- Sent in my passport to get a visa for Japan
- Worked my butt off to save enough money...I'm still short of my goal of $1500, but I think I'm going to be okay after talking to my predecessor.
- Changed $500 into Japanese Yen at Wells Fargo
- Bought indoor shoes!! Stocked up on toothpaste, contacts, and deoderant.
- Studied Japanese!! (not nearly enough!)
- Watched JET Life video to get a picture of what my life is going to be like OH so soon!
- Called around to find out where to get my International Driver's Permit
- Made hotel reservations for Chicago the night before departure
- Call credit/debit card companies to tell them I'll be living in Japan
Those are just a few things if you're wondering, "What does a person do before they move to Japan for a year?!"
My placement is at a high school in Fujinomiya, a small city at the base of Mt. Fuji with a population of 125,000 people. I'll be teaching mostly 9th grade oral communication and 2 more advanced classes, as well as working with the English club at my high school. I'll also be teaching an adult class at the community center for a little extra cash and to meet some Japanese people my age. Hopefully I'll be taking some classes there as well to work on my Japanese speaking/writing/listening skills and maybe some Japanese flower arranging classes or something fun like that!
My apartment is a two bedroom with kitchen, 2 bedrooms, bathroom with shower/bath/washing machine, living room and dining room. It's basically fully furnished with dishes, cleaning supplies, tv, dvd player, microwave, heaters and fans (no AC or central heat!), other furniture and basically anything I should need for three weeks when I get paid the first time!
I've been taking in so much information the last few weeks (obviously there is a lot with a 200 page manual!) that I don't know how much to share with you all until I can do it firsthand when I arrive. Other than working and preparing for Japan, I've been working on spending as much time as I can with friends and family. My sister is home from California this week and I'm going to St. Cloud tomorrow to visit Nicole who came home from Utah in addition to spending as much time as I can with my friends and family that live around home.
And so the countdown is on... 10 days til departure!
