After a grueling battle with various airlines, I now have my ticket to Okinawa all set and ready, and all three legs of the journey notified that I'll have a dog with me. It's a huge weight off of my mind. AND 24 HOURS IN TRANSIT. 3hrs, 2 hr layover, 14 hours, 2 hr layover, 3hrs.
I also sent off my Notification for Importing Dogs after (yay, more fighting!) another battle, this time with the fax machine. Luckily, this morning I awoke to a message in my inbox from Narita customs saying that they'd received my notification and had a few questions. And now I just sit back and wait for my confirmation number!
Here's hoping the rest of the 363287654834 sheets of paperwork go as smoothly.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Punctuation is important
As I mentioned in my last post, I was facebook-swarmed by Showa girls, which was super cute, and I got to see pictures of the fun things they've done so far in Boston, like going to Fenway and Blue Man Group and fireworks on the 4th.
One of them, who I tease by calling Yukari-sensei (she was one of the rotating tutors I had in my group), is a bubbly ball of energy who was very chipper and also wanted a bazillion pictures. Anyway, she knew that I am very poor with kanji, but I can do hiragana and katakana well. So when I posted on her Facebook wall, she was a saint and took the time to write out hiragana in her response.
And I learned something important.
When communicating with a Japanese teenager, various adorable emoticons and pretty much all of the Lucky Charms shapes are vital. More so than punctuation. It's fun, it's silly, and it makes learning Japanese feel a whole lot less scary.
I jumped on that train like a spaghetti western bandit.
One of them, who I tease by calling Yukari-sensei (she was one of the rotating tutors I had in my group), is a bubbly ball of energy who was very chipper and also wanted a bazillion pictures. Anyway, she knew that I am very poor with kanji, but I can do hiragana and katakana well. So when I posted on her Facebook wall, she was a saint and took the time to write out hiragana in her response.
 |
| I can read and understand this. Mind officially blown. |
And I learned something important.
When communicating with a Japanese teenager, various adorable emoticons and pretty much all of the Lucky Charms shapes are vital. More so than punctuation. It's fun, it's silly, and it makes learning Japanese feel a whole lot less scary.
I jumped on that train like a spaghetti western bandit.
Monday, July 18, 2011
My first foray into conversational Japanese, and I DID NOT FAIL.
On Saturday, we had a second Japan orientation, this one run by JET alums.
Side note: Go the the official orientation. I am so glad I went. Meeting people who've actually done it and seeing everyone else who's in the same boat as you really makes it feel less daunting. Also, they talk about important things, like squatter toilets :
...and banking and mail.
Anyway, this one took place at the Showa Institute in Boston, which is an awesome resource. They have sister campuses and send students back and forth for language learning. The campus is beautiful. I hate to admit, it's more than a little surreal being in a classroom geared toward teaching English, but I saw some familiar faces and a lot of my nervousness dissipated.
The first half of the day was spent on learning different techniques for listening and comprehension exercises, which was nice, but the real thing I was looking forward to/dreading was lunch and what came after: meeting the Showa students.
We went into the sun room for pizza, and met about a dozen very shy (well, most of them) Japanese college girls, and were told "socialize!" When they let us loose, the girls had the most terrified looks on their faces.
Then we descended like hawks in a field of baby rabbits, pulling some to each of our tables and encouraging them to speak English as we put together our terrible pidgin Japanese. They opened up a lot more as time went on, especially when they saw that while some of us had a few years of Japanese under our belts, others had varying levels of "none."
BUT I COULD HOLD ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS. I did! I managed to find out their names, where they were from, what year they were in, when they arrived, and a whole host of other things. Turns out, they were all 19-year-old sophomores, fresh off the plane 3 weeks ago. So as nerve-wracking as it was for us to talk to native Japanese speakers, at least we had home court advantage.
I was super nervous at first. I rehearsed things in my head before saying them, often missing my window to actually say it out loud. It was frustrating, and I quickly realized that this was Not Going to Work. Thus, my "Say Stuff and Correct as You Go" system was born. And it was awesome.
In less than an hour, I was speaking confidently and quickly, although I might not have made a whole lot of sense. But the girls were all over that. (It probably also helped that one of the teachers earlier in the day had given us a quick vocal coaching.) We got used to laughing at each other.
A lot.
The rest of the day was a lot of fun, as we rotated in little pairs and groups of english and Japanese speakers to do self-introductions and skits and whatnot. By the end of the day, the girls were a lot more social and friendly, asking to take A BAZILLION PICTURES (seriously, there are about fifty pictures of me on Facebook with a variety of Japanese schoolgirls) and asking for our facebook information.
HP commented that I was like a rockstar in the number of girls who flocked to me, further chirping that he was right about just loosening up and being a chatty, friendly person in order to win over everyone ever and make ALL THE FRIENDS.
He might be right this one time. Might be.
Side note: Go the the official orientation. I am so glad I went. Meeting people who've actually done it and seeing everyone else who's in the same boat as you really makes it feel less daunting. Also, they talk about important things, like squatter toilets :
 |
| we seriously broke Ita-san, the consul, by one of the alums giving us a detailed instruction/demonstration on the proper way to use them, and she dissolved into giggle fits for a good ten minutes |
Anyway, this one took place at the Showa Institute in Boston, which is an awesome resource. They have sister campuses and send students back and forth for language learning. The campus is beautiful. I hate to admit, it's more than a little surreal being in a classroom geared toward teaching English, but I saw some familiar faces and a lot of my nervousness dissipated.
The first half of the day was spent on learning different techniques for listening and comprehension exercises, which was nice, but the real thing I was looking forward to/dreading was lunch and what came after: meeting the Showa students.
We went into the sun room for pizza, and met about a dozen very shy (well, most of them) Japanese college girls, and were told "socialize!" When they let us loose, the girls had the most terrified looks on their faces.
 |
| oh shi- I just forgot all of my english |
BUT I COULD HOLD ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS. I did! I managed to find out their names, where they were from, what year they were in, when they arrived, and a whole host of other things. Turns out, they were all 19-year-old sophomores, fresh off the plane 3 weeks ago. So as nerve-wracking as it was for us to talk to native Japanese speakers, at least we had home court advantage.
I was super nervous at first. I rehearsed things in my head before saying them, often missing my window to actually say it out loud. It was frustrating, and I quickly realized that this was Not Going to Work. Thus, my "Say Stuff and Correct as You Go" system was born. And it was awesome.
In less than an hour, I was speaking confidently and quickly, although I might not have made a whole lot of sense. But the girls were all over that. (It probably also helped that one of the teachers earlier in the day had given us a quick vocal coaching.) We got used to laughing at each other.
A lot.
The rest of the day was a lot of fun, as we rotated in little pairs and groups of english and Japanese speakers to do self-introductions and skits and whatnot. By the end of the day, the girls were a lot more social and friendly, asking to take A BAZILLION PICTURES (seriously, there are about fifty pictures of me on Facebook with a variety of Japanese schoolgirls) and asking for our facebook information.
HP commented that I was like a rockstar in the number of girls who flocked to me, further chirping that he was right about just loosening up and being a chatty, friendly person in order to win over everyone ever and make ALL THE FRIENDS.
He might be right this one time. Might be.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Oddly major relief.
Just got pictures of our apartment. Hardwood floors, not tatami.
Oh, thank goodness. I was having nightmares about vacuuming.
Oh, thank goodness. I was having nightmares about vacuuming.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Assignment details
So, we're in Okinawa-shi, about half an hour outside of Naha on the main island.
We also have information about the previous JET's setup. It is in an apartment, not like the pile of rocks surrounded by rice fields that HP led me to believe.
The good:
The apartment allows pets
The apartment has a parking setup
Near major facilities, like hospitals and
Near many parks and natural preserves
A working (albeit sometimes unreliable) bus system
We will be inheriting the apartment from a previous JET, so it will be somewhat furnished and she'd be willing to sell us her car
About a 2 mile walk from HP's grandmother's house
THERE ARE DOLLAR STORES
The bad:
It's a 1LDK, so it's likely a two-room setup (although the setup for the standard 1LDK is this, which I find totally comfortable)
The rent is fairly high for a JET (though we don't know if the school will subsidize cost of living, which many do)
The key money is high (about $3k, but see the note above)
So, this is independent of the school. We don't know if the contracting organization will be covering any of it, or if they'd have a certain setup that they would be able to subsidize. Though if they did, the option they'd provide probably wouldn't allow pets.
Ughh. It doesn't seem like a huge problem, but until I get a steady income, money will definitely be an issue. And while we'll have things (like two fold out mattresses, fridge, rice cooker, table), there will be move-in expenses, obviously.
Money doesn't seem super dire, though. I mean, if one JET on her own could afford this and make it work, then two people working definitely should, right?
...Provided I don't cover the house in random Japanese dollar store merchandise?
 |
| That's us in the fuchsia. |
 |
| This is the image he painted. He may have been messing with me. |
The good:
The apartment allows pets
The apartment has a parking setup
Near major facilities, like hospitals and
Near many parks and natural preserves
A working (albeit sometimes unreliable) bus system
We will be inheriting the apartment from a previous JET, so it will be somewhat furnished and she'd be willing to sell us her car
About a 2 mile walk from HP's grandmother's house
THERE ARE DOLLAR STORES
 |
| I WILL BUY ALL THE THINGS. KAIMASU YO. |
The bad:
It's a 1LDK, so it's likely a two-room setup (although the setup for the standard 1LDK is this, which I find totally comfortable)
The rent is fairly high for a JET (though we don't know if the school will subsidize cost of living, which many do)
The key money is high (about $3k, but see the note above)
So, this is independent of the school. We don't know if the contracting organization will be covering any of it, or if they'd have a certain setup that they would be able to subsidize. Though if they did, the option they'd provide probably wouldn't allow pets.
Ughh. It doesn't seem like a huge problem, but until I get a steady income, money will definitely be an issue. And while we'll have things (like two fold out mattresses, fridge, rice cooker, table), there will be move-in expenses, obviously.
Money doesn't seem super dire, though. I mean, if one JET on her own could afford this and make it work, then two people working definitely should, right?
...Provided I don't cover the house in random Japanese dollar store merchandise?
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Ugggh. I take that last post back.
No win.
No win at all.
Just got off the phone with my mother-in-law. We're in the process of planning the reception down in Virginia for her side of the family who couldn't make it to the New England wedding. Trying to plan around it is incredibly stressful for everyone involved, with the transit, hotel, party planning, work and trying not to upset anyone which is incredibly difficult when you're already strung out from all the other things. We've been playing phone tag for about a month now, and my parents were starting to get close to deadlines for planning their trip down. I called my MIL today to get some straight answers, and instead got a bombshell.
HP's japanese grandmother is in the hospital, and doing poorly. She's 93, and she's tired. And in Okinawa. If she gets any worse, HP and his dad will want to go visit her, and his dad has pretty much told him to be ready to go at any point.
This means that he probably won't be coming back before orientation. I lose him a month and a half early, and I therefore lose my main support for moving to another country, learning an entirely new language, and leaving my whole circle of friends and family.
This also means that he may not be getting his master's degree, as he's not scheduled to complete it yet. And that the reception in VA will be completely moot and all this stress and planning will go out the window.
This also means that I'll be packing up the entire fucking house by myself.
I should've seen this coming, though. I was doing ALL THE THINGS! to prep, and they were going picture-perfectly. I'd finished learning katakana and moved on to kanji, I'd gotten through another chunk of Rosetta stone, I was using Japanese in the home and in conversations with HP, the dog-prep was full of happy coincidences in my favor and I was so on top of things it was like I was some kind of motivational superhero with eyes that shot "YOU CAN DO IT" lasers.
I blame the JET orientation. It lulled me into a false sense of security by being full of cool, happy people who made this whole crazy idea seem totally feasible.
No win at all.
Just got off the phone with my mother-in-law. We're in the process of planning the reception down in Virginia for her side of the family who couldn't make it to the New England wedding. Trying to plan around it is incredibly stressful for everyone involved, with the transit, hotel, party planning, work and trying not to upset anyone which is incredibly difficult when you're already strung out from all the other things. We've been playing phone tag for about a month now, and my parents were starting to get close to deadlines for planning their trip down. I called my MIL today to get some straight answers, and instead got a bombshell.
HP's japanese grandmother is in the hospital, and doing poorly. She's 93, and she's tired. And in Okinawa. If she gets any worse, HP and his dad will want to go visit her, and his dad has pretty much told him to be ready to go at any point.
This means that he probably won't be coming back before orientation. I lose him a month and a half early, and I therefore lose my main support for moving to another country, learning an entirely new language, and leaving my whole circle of friends and family.
This also means that he may not be getting his master's degree, as he's not scheduled to complete it yet. And that the reception in VA will be completely moot and all this stress and planning will go out the window.
This also means that I'll be packing up the entire fucking house by myself.
 |
| this is my face right now. |
I should've seen this coming, though. I was doing ALL THE THINGS! to prep, and they were going picture-perfectly. I'd finished learning katakana and moved on to kanji, I'd gotten through another chunk of Rosetta stone, I was using Japanese in the home and in conversations with HP, the dog-prep was full of happy coincidences in my favor and I was so on top of things it was like I was some kind of motivational superhero with eyes that shot "YOU CAN DO IT" lasers.
I blame the JET orientation. It lulled me into a false sense of security by being full of cool, happy people who made this whole crazy idea seem totally feasible.
Assignment get!
Found out yesterday that we'll be in Okinawa-ken ( 沖縄県 ) !
Yay:
Near my new in-laws
NO SNOW
Coconut-flavored everything
Higher likelihood of an english-speaking vet
Being near the sea might take care of the tropical humidity
Shisa are goddamned adorable
Boo:
Near my new in-laws (OH GOD I HOPE THEY LIKE ME AND I DON'T MAKE AN IDIOT OUT OF MYSELF)
Little mass transit; will likely need a car
Anti-American sentiment might make becoming friends a bit tougher
High volume of English speakers means that it's easy to cheat and not learn the language
Farther away from mainland japan means less ease of sightseeing
Ridiculous heat
So I'm hoping for the best. Adventure time get!
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