wingblossom: [heyyoitsmj] (fandom (persepolis))
Packing is going swimmingly! Well, sort of. Now that I've put a heap of my books into cardboard boxes, I have to contend with everything that I'm planning on: 1. sending ahead to Kobe, and 2. presumably getting rid of, since there's not enough space for all of them. I feel like I should take an inventory of all the books I own, but I think it's a little too late for that. *g* At any rate, looking through my old notebooks/journals/sketchbooks has the effect of making me flip through every single one of them, albeit briefly.

While going through one of my journals, I also found an entry with brief notes I took on Persepolis for an article in the Free Press a couple of years ago. In honor of my new icon, I'll c&p them here.

FROM 2008 )

Tomorrow, I have to pick up the rest of my money in traveler's checks from the bank, and then go to the dentist for the last time in hopefully a very long while. The day after that, Ellen is coming over to help me finish the rest of my packing, and then I'm going to the pre-departure orientation in the city. Later, I'm meeting a childhood friend I haven't seen since fourth grade (!) for dinner, and then...after that? Who knows! Probably more packing, I'm sure.
wingblossom: (cookies)
I have been panicking like a crazy thing over the past couple of days. As I may have mentioned in my earlier entries, I'm getting ready to leave for Japan on July 24th. The mandatory pre-departure orientation is on the 23rd, and while I haven't finished all of my packing yet (or even pulled everything that I need out of my drawers to put into my suitcases), I'm equally worried about my mom moving out by the end of August. I know that if I just leave my stuff as is, I'll lose a ton of books and various knick-knacks that are pretty important to me, so I've been trying to figure out what to do with them.

One of my friends has offered to hold onto some of my books, which is reassuring -- but I'm wondering if it might be more sensible to put some boxes into storage instead. And then there's the question of how many books I'm going to bring with me to Japan. I doubt I'll bring much manga with me (after all, it's not exactly in short supply there), but what about all the books I've grown up with, from the novels I bought in high school to the illustrated hardcover stories I received as gifts from family friends as a kid? I don't want to pack too much, but at the same time, I don't want to forget anything that I might regret later.

The kicker is that we're only allowed to bring two suitcases with us, so it's not like I can cram the entire thing with books and be done with that. Decisions, decisions; I'm going to have to give this issue some more thought, and fast.
wingblossom: (art)
Okay, like I promised! An update on my life. It's been so long since I've written anything here; I feel like I have several months worth of catching up to do. So, first things first:

I found out about my placement with JET, and as it turns out, I'm going to be in Kobe! Not even just Hyogo Prefecture; the actual city. I...just...asj;fkfgjk, wow.



I never expected that for a second. Especially because the first choice I put down on my application was Sendai, Miyagi, all the way back in November of last year. (Which also happens to be all the way in Tohoku.) The best guess I can make is that someone saw I requested an urban placement and that my second and third-place choices were both in the Kansai region, so they figured that Kobe would be a good match for me.

I was lucky enough to visit Kobe last summer, so I have an idea of how the city looks, particularly around Sannomiya. In fact, I remember really loving the atmosphere and architecture because of its strong European influence. Still, I'm looking forward to finding out more information from my contracting organization in early July. I've heard that most unmarried JETs end up in either Hanayama or Gakuentoshi, the latter being the more suburban of the two. Since I'm pretty much dying to know more about where I'll be staying -- and what schools I'll be working at! -- I doubt these next few weeks can go by too soon.

More benefits? Excellent public transportation (which means that I don't need to get a car), plenty of options for entertainment, shopping, and food, quite a few other Kobe JETs in the area, and a tight-knit English-speaking foreigner community along with a large minority population. Since it's a port city, it also transitions from sea to city to mountains very quickly. In addition to that, I'll have the chance to visit Kobe's Chinatown! And from what I remember, it's supposed to be very metropolitan and fashionable, which should be interesting.

I was preparing to wind up someplace inaka, which I would've been happy with as well, but. Yeah. Wow.

EEEE SO EXCITED.
wingblossom: (fandom (digimon 02))
Okay. I've been stalling on this for months, but at some point I figured I should go ahead and talk about my JET interview.

Or in other words, mention everything I've been telling my friends for weeks and weeks, rather than relegate everything to the back of my head while I read JET forum posts. Which, let's be honest, is actually a very tempting option! The results of the interview I had in February are coming out sometime this week (anywhere from the first until the tenth), and as much as I'm trying to convince myself that I don't care about what happens, in all honesty, I am a little nervous.

Really. :D

Part of this may be due to the fact that the application process is so very long. The online app was up in early October, my written app had to reach the Washington consulate by November 24th, I received word that I scored an interview in early January, and my aforementioned interview was on February 16th. That's a month-and-a-half gap. And from what I've found by looking up information online, candidates in the U.S. seem to be the only ones who receive no hint as to what their chances are before the results come out.

So as of right now, I'm going to stop imagining each and every little thing I could have done wrong during the application process, and c&p some post-interview thoughts I had while talking to everyone instead.

JET INTERVIEW )

And now, all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed a few more days! No matter what happens, I think I can deal with it.
wingblossom: (fandom (tokikake))
Today, I woke up at 7:30 to see my cousin's cat sitting on top of the fish tank.

And yet, this tangent really has no point except to point out that it's snowing outside, I'm completely ready and with everything I need for the interview, leaving to go into the city soon, and I'm determined to break a leg!

Well, not literally. At any rate, though, I'm pretty excited. No matter what happens, I'll give it my best shot.
wingblossom: (Default)
I must have done something right in my application, because I just got an email from the JET consulate in Washington telling me I've been selected for an interview, mid-February.

May I allow myself a tiny moment of exultation? HELL. YES.

To say that I'm excited would be beyond an understatement.
wingblossom: (hearts)
I FINALLY MAILED IN MY JET APPLICATION *_*

I'M SO HAPPY I CAN BARELY BREATHE

NOW I JUST HAVE TO PRAY THAT IT GETS ACCEPTED

(ALSO, IT'S SUNNY OUT. AND I JUST GOT CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA AND DRIED APPLE RINGS FROM THE FOOD CO-OP. MY DAY IS COMPLETE.)

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November 2011

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