Sunday, January 23, 2011

Japan in T-?????

Well, how about those football playoffs?! I'm really not super into the teams that have made it this year. DO NOT like the Steelers, and unfortunately, that is who will probably win the whole enchilada this year. The Bears bore me, and I am very indifferent about the Jets. So I guess I am rooting for the Packers? Sure, why not. I have the "warmest" feelings for them.

Japan update: we have scheduled the movers to come and pack our stuff (which is done in 3...count em'....3 shipments: Express, Standard, and Storeage). Tonight we will go through all of our belongings via Skype and decide what is important enough to move to Japan, what is important enough to move to Japan quickly, and what we won't miss. This should be awesome! We have yet to receive a sponsor which you are ENTITLED to have, and I have a terrible feeling we will be doing this whole thing without one. I am especially upset that we have emailed and called people several times who have not contacted us back at all. Very unnprofessional. We are waiting on pretty much all of our paperwork to be processed, have no idea when we are leaving for sure yet (though we should find out tomorrow...hopefully) and thus are clueless as to where we will stay for temporary lodging, whether or not we will bring the dog with us, or where he will stay if we do. I guess its kinda like a deadline at work, eventually all the pieces will fall into place and hopefully before the deadline! I will feel less stressed when it all happens.

One question I have been asked a lot is "what will you do in Japan?". Well, for starters, while this is a perfectly legitimate question and I understand where people are coming from with it, I think it is a bit unanswerable. We aren't moving there for me, we are moving there for him. I don't know where we will be living, whether or not my dog can be there, or even how to get around the island until we purchase a car and get our licenses. I definitely have not figured out what I will do for work/life. I would like to look into teaching or substitute teaching but the application packet for these are GIANT and I can't turn them in until I get there. I have also applied for several positions on base that I have been interested in, both in childcare and not. Realistically, for the first month or two or maybe even three, I will be adjusting to life, unpacking, setting up utilitites, studying for and getting a drivers license, learning my way around base and the island, and hopefully meeting people so I don't go insane. I also plan on starting an online master's program, but would like to get settled before I start. So, in short, I'm not sure yet, but we will see what happens.

Another thing I keep hearing people say is "Ew, Japan?!" or something along those lines. Hmmm..this is offensive on a few counts, the biggest being that again, I have no control over this and it certainly does not help for people to automatically start telling me how much it will suck. I really think Japan (and really, many Asian countries) get a bad wrap. First of all, most of the people who think it will suck have never been there and don't know much about it except for that its crawling with Asian people and they eat sushi. Really, Japan is home to some amazing geography and natural life. They have a culture that is unique and very different from anything we experience here in the US, and from everything I have heard, are a very welcoming society of people. There are amazing beaches, mountains, jungles, and other landscapes, and an vast array of things to do/see/experience. So yes, it may be different, but I don't think it will suck and I think people really need to open their minds more to places that are unfamiliar.

Stepping off my soapbox...

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