).  Right, of course you might have to teach eikaiwa (like me…hands-on-face screaming), or kindergarten (again, like me, thought it’s a very rare situation), but you get paid extra for the eikaiwa, and the kindergarten is honestly like getting rewarded by hanging out with 5-year-olds who worship you while the younger kids look on in envy.

Those Crazy SMAP Boys!     9/26/05 

I usually find myself wearing a lot of black, and a generally, if not merely disinterested, thoughtful look to me (think Snape, minus the sneer…and wrinkles, and age, and everything else, never mind).  Occasionally, I can’t help but break out into a grin, as if I’ve heard a very stupid joke, for only I know that for all of my appearances, I am listening to SMAP on my iPod.  I don’t know how it is in Japan, but in principle, brooding folk do not listen to upbeat boy bands whose messages are “you are a unique flower” or “let’s have fun through upbeat music”.  Now that I’m on the subject, I don’t know about you guys, bt there’s nothing like starting your morning with a little “Let’s Tap” playing.  Nothing.  At all.  I have the attention span of a ferret.  I think…I’m in the library…for some reason.  Well, I can’t remember, and SMAP is telling me that I should love life…and to jazz (I never knew you could make that into a verb).  Hahhah, those crazy SMAP boys will say anything to make me want to hug myself.  I think I need to put down the iPod before this gets too disgusting.

I’m amending that.  You can make “jazz” into a verb, just not in that context!

Goodbye to My Warranty…     9/26/05

Either today or tomorrow…I’m not really sure, is the last day to call in any problems with my beautiful 17″ PowerBook G4.  That makes me sad.  I have these light spots on the screen that I never bothered to call in.  I should call Apple about it.  I really should.  But…they’ve kind of grown on me.  Kind of.  I’m also lazy enough to say they’ve grown on me in order not to call it in.  I wonder if the warranty even applies since I’m in Canada…hmm…

One really nice thing that will happen once my warranty runs out is that I’ll finally be able to properly deface my laptop with stickers.  Any sticker good enough to be put on my laptop still didn’t make it on there in fear that I’d have to get a replacement comp if this one crapped out on me.  Perhaps, even still, I’ll refrain from putting stickers on the outside (back of monitor screen).  I have some dignity.  Perhaps I should look for a PowerBook skin.  That would be cool.  I’ve heard that some people in Japan like to go all-out with with their laptops.  So shall I…someday.

And as of yet, still no stickers.  go figure.

Jagainu-kun! Now as a Stylish Hat!

My 13-year-old cousin made this hat for me. I had given her a dvd with 26 eps of “Dogtato-kun” (English translation of the name… It’s a dog! It’s a potato! It’s a dogtato!), an animated kids show in Japan, and she kinda went Jagainu-kun crazy!

Anyways, check out the site, and check out the hat. My arm’s up cause I’m showing off the tail.

Isn’t it かわいい！

127 Hours to go…

I’m in full-force packing mode right now. I’m almost done, and it’s about time to just throw everything that’s unpacked into a box for storage.
This is the second move where I’m only moving with what I can fit in my luggage. It helps that I had been staying at my grandmother’s while waiting to leave for Japan. It’s really nice knowing that I don’t have to deal with the furniture in the room. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

I just received about ten pouches of poutine mix in the mail from my mother in Canada. We all have comfort food. For some, it’s peanut butter (the “peanut cream” you get in Japan is no substitute). For me, it’ll be poutine and kool-aid. For now, at least.

Lo and Behold! The IRS Did Something Rapidly!

I don’t remember if I fully launched into how much of a hassle it was that Form 8802 (US resident for taxpaying purposes) couldn’t be processed until my 1040 went through. It was a hassle because I was leaving in 5 weeks, and it would take the 1040 6 to 8 weeks (I’m not even going to go into the reason why I couldn’t e-file…still annoys me), and THEN the 8802 could be looked at (3-4 weeks).

That’s what they told me. Those lying…*ahem* lovely people from the IRS. I actually received the letter stating that I am a US resident for taxpaying purposes only three weeks after sending everything off. It’s a wierd feeling. I hate them, yet I love them at the same time. …I wanted to insert a witty analogy here, but I couldn’t think of just one. Men, cappuccino, diets, the dentist. They all popped up as a love/hate thing. How can I choose just one?
In truth, it’s a good thing that I went ahead and filed the 1040, cause I’m getting about $200 back from the government. Gotta love that Earned Income tax credit. Now I’ll be able to afford that night out *cry* at Shinjuku while at orientation in Tokyo.

*post note* Apparently the 1040 went through in only a few weeks also! The refund showed up in my bank statement a week ago! What’s up with this?? Craziness! I can’t deal with this right now…I need to sit down.

A Post That Won’t Be Up For Long

Look at these sweet pics! The inside pics are two different sides of the same living room. And check out that badass bike. Oh yeah. All of this is waiting for me in Japan.

Four weeks away!

And a Few Changes to The Site…

I recently updated wordpress, so for a tiny little bit of time, the site will be without a header image until I re-add it to the proper wp folder. I’m not 100% happy with the look of this site, so I might change it if I find the time. I might also add a photo gallery. Ok, make that probably will. Most likely. Any time now.
All changes soon, but still, in time.

My Birthday *June 20th*

I am so glad I was able to get all the paperwork done and out of the way in time for chilled relaxin’ for my birthday. Sadly, the income tax paperwork will probably be late, but nothing to lose my job over. As it stands now, I have a few more weeks of relaxing and sightseeing around Oklahoma before I need to start worrying about buying big gaijin shoes and packing all I own into two suitcases.

For my birthday, I got the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice *the best, by far*. Yay! Kiyomi, if you’re reading this, we can finally have our Pride and Prejudice marathon in Japan!

I believe that the posting time for this blog is already set to Japan time, so…yeah. My birthday was yesterday then. The 20th. Did I mention how old I was yet? That would be 26. A good year, I can already tell.

Goodnight for now. This old lady needs her sleep.

Correspondance From My Town

The package from my contracting town has finally arrived!

Add one more form that needs to be mailed off (another job acceptance letter) to my list of things to do.
I received a very thorough letter from my predecessor describing everything from the teachers I’ll be working with, to the nearest hair stylist (he speaks English and runs a bar upstairs). It has calmed a bit of my worries, for I now know what to expect, and where to go to when I have questions.

In a pamphlet of Minou area, where Yoshii and Ukiha are located, the header is, “Welcome to ‘Slow-Life Republic’ Minou”. I mean, come on! How can they not pull in tourists with such a snappy theme! Seriously though, you should see the map of the area (go ahead, it’s the image at the bottom). How cute is that! I especially like the playful little man-eating kappa in the river (I’m staying out of the water). Shame I can’t find my school on there…

As it is now just a wait for the end of next month, I am starting to get very excited about the move…and very worried about the shopping and packing that I’ll need to start thinking about in a few weeks. Once all the forms have been sent in, I’ll be able to slow down and stop worrying about the details until July.

As Promised…the House

I have a pic of the place, and honestly, it really does look big…almost too big for one person. Please take into consideration that I was expecting a much smaller place, because my last experience with housing in Japan involved a very tiny apaato *apartment* with a kitchen that only had counter space if you put a cover over the sink. It was tiiiny!