Golden MCAT Jetlag

The end of April and the beginning of May provided some interesting times. I went back home to the US to take the MCAT. But to avoid being jet-lagged during the exam, I left Japan 5 days prior to taking it. Thankfully, I wasn't terribly jet-lagged while taking the test; rather, I was flustered from the short time limit and long passages and long questions. The most difficult thing for me on the test is the sheer amount of reading. Perhaps if I had a faster reading speed.

Speaking of reading speed, I notice that I've been able to read Japanese faster than when I was in college. Not a lot faster, but noticeable. Reading manga has helped; I should keep it up. I've been reading a karate manga called Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru, as well as Initial D, the famous car manga that made drifting popular. And since I've purchased the manga in Japan, they are only in Japanese. As seinen manga meant for older readers, there is rarely any furigana above the kanji (which gives the pronunciation), so it's good kanji reading practice.

I just started playing two new PS3 games: Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands 2. I hadn't played Bioshock 1 or 2 yet, so I wasn't sure what I was in for. Luckily, Infinite could be played without having played the first two, so I wasn't lost in the story. And boy, what a story. It touches on a lot of social and economic issues. No spoilers, but it's a very deep game, both practically and philosophically.

Borderlands 2 on the other hand is just a lot of sheer fun. It's a first-person shooter role-playing game. Basically, lots of guns, with the ability to use new techniques in battle. Very cool concept. The most fun aspect of the games I play is character growth and new abilities. Just like the anime/manga series that I love the most, like Dragonball, Naruto, Bleach, Hajime no Ippo, etc. Growth; that's what life is all about.

We hope this little cutie grows up well

Word of the Day: 成長　「せいちょう」　"seichou," or "growth," implying "growth into adulthood. The first kanji means "to become," as in the verb 成る "naru." The second kanji means "long" as in 長い "nagai," but it can also mean "head (of) ____" as in 社長 "shachou," the head of a company.

Sakura

Spring has sprung! But then it got confused yesterday and it snowed, what the hell!? Here, check out some beautiful cherry blossoms, known as 桜　「さくら」 "sakura" in Japan.

Cherry Blossoms in Furukawa

As I write this, I'm standing at a "Free Wi-Fi Desk" at the Narita Airport. Gotta go home to take the MCAT. Again. Lol. I've taken it a few times already, but I studied this time more than last time, so I (should) have an improved score than before. But it's also been a while since I've last taken science courses, so it's possible that I've forgotten a few things that were inherently internalized way back in the day. It was fun reviewing general chemistry, as I was reminded of my high school chemistry classes.

My original plan was to apply to medical schools this summer, but to be honest, I'm not completely confident in my application. Schools get around 3000+ applications, and the class size is only about 150. That means that only 5% of the applicants actually end up matriculating to that school! But I believe the actual acceptance rate is about 20%, so that means three fourths of those invited to attend end up declining and going to another school. Anyway, in order to improve my chances, I think I should attend a full fledged pre-med post-bacc program. That is, pre-medicine, post-baccalaureate; a program that is held at a school of medicine to prepare students for matriculation into medical school. I have big dreams, but they require many small steps.

So besides studying and researching medical school, what have I done this past week or two? Oh, yeah, I bought the PS3 Initial D game. That's fun. Unfortunately, the Initial D series underwent a "cleansing" and got rid of many cars, including my beloved GT-Four. But that's okay, they still have RX-7's, WRX's, GT-R's, and Evo's. They even threw in an RX-8 as free DLC.

Also game-related, I'm finally an official PlayStation Plus subscriber! Yay free games! Really, though, I needed that service to copy my saves into the "cloud" so that I can sell my PS3 here in Japan and not worry about my files when I use a PS3 in the US. I love technology. Who knows what kinds of services and such we'll have in another 10 years?

I've noticed that I'm semi-addicted to Gran Turismo 5. And I think I've figured out why. It's not as simple as "I love cars." It's "I love cars and the game does a good job of giving me a reason to turn it on every day." And that reason is...a daily reward. Basically many games today (especially on iPhone/iPad) reward players for playing (or at least turning it own) every day. On iOS, the rewards usually cycle every 5 days, so when you play over the course of 30 days, you get each reward 6 times. In GT5's case, the reward is an incremental bonus to earned in-game currency and experience points, up to 200%. On day 6 and later, the number simply remains at 200%. But if a day is skipped, the number drops back down to a normal 100%.

I think modern RPGs should take advantage of this system. I played World of Warcraft half a decade ago and their system was to reward people when they logged at at certain locations ("Inns") by giving bonus experience points. And back then, they starting "Daily Quests" which allow a player to complete the same quest, once per day, and earn the same rewards (usually a hefty amount of gold). This killed the game for me, as I ended up grinding the same handful of quests for 3 weeks straight, playing the game only one to two hours a day and trying to figure out how to most efficiently earn the most gold in the least amount of time. And because it was the same quests, I grew bored of it quickly. My fault, yes, but it's their fault for trying to take advantage of players' greed. Hah.

Anyway, gotta pack up! I saw some pretty sakura on the way here. Here is a shot from my town! It was snowy and rainy yesterday. How peculiar.

Snow, Rain, and Sakura

Word of the Day: 咲く　「さく」　"saku" or "to bloom."

Spork

So happy that my car is back! Isn't she so sexy and clean? ^_^

Misa is back!

So yeah, I'm still going back and forth between what to do about my car. On the one hand, it's old (16, older than my students!), so it has old parts that might need replacing in the next few years/months (probably the water pump), but on the other hand, it doesn't even have 90,000 miles on it, so in theory, the car should still last much longer.

But my dad is worried that if I do run into a problem, and I need to replace a part, the part either doesn't exist in the US, and I would have to import it from Japan, or the part is no longer made altogether. And that would be a problem. But daaaaaaaamn, I did a used car search using various websites (Kelly Blue Book, cars.com, Edmunds) and anything within my price range is some old crapper with 150,000 miles on it! I feel like it would be more worthwhile spending the money on a car I'd want to bring it back. But my buddy Oreo has reminded me again of the headache involved in the process.

Other than cars, I've been stressing out about the medical school application process. Today, I investigated the "committee letter," and apparently, requirements have significantly become more steep. 100 hours of clinical experience with a letter as proof? 20 hours of shadowing a doctor? What the hell? How is an undergrad supposed to do that, let alone a post-bacc like me? It's getting me worried again. But I'm not gonna give up! I won't let these annoying hurdles stop me from my dream. I have set a goal, and dammit, I will see it through.

Last weekend, I went with a coworker to Ishinomaki, one of the areas damaged by the tsunami. There, we volunteered at a local community center where we served food and entertained guests. I was the token foreigner, so I had the pleasure of surprising people with my English and the phrase "no, I'm not Japanese!" I was assigned the task of assisting in the kid's corner, where I helped kids make a cake dessert and do arts and crafts like folding origami. I also taught them the word "spork," which in Japan is called a 先割れスプーン "sakiware supuun," which literally means "spoon with the tip divided."

I will be home in a few weeks, but only temporarily, to take the wretched Medical College Admission Test. My studies over the past few months have given me some confidence that I will do better on this test than before. But I'm beginning to get concerned about my overall application. I need to have a solid personal statement as well as a good explanation for my previous life choices (moving to Japan, working at UPMC, etc.). No use worrying about it though. Just gotta remain focused.

It's getting late, so I should sleep. But I'll leave you with this, a song that I can't get out of my head, and something which I've been practicing on the guitar. Goodnight!


Word of the Day: 迷う　「まよう」　"mayou," or "to waver" as in being unable to decide upon something.

Distraction

I haven't been able to study AT ALL today, or much this week. Which is sad, because I haven't had any classes this week, so in theory, it should have been an opportune time to study. My goal for tomorrow is to blaze through a few chapters of my review.

Anyway, the big things that have been distracting me today were mostly e-mails. One big batch of e-mails for MAJET: planning the upcoming Art Show, setting up PR (twitter, e-mails, websites, etc.), taking care of orders for publications by National AJET, handling Micro Grant Fund stuff which was set up in honor of Taylor Anderson.

The other thing that has been distracting me is my car issue. My parents replied back to me regarding my concerns, and my dad gave his advice:

Harold, my advice is for you to dispose of your car due to:
1) age of car is 16 years old - too many old parts that may have no U.S. equivalent for replacements.
2) legality of using wrong-positioned steering wheel on U.S. roads.
3) cost of tariff tax at port of entry.
4) transport cost.

Best to do:
1) Do not make any repairs now - only those necessary
2) Sell car as is to the incoming educator taking over your position or anyone else.
3) start with a brand new car in the U.S.
4) kiss your car goodbye - thanks for the safe rides it provided.

All very good advice. But heartbreaking, because I love my car oh-so-much. Also, got some bad news, Dad. I had to take the care in for its biennial check-up and it needed to get its muffler replaced. Considering all the maintenance it has already experienced, doesn't it mean that the car will be working well in the future? Or does that mean it's "prone to injury" and I should expect damage to other parts if I brought it back to the US? I need to talk to a mechanic about all this; especially one with import car experience.

If I can't/shouldn't bring it back to the US, hopefully I can sell it here. If I were to buy a new car in the US, I've been eying the new ハチロク Hachi-Roku, a.k.a. Toyota 86, a.k.a. Scion FR-S, a.k.a. Subaru BRZ.

Toyota FT86 G Sports Concept

Word of the Day: 注意散漫　「ちゅういさんまん」　"chuuisanman" or "distraction" or "lack of attention."

Old Jersey

Sometimes I forget (or am not informed) when I need a suit at work, so I show up underdressed. But then on days like last Thursday, when I do remember to wear a suit to work, there is some activity in the afternoon like cleaning (or in Thursday's case, changing desks) that calls for the athletic wear (jogging pants/jacket, or "jersey" as they are called in Japan). So, I was the guy at work wearing a white shirt and nice red tie, moving desks, sweeping floors, cleaning up cords, and vacuuming, while everyone else was dressed in more appropriate wear for that activity.

The underdresseding thing happened to me just a couple weeks ago for the closing ceremony, actually. I wore a tie, but instead of my suit jacket, I had an athletic jacket ("jersey") which teachers usually wear everyday (just not at ceremonies, usually). But I did notice that one teacher had the full athletic suit, pants, jacket, and all, during last week's ceremony, commemorating the teachers who left the school.

Today is April 1st, April Fool's Day. And lo and behold, the English teacher that I hugged "goodbye" last month is back! It was pretty funny; during the introductions, all of the new teachers are introduced to the current teachers, with "which school they are coming from," and that English teacher was introduced as having "come from this school." Heh. Anyway, glad to see her back.

Yesterday it snowed. While in other parts of Japan, cherry blossoms are blooming beautifully. I wish the nice weather would just come back already!

Word of the Day: ジャージー "jaajii," or "jersey."

Import Cars

I need some car advice. The situation is as follows:

1) I own a 1997 Toyota Celica GT-Four, which I love. It's a one-of-a-kind, and it isn't sold in the US, but it's sold in Canada, Australia, Japan, Europe. I've named her 美唆　「みさ」　"Misa." The kanji mean "beautiful" and "tempt," respectively, as in "beautiful temptation." The second kanji can also mean "to excite" or "to seduce."
2) It's a powerful car and with decent gas mileage. An average of 20.42 mpg, which I calculated myself over the course of 22 months; distance traveled over gasoline purchased. The distance was mostly low-speed, too. On the highway, it gets 27.4 mpg; again, an actual calculation with real values.
3) The car has 130,453 km (81059.7 miles) on it.
4) There have been quite a few modifications: the clutch has been replaced (before I bought it), as well as the timing belt (not sure about the water pump). I also had the stock spoiler replaced with another stock spoiler (which provides better down force and looks cooler), as well as had the shift stick replaced with a new (but stock) one. The previous owner installed a 10+1 disk CD player, DVD/TV/Navigation system, a highway card reader (like EZPass), and oil temperature/pressure gauges.
5) There was an oil leak which I got fixed.
6) The exhaust/muffler needs to be fixed/replaced. It is currently being fixed, but may not be permanent.
7) I am considering bringing the car to the US, but it requires that certain steps be fulfilled, the most important one being that the car passes inspection and meets the emissions requirements of the US; that would probably require replacing the muffler. I saw some for about $600 online, but that's the price in Japan.
8) I bought the car at a reasonable price.
9) I may or may not be able to sell my car. If I have to dispose of it, it will cost about $100-200.
10) Shipping my car and having it fixed up for American emissions/inspection may actually cost LESS than buying a used car in the US.

The issue I face is whether or not it's feasible (or even possible) to bring the car to the US. With everything I mentioned above. I really love this car, and I think it'd be super awesome if I could bring it to the US. But it's a right-hand-side-steering; I wouldn't have a problem driving it in the US, I think. Not too much anyway, 'cause I have so much experience at this point, and I've driven on 4-lane roads in Japan (2 lanes in one direction) a lot, and I often stay in the right lane. And I have experience driving on tiny roads, so I feel as though the blind spot that I would experience (when making left turns) isn't really all that bad.

If I try to sell the car, I might be able to sell it, but used cars are very cheap in Japan so I wouldn't be able to get much. Though if I sold it in the US, maybe I could sell it it for a high price because it's an import and ultra rare?

Hmm, I wish it were cheaper and easier to bring my car to the US...

Misa, in front of my Jr. High, next to an RX-8

Word of the Day: 車　「くるま」　"kuruma" or "car." The "onyomi" or "Chinese style reading" for this is しゃ "sha" (sometimes romanized as "sya"), as in 車検　「しゃかん」　"shaken/syaken," the infamous and expensive biennial car inspection in Japan.

The Decision

Back in the fall/early winter, I was approached by my supervisor about whether or not I wanted to renew my contract for another year. If I said yes, I would have been the first ALT to stay for longer than three years in this town. I was very happy to hear this offer, as that meant that they wanted me to stay and because I had been enjoying life here so much that I wouldn't mind extending my stay even longer.

So I had to weigh my options.

The plan was (and currently still is) to apply to medical schools this summer, with matriculation into medical school a year later, in the Fall of 2014. If I stayed on the JET Program for a fourth year, timing would be perfect: completion of the fourth year would coincide with the start/orientation for medical school. I would also be making the most out of my new iPhone 5 contract (which I started in October) and my syaken car inspection, which lasts for two years (and is currently being done).

My life in Japan is super fun; everyday is like an adventure. My Japanese language skills have increased dramatically since I first arrived, and even back then, they weren't too bad. Can I read a Japanese newspaper? No. Can I read Japanese manga (comics)? Yes. Well, for the most part. If I come across a word/kanji I don't know (which is often), I have my trusty "Imiwa?" app to help me. Can I watch a Japanese movie or anime? Yes, unless it's filled with jargon I don't know; but I understand at least the basic gist. What I can't do quite yet, though, is enjoy a Japanese video game that has lots of important or detailed story elements like Metal Gear Rising. I had been waiting for that game for months, and finally when it was released, I went and bought it. And most PS3 games have multiple language data on the disk, so as long as my PS3 is set to "English," the game will be, too. But noooooooooooooo, Konami decided to separate the language data between versions of the game. My theory is that because the game was released on PS3 and XBox360, Microsoft demanded that the content on the disks be exactly the same; and with a smaller capacity disk that XBox360 uses, it's likely that there are no options for multiple languages on them. Anyway, point is, I was super disappointed, and my language and kanji skills don't suffice to enjoy the conversation-heavy game to the extent that I'd like. I digress...

If I stayed in Japan longer, perhaps I could get to that point. I would need to buckle down and start learning and memorizing new vocabulary, new kanji, perhaps new grammar points. Well, at some point, I'd like to get to it. Staying in Japan would also allow me to have more opportunities to do things I haven't done yet, such as: racing up and down the mountain roads Initial D-style in Gunma Prefecture, feeding the deer in Nara, checking out Himeji Castle, exploring the beautiful shrines and temples in Nikko, climbing Mt. Fuji, or practicing some karate in Okinawa. But staying in Japan on JET for a fourth year creates a glaring problem when it comes to...

...Medical school interviews. The plan is to apply during this application cycle. That means taking the MCAT soon (April!), submitting the application materials in June, and doing interviews in the fall/winter. The problem is that I don't know when the schools would want to interview. And if I were in Japan, I would have to purchase an international round trip plane ticket to go and interview. And I would have to purchase another ticket for another interview at a different school. And again for another. That would get quite expensive. Plus, I wouldn't have the vacation days to be able to call off work so many times, and it would be a huge inconvenience to both my coworkers and my students. In theory, I could try to schedule all of my interviews at the same time/week/month, or better yet, during the holidays when I could be home. But that would force the application committee (and me) to wait. That would be no different from prolonging the application itself, and if I learned anything from past applications, it's that timing is everything. The earlier, the better.

So, I must come home! That means a lot of things. It sucks because now I know that the limits are set. I've always known that my time in Japan with the JET Program would be limited, but somehow it's sobering to know exactly when I have to go. Kinda sucks. But hey, at least I know exactly how much time I have left, and I could plan it to use the time wisely, right?

Lately, I've been doing a lot of MCAT review. So a lot of my time is spent with my head in the books. Well, book. Speaking of which, I still gotta finish today's review!

Word of the Day: 選択　「せんたく」　"sentaku," which means "selection," "choice," or "option."