Just, Maybe...

While I've been preparing for my repatriation this summer, a strange and peculiar opportunity has possibly, maybe opened up for me, かもしれない (maybe). Ever since I submitted my form to decline the offer to renew my contract with my employer, the Board of Education, the feeling of wishing I had accepted their offer has been growing stronger and stronger each day. My friends in and around Japan have been expressing how much they'll miss me and how they wish I would stay. And usually, I would speak from the heart, and say that I wish I could stay, but it would make the medical school interviews difficult to schedule.

After having taken the MCAT a month and a half ago, my plans were slowly changing. At the end of the test, there is a prompt on the screen, asking the test taker to choose one of the following options:

A. I wish to have my MCAT exam SCORED.
B. I wish to VOID my MCAT exam.


You have five minutes to make your selection. Talk about stressful, right? So there I was, legitimately contemplating voiding the exam. My gut instinct was that I didn't do so well; the test felt rushed. So much stuff to read and so little time to read through and choose your answers. But if I didn't choose to score it, then the whole trip of returning home for those two weeks and the prep work that led up to that day would have felt like it was all for naught. And the other side of me was still curious; perhaps I did better than I thought. So I chose to score it.

In the past month, I was contemplating my plans for medical school. Regardless of my score, I knew that my chances of matriculating into med school would improve dramatically if I attend a pre-medical post-baccalaureate program at a university or school of medicine. So, my focus has shifted from applying to medical school to applying to a post-bacc program. Finally last week, I received my test results, and やっぱり (as I thought), they weren't as strong as I had hoped for. That isn't stopping me from applying to post-bacc programs, as most programs would include an MCAT review course and have me retake the test anyway. But my morale did take quite a hit.

At the end of the week, I went down to Sendai to discuss Art Show plans that MAJET is hosting. As one of the presidents of the association for JET ALTs in Miyagi Prefecture, it's one of my responsibilities to help set up events. The person spearheading the Art Show is actually one of the Prefectural Advisers for Miyagi JET participants. During an informal discussion with her, I had mentioned that "Oh, I wish I could stay in Japan." She had then informed me that another JET who lives in the southern half of Miyagi had originally accepted the offer to renew his contract, but has since declined the offer due to plans to enter a graduate program. His town is now searching for a new replacement ALT, and that new person would arrive next April, during Orientation C. That would leave the town without an ALT for 8 months.

Half jokingly, I told her that they should just send my successor over to his town so that they will have a new ALT right away and so that I could stay in my town. She said, "Hmm, maybe it's possible." She told me that it's something she would need to talk to her supervisor about, so I should send an official e-mail to the advisers so that they could discuss it. I brought up the situation to the three JTEs I worked with and they were all for the idea of me staying. The school's English system is undergoing a big change right now from Elementary and Junior High, and since I am the bridge between the two systems, my participation would be a tremendous help to them. That, and they like me as their ALT.

The problem in all this is that in February I had submitted the paperwork to my BOE stating that I would be declining their offer to renew my contract. So since then, they and my supervisor have been preparing for the hiring of a new ALT to replace me. Just last week, my supervisor had a meeting with the prefectural advisers and he had received the Reply Form from my successor stating that my successor has accepted the offer to work in my town. I had also helped my supervisor write an email to him along the lines of "We received your Reply Form. I am your supervisor. We look forward to meeting you." It's not the official contract yet, but the first communication has already begun. I hate causing trouble for other people, especially if it's my employer (it's not good to upset the people giving you money). But perhaps these inconveniences would be better in the long run?

Of course the other, bigger problem has to do with my future plans. As it stands, I will do applications online, but I'm not sure which programs require an in-person interview. Some do, but I believe some allow phone/Skype interviews, and others don't have any interviews. What's also interesting is that the different programs have different submission and due dates. I am looking specifically into programs in Pennsylvania (hopefully Philadelphia), as my home and college are both there, and I know there are some great schools.

At the end of the day, I talked about my situation with another teacher who isn't a JTE but has acted as an assistant JTE and substitute in the past. Her English is perhaps the best out of everyone else in the school due to her previous job as a flight attendant. She seemed happy and surprised that my situation has come to this, but she reminded me that while I would indeed be helpful for Shikama and its new English curriculum next term, it's not something I should worry about so much. What's more important is my future, and I need to think about that as I make my decision.

Thanks, Sensei.

Word of the Day: 多分　「たぶん」 "tabun," or "probably." My students often translate "maybe" to "tabun," but I have to correct them on the difference.

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.

Really should be going to sleep

The title of this post speaks the truth. I really should be going to sleep right now. So I'll keep this one short. Well, sorta.

But anyway, I'm here in Washington, D.C., at a good friend's place. It's technically the morning of Friday, but let's just pretend it's still Thursday night, 'cause it's only 1 AM-ish. So anyway, I stayed up incredibly late last night finishing up packing. Well, almost finishing up packing, 'cause really, I finished it up this morning. I got all of my last shopping finished. But I can't help but think that a small token from the U.S. in the form of my favorite candy bar will serve as a sufficient form of omiyage (gift). Let's hope so. Maybe I'll be able to find a few keychains or something for the VIPs.

Yesterday was quite hectic. I recycled three old computers, a CRT monitor, two keyboards, and two mice. Or is it mouses ('cause it's referring to the computer peripheral rather than the animal)? In any case, it was quite tiresome. And the dude in the store, an older-than-middle-aged man didn't seem very happy with his job. If I owned a store and was surrounded with computer eye candy all day, I don't think I'd be as apathetic as he was. But then again, maybe he's got a lot of stuff to deal with at the moment of which I'm simply not aware.

Afterward, I wanted to stop by Barnes & Noble to pick up a book called Essential Kanji. It's quite useful. Many learners of Japanese have this book, including my girlfriend; and she's not the only one who has recommended it to me. That said, GO BUY A COPY! There's an alternative book I found at the store as well called Japanese Kanji & Kana. Both of these books contain the 2000 kanji (1945 actually) that Japanese high school graduates are expected to know, as well as another couple hundred of kanji found in names. Both introduce kanji in a similar manner, teaching compound words using only kanji previously introduced in the book. Very clever. And it includes the stroke order so that you can learn to properly write the word as well. Nice! The biggest difference was that they were arranged in a different order, and the second book seems to have more of a history about where the characters came from; not 100% sure on this 'cause I only spent a few minutes in the store looking at it. And even less time on the book that I actually bought (the first one). I only meant to spend a few minutes there...I ended up spending two hours there! It's so fun to just go around to each section that you like and peruse the books there.

Today was...actually kind of sad. It was filled with a lot of lifting and reweighing of the bags to insure that they upheld the 50 lb restriction. And with my lack of sleep (only about 4 hours), I was incredibly tired. Pair the physical exhaustion with stress, and my emotions were heightened. I got kind of emotional as the time approached for me to leave. It started when my brother, his wife, and I were having lunch with my grandparents at a local country buffet. Because it was the last time we would eat a meal together for a long time. When we got home, I quickly grabbed the last bit of my stuff, and my brother and I proceeded to load the vehicle. Saying goodbye to my grandparents was the hardest part. My grandmother was telling me good luck and God bless and some really emotional words. I'll leave them out of this post; it's too sad to type. I gave them hugs and then entered the car with my brother and his wife. When we pulled away, I had to hold back the emotion as I waved goodbye.

Tomorrow is my last full day in the U.S. until I go to Japan. Pre-Departure Orientation. Am I excited? I think anxiety is a better word to describe it. But tomorrow is the easy part. It's time to look ahead.

Word of the day: 祖父母 「そふぼ」 "sofubo," which means "grandparents." Literally, the characters mean "ancestor father mother".

It's been one week since you looked at me

It's been a week already!??!?!?!?! Where'd the time go???? And there's a week left!??! Holy crap!!!

Okay, so I got all my shopping done. Well, 99% of it anyway. I might pick up some post cards and perhaps load up on deodorant. Oh, and contact lense solution. Speaking of which, I just bought a year's worth of contact lenses to bring over, but I'm worried about my prescription having changed slightly from when I requested my Yakken Shoumei and now. Hopefully, they won't care...I also had to update my glasses. Luckily, I was able to keep my sexy frames, but unfortunately, they centered the clearest part of the lenses in the middle of the lense! For most glasses, this wouldn't be a problem, but the way that these glasses sit on my nose, I'm usually looking through the upper half of the lenses rather than directly in the center. Now I'll have to push up the glasses closer to my face and hope that they don't drop down my nose. No glasses-falling-down-my-nose sophisticate look for me!

So what's left? You guessed it. Actually packing. That doesn't mean I haven't started. Oh, I've started. It's just a matter of getting the things you want into the bags they need to be in. I will be able to take a total of four bags: two pieces of luggage, one carry-on luggage, and a laptop messenger bag. That said, I'll be stuffing everything I can into my lap top bag that fits! Probably all my electronics stuff (read: PSP). I will reserve my largest suitcase for clothes that I won't need for the first few days, as I will be in Tokyo for orientation and am planning on using my carry-on suitcase for the duration of my stay there (three days or so). I should be able to fit a suit or two and daily necessities into it. But "clothes for five days" as they recommended? Maybe I'll throw a few shirts into my laptop bag, haha!

As for as for slightly smaller of the two check-in suitcases, I will stuff my toiletries and other daily necessities into it, and any remaining clothes. Not really sure about all the things I need to bring, to be honest. I mean, really, I should be able to buy anything I need while I'm there. So, just bring clothes, shoes, bathroom stuff to last a couple months, gift items, money, JET stuff, Yakkan Shoumei, International Driving Permit, emergency medical stuff, laptop, cell phone, and personal stuff like a book or two, contacts/glasses, writing utensils, sketchbook, artwork by my girlfriend...what am I forgetting?

Since time is winding down, I've been trying to plan how to see my best friend and my girlfriend one last time before I head off to the Land of the Rising Sun. This weekend will hopefully be spent seeing both (separately of course, in different cities), filled with games (Metal Gear!) and movies (Inception!).

Speaking of games, it was leaked that Thor (Marvel) and Amaterasu (Capcom) will be in MVC3. That's pretty awesomesauce. A friend of mine was saying, though, that to have them in the game is a bit of a stretch, seeing as how they are both gods, and everyone else is a mere mortal. "It's easier to suspend disbelief," he said, for fights between, say, Deadpool and Ryu, but Deadpool would never go against someone as powerful as Thor. But hey, who said you can't make fights even, right? It's unusual for someone like The Hulk to lose against some flat-top in the military (Guile) with no particular abilities except to shoot slow-moving Sonic Booms from his hands [does that even make any sense?], but it can happen in these games! I can't wait.

Word of the day: 一週間　「いっしゅうかん」　"isshuukan," or "one week." Literally, the characters are "one," "week," and "interval". The "interval" character can also be pronounced 「あいだ」 "aida", and it implies a duration of time. But it can be used as a suffix (pronounced 「かん」　"kan") to a time word to change the meaning to specify an amount of time rather than the time itself. For example, １時 means "1 o'clock", but １時間 means "1 hour."

Two weeks too late

Hah! When I said "tomorrow," what I really meant was "in two weeks." Musta been a typo. :-P But remember what I said about not being good at updating blogs? Yeah. Exactly.

SO! Today is July 15. Today marks the official "holy crap it's halfway through the month of July which means I'll be in Japan in about two weeks" day. Today is also the release of the Motorola Droid X; fitting, since I've spent a lot of time yesterday and today trying to decipher the various cell phone plans in Japan. None of the three companies seem to agree on how phone plans are laid out. That, or I just don't understand them (quite likely). In the beginning, I was leaning towards Docomo. For two reasons: 1) my girlfriend and I each got a $50 off coupon for them from Kinokuniya Bookstore in NYC, and 2) they have this phone called the docomo PRIME series F-06B. And hoooooooollllllyyyyyyy crap this phone is sexy. LOOK! THE SCREEN TURNS SIDEWAYS AFTER IT SLIDES OPEN! But Docomo's plans are all really expensive, and they don't seem to have an affordable "free/unlimited texting" plan. To make things more difficult, texting in Japan is apparently called e-mail. At least, SMS messaging with SoftBank is called e-mail. Or S! Mail. Or something. Anyway, I'll try to work it all out tomorrow. While I finish unpacking. Ugh.

I've been so busy over the past two weeks. I've had to pack up my stuff from my old apartment and move back into my parent's place temporarily until Japan. But this means packing, unpacking, and packing again! Ugh, and packing is my #1 least favorite activity. At least for activities that seemingly have to be done at least once a year.

One of the very important things I've had to take care of was purchasing Japanese money. Yes, I said purchasing. BECAUSE IT'S NOT FREE. I was under the impression that my bank would never charge me a fee, and therefore, converting money into foreign currency doesn't cost any more than the current exchange rate. And right, they don't charge a fee. Instead, they mess with the exchange rate that's used. Those punks! I checked the exchange rate on www.xe.com 20 minutes before I got to the bank. According to XE, I should have been given 88 JPY for every 1 USD. But with the exchange rate the bank gave me, I only got 81 JPY for 1 USD! That's 8% less!!! What a ripoff! Ugh, but 仕方がない as they say in Japan. Apparently, getting ripped off by your local bank is still cheaper than getting ripped off at the airport. That said, I'll try to make a note of what the exchange rate is at both the departing and arrival airport.

These past two weeks have been really hectic. I have been busy packing and moving, yes. But most of all, I've been trying to meet up with old friends to say our last goodbyes. Well not really; I'm sure I'll see them again. :-) Still, I'm finally spending more than three months away from Pittsburgh in over seven years. It's heartwrenching. And I'm glad I was able to see some of my friends before I left. I should try and make a trip out to my dojo and see my martial arts master.

While I've been at home, I've spent some time with my family. We've also done a lot of pre-flight shopping. You know, like new pieces of luggage, travel goodies, and whatnot. I even got bright neon-green tags so that I can easily differentiate my luggage from the thousands of others traveling with me to Japan! Fantastic idea. I hope. And I must say, there have been some really annoying restrictions for carryon luggage. I have been limited to a size that most luggage brands (like Samsonite) don't make! What a hassle. But anyway, I should be grateful that I found any bag about that size at all.

Now on to games. There have been some new Marvel VS Capcom 3 exhibition match videos from this year's EVO. Here they are, 'cause they're awesomely, fantastically amazing:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_O6xkbLr0A
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcag-p4Nuqs
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwtJeA2zrdQ
I also finally beat MGS: Peace Walker! Wonderful game! Absolutely great! Highly recommended for any PSP owner, and a good reason to get one. What's amusing is that new missions are unlocked after beating the game, and certain things (items, weapons, and epilogue) are unavailable until you "beat" the game. Though really, maybe I never beat the game at all, and there's another, better ending? We'll find out. And I look forward to playing the missions in co-op mode with my brother and best friend.

I was thinking about making a vlog (video log), and maybe doing it not unlike sxephil. (Watch him, he's hilarious!) What do you guys think? All two of you? Just kidding, I know I have more readers than that. All five of you. :-)

Phrase of the day: 仕方がない 「しかたがない」 "shikata ga nai." It means, basically, "it can't be helped."

IDP and NDS

I have my International Driving Permit! Yay! Now I can legally drive in all these countries! Sweet.

I still have to send in the paperwork for my Visa, but that's very quick, I hear. And tomorrow, I'll send in the forms to get the Yakkan Shomei, so I can bring my contact lenses to Japan. Maybe I should just get laser eye surgery and not worry about this stuff again...contacts, glasses, blurry vision. Hmm.

I finally worked things out with my predecessor, who has been extremely helpful with the transition, regarding the purchasing of her things (car, appliances, household stuff). I'll have to show the same kindness to my successor when the time comes.

So I've been contemplating purchasing a Nintendo DS. I couldn't decide which version (original, Lite, DSi, DSi XL) to get, so I asked my best friend, who recommended a DSi or DSi XL. After some thought, I decided that the DSi XL would be nice for the larger, easier-to-read screen. After all, I've been playing the PSP for so long, that I've gotten quite used to its large size and weight. (I looked at my friend's DS Lite and it seemed so dinky!) Anyway, my aunt was asking me about my PSP, and she had mentioned wanting to get one to play while on the airplane. She then mentioned Tetris. "Ahhh, okay, you want a Nintendo DS then, not a PSP." So off to the mall we went! And we came back with a DSi XL, a couple puzzle games, and Tetris. Nice.

I played it a bit, and I must say; the pen stylus is REALLY nice. But I'm starting to think that the DSi XL's screen, because it's so big, and because the resolution is still the same as a regular DS...doesn't really make the games look very nice. All you techheads would know that a greater pixel resolution over a small area looks much nicer (like the new iPhone 4, for example). So now I'm leaning towards a DSi. But then there's news about the Nintendo 3DS! E3 is coming up, and more info about it will be revealed then. I will definitely wait to hear more about the up and coming system before I make any purchases. It's supposed to be backwards compatible anyway, so that's good news for me. :-)

So why do I want a DS so badly all of a sudden? Well, quite a few reasons actually. But mainly because of the great number of kanji trainers and kanji dictionaries that exist on it. I need a denshi jisho (electronic dictionary) anyway, and I'm a gamer; I might as well get a DS! Plus, I can finally play the definitive version of one of the greatest games of all time, Chrono Trigger, and the plethora of other fantastic titles on it.

Word of the day: 旅行　「りょこう」　"ryokou." It means "travel" or "trip."　It's often used when describing a family vacation somewhere.

Japan Preparations

So it's Monday. About a week after I started this "blogging" business. Well, I guess technically, it's been 7 years or so. But anyway.

I have taken care of quite a few things for my preparations in Japan. Just three things left, really: 1) Get an International Driver's Permit, 2) Take care of visa stuff, and 3) Take care of prescription medication stuff, like contact lenses.

For #1, it's not a big deal; I just have to go to the local AAA and fill out a form. And yes, that means I get to drive in Japan legally! Woot! #2, I have to mail a form. #3 is the slightly annoying stuff, as it requires an updated prescription, which requires a visit to the doctor, along with a few forms to fill out (detailed description of meds), and more mailing stuff. Oh, and you have to get it all approved, so there is that slight chance of spending hundreds of dollars on medicine and then having it rejected. If that happens, the medicine must be mailed to Japan on a monthly basis, as no more than a month's supply of medicine can be imported without the approval form (known as a Yakkan Shomei).

Lastly, I am in somewhat of a dilemma. Well not really; it's just a matter of making a decision with regard to the purchase of my predecessor's things. Apparently, it seems customary to do so. The only thing is that I hate to jump into a purchase without really knowing what I'm buying. I've requested a list of the things (and hopefully a description of the status or age of the items). One of the things is a car. Hmm. Since I plan on being in Japan for an extended time (read: longer than a summer vacation), I intend on buying my "Cheap Dream Car."

You know, the car that is within a reasonable price range, and you know you want to get it, but you just don't have it yet. So it's still a "dream" car, as opposed to something in your driveway already. That car is a Toyota Celica GT-Four, from the '94-'98 models. Thing is a beauty. It's like Toyota's version of a Subaru Impreza WRX STi [car buffs should note that I intentionally referred to the car's old-school logo, as I don't really like the new models] or Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. In fact, the GT-Four has gone head-to-head against those two in rally races. Nice. Want.

I think I'll start ending my posts with a random Japanese word/definition.

Word of the day: 零　「れい」 "rei." It means "zero," though in Japan, usually they just say 「ゼロ」 "zero." Another way to refer to a "zero" character is 〇　「まる」 "maru," as you might have seen with how years are printed in the newspaper: ２〇１〇; also pronounced 「ゼロ」 "zero" when in this format.

Patiently Waiting

Well, today is June 1, 2010. This means I have two months left here in the US before I venture off to explore Japan! Due to popular demand, I have been forced to create this blog to record my various antics. It'll serve as an easy means to convey my stories to people all at once. I'll do my best to update this blog. I'm not very good with updating blogs or websites. Anyone remember my first website, back on Geocities? Then the one on Angelfire? Yeah? No. I'd be super impressed if *anyone* remembers it, but anyway, the point is that I'm not very good at updating things [proof is on my first blog, on Xanga]. Or writing. Because it takes me FOREVER to write something half-decent. And because I hate spending lots of time typing stuff, my posts here will likely have terrible writing and will be annoying to read. Have fun! :-)

So yeah, as I was saying, I'll be departing for Japan on July 31. So you better give your hugs and kisses before then! Keep in mind that this blog will contain only my adventures in Japan. Should I decide to write about things of a deeper nature (my contemplations about life, for example), I'll probably be posting that in a separate blog (maybe that Xanga one; hah!), if I decide to post it at all. Or I'll save it for material for whenever I decide to write my book. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you enjoy the ridiculous content that I'll be posting in the coming months!