Just going with it!

I am a true believer of life turning out the way it needs to. Like my study abroad; didn't get to Waseda got into Toyo and met my BFF.

Well it's official now. I will start with Interac by the first week of July. The time is not official yet but they guessed that I would be done getting my visa in time for the first week.

This is amazing! ^^ everything is working out great!

I will get the signing bonus on my first pay check as well as up to 250,000 yen move-in assistance. No help with the flight but that's ok. I ran the numbers and looked at a multi-city flight consisting of flying to Tokyo back to California for August break and then back to Tokyo after the wedding and it was only $1600 not bad for 3 flights!

So what does this mean about my worries?

Driver's Licence --> will be in the states for my DMV test ^.^ V setting another appointment incase I fail it lol also going to call AAA about getting the IDP with my temp licence with someone sending my DL when it comes.

The wedding --> Will be in the states to get my dress and get it altered. I'm not sure if I can pick it up but I don't think it'll be much of a problem. my biggest worry about it is losing too much weight and the dress not getting altered in time ^^; not a bad worry!

When the earthquake hit and I watched the Tsunami happen live on TV I wanted to be in Japan and do what I could to help people. Now I can help in a way that is best suited for me. Leaving early means I'll 'most probably' be placed in a prefecture most affected by earthquake and tsunami. This means Miyagi, Ibaraki, Fukushima and Iwate. So in a small way I get to help life get back to normal after what happened! ^-^ V

Wow! in about 7 weeks I will be starting my new life! I can't wait!

Starting in June!?

Ok so today I learned that I did not get the ideal summer job I wanted. This changes plans. I did two things.

1. my friend who said she'd give my resume to her summer school program at work. I have not hear anything more after that so I messaged her again ^^;

2. Emailed Interac about the signing bonus for starting before June 19th.

It's starting to look like starting in June would work money wise especially with these incentives.

Interac offers the following incentives for people willing to go anywhere in Japan and start before June 19th, 2011:

1. Signing bonus of JPY100,000 (paid with first salary)
2. Round-trip airfare
3. Start-up accommodation assistance - Key and deposit money up to JPY250,000
4. Monthly rent assistance up to JPY75,000 (depending on contract)
5. Monthly salaries from JPY90,000 (plus free accommodation, reimbursed airfare, signing bonus) to JPY250,000 (plus signing bonus, start up accommodation assistance)

Well the only problem is that I hear that the training will start on June 13th and right now that is the set date for my driving test so... no driving licence. I did make it clear in my email that I would not be able to take a placement where driving is required.

What makes me think this might stop all ideas of me leaving in June is this on their postings about the bonuses.

"Driving will be required for some positions, a valid Japanese or International Drivers' Permit is highly desirable."

I like that it says "some" but we'll see. It's already 2 in the afternoon in Japan and haven't gotten a reply from the Tokyo office at all.

The good about leaving:

• My retail days are numbered.
• Starting my new life even sooner.
• My brother wouldn't have to worry about any saving to help me.
• I would get to be near areas affected by 3/11 and help in getting life back to normal.
• I would get to most likely live in Yukiguni! ^-^!

The bad:

• I would have 4 weeks to pack my life up and get all visa things taken care of.
• Maybe placed where I don't need a car but an 1hr bike ride will get me to a school.
• Most likely will have to drop out as a bridesmaid in my friends wedding.
• Won't get my driver's licence in the US

The more I look into it and think more on it the more I want to leave in a few weeks! Since I'm working part time I can work and pack my life in a few weeks. The bike ride would suck with rain heat or snow but it won't kill me and a good way to get in shape. And with the signing bonus I might just be able to come back in August. Have my friend send me the dress and I'll get it altered in Japan some how. And driving... well I'm not going to make the 90 day deadline for having a licence in the US before leaving so I would have to do driver's training in Japan anyways.

I can't fully plan or anything until I hear back from Interac.... my fingers are crossed though!

Another Email from Interac - Thanks for accepting!

Dear Noriko, (LOL My name is not Noriko! ^^)

Thank you for your email. Please call me Dariya. We thank you for accepting
the offer of employment and look forward to working with you soon.

Thank you for sending the required attachments, we were able to open them
and will begin to prepare your certificate of eligibility application
package.

We look forward to receiving original copies by post, please send them at
your earliest convenience.

As it can take up to two months to complete the visa application process, we
ask that you submit any outstanding documents as soon as possible.

You should soon receive an email from our Placement Department asking you to
complete our online Interac Resume.

It is important that you complete this takes as we will use this resume to
introduce you to our clients and finalize your placement.

As you can see, the sooner you complete the resume, the sooner we will be
able to begin the placement process on your behalf.

Once again, we thank you for your continued interest in working for Interac.
If there are any further points we can help or advise you on in the
meantime, please feel free to contact us again.

---------

Well the name thing is understandable... I wonder how many emails they've been sending out. Dennis the main recruiter's email has been full and bouncing back my email.

I mailed out the paper work today... Express~.... for $30 -_- oh well it'll get there fast at least!

I am starting to worry about the Japanese Level Check part of the application or i guess now placement process. Basically, it'll be a phone conversation with a native speaker. Starting off easy and getting harder. I'm getting out of practice and my speaking skills are the least developed. Sure after a week in Japan i'll do amazingly getting the Japanese part of my brain turned on... but now... I'm worried. lol It's just my typical worrying and i'm sure it's nothing at all to worry about. I haven't heard anything about it from Interac and I read in a blog I'll get an email saying they'll check my Japanese level with phone call between this time to this time. so i'll get notice.

hmm more reason to start a Japanese language vlog as well

Interac Co., Ltd - OVS Offer of Employment Fall 2011

Interac Co., Ltd. takes great pleasure in offering you a position as a Language Instructor. Detailed instructions about how to proceed from this point are outlined below.

PROCEDURE

First of all, we ask that you read the attached 'Offer Letter'. We are also sending the 'Offer of Employment', 'Certificate of Eligibility Application Form' and a 'Requirement Form for Eligibility' checklist for you to complete and return with your visa application package.

Please note that the offer of employment is merely a document required in order to apply for your visa. So therefore, the salary used is the Guaranteed Minimum Salary which is 230,000 JPY. Your actual salary will depend on the location and type of assignment, as well as Japanese Language skills. Upon arrival in Japan, you will sign a contract of employment with more detailed information.

Please read the Offer of Employment letter, as it contains the complete list of items that you will be required to send back to us.

When you return your package, please attach the 'Requirement Form for Eligibility Checklist' and tick which items you are sending to us, and which are already held by Interac.

LIST - we already have from you

1) Two identical passport size photos

2) Resume (minimum one page)

3) A copy of the inside page of your passport, which includes your photo and personal details

4) A copy of your university diploma

5) One original (no copies allowed) document to verify your graduation. If you do NOT have an original transcript, you will be required to send us your original university diploma.

LIST - items still required

6) Offer of Employment (attached with this email) - please sign and date in handwriting only (typing NOT allowed)

7) Application Form for Certificate of Eligibility (attached with this email) - please type or handwrite and complete this form

8) Required documents check list (attached with this email)

***IMPORTANT***

In order to process your working visa, we need you to sign item 6) scan it and email it along with item 7) (which can be completed as a word file) as soon as possible. Please ensure that you use "reply to all" option when replying to our Offer of Employment and all other correspondence.

Should you not have access to a scanner, please FAX 6) and email item 7). Please ensure that you use the appropriate international dialling code from your country to Japan. As the quality of faxed documents is not always acceptable, Interac may ask you to fax items 6) and 7) again in order to be able to prepare the certificate of eligibility application.

Regardless of whether you choose to scan or fax items 6) and 7), it is essential that you then post the originals by surface mail to the address at the bottom of this email including any other outstanding documents included in the above list.

Please respond to the offer indicating if you intend to accept or decline by return email within five days of receiving this Offer of Employment to ensure we are able to begin the visa process.

It is important that we receive all items required to begin the visa process as soon as possible, in order to avoid unnecessary delays in obtaining your certificate of eligibility which would in turn result in you being unable to come to Japan.

If we have received no response within ten days then we will assume that you are choosing not to accept a position with us.

If you have any further questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We look forward to receiving your completed package soon and working with you in Japan.

--------------

It is with great pleasure that I accept the position! ^^ I got everything already done and will be sent out ASAP!

There was an added note of

Please note that we currently have positions starting before the beginning of the second term of the school year. If you are available to arrive in Japan earlier, please let us know so that we can send you information on the conditions we have on offer for candidates willing to arrive in Japan by mid June, 2011 and accept any placement that becomes available.

I admit that I would love to take up that offer and toy'd with the idea of flying back in August for the wedding I'm in but hearing some of the bonus package it's just not enough for leaving. My worry is the amount they want you to have to pay for moving into your apartment and I just don't have that now.

I can't wait to learn more about it!! ^^

キタ━━━━(゜∀゜)━━━━!!!!

My daruma!

So to put it the best way....

キタ━━━━(゜∀゜)━━━━!!!!

A few minutes after I went to sleep I got an email with my employment offer from Interac! So so so Happy! Waking up to that email was amazing! So it's official I will be moving to Japan this August!!

I'm thinking Orientation will be.. around August 22nd well I hope so anyway because that would be the first week I can leave lol. The wedding i'm a bridesmaid in is on the 15th so I was thinking of leaving around the 16th or 17th. Spend some time seeing the old Tokyo sites and friends before orientation!

I learned that a good friend of mine will be back at home in Japan for the summer (HI-KA-RI-!) I hope I get a chance to meet up with her before she heads back to Hawaii for her last semester. I hope i get to see her but I may not be able to see her until she gets back from UH.

So I already have the paperwork finished... outside of the hand written form I have to finish. too soon to mail it off to Tokyo!?

I really can't wait!! So much work I need to do to pack everything. Get another large suitcase as well... wonder if Target has what I would be looking for...

So much to think on and get ready! And only 3 months to get ready! ^^

A people person

Orz Interac!! I got an email yesterday saying that my documents have been sent to Tokyo and I will hear from them in the next 3 weeks.... the next 3 weeks!? I have survived a lot of things in my life but the wait to hear back from Interac might just do me in lol ^^;; Richelle the SF recruiter said that once Tokyo gets my file then they have 7-10 days to decided if I'm in. Since I don't know how my info was sent (snail mail or email??) and through in that it's Golden Week at the moment I don't know when to start counting! @_@

And I haven't heard back from the Harker School yet. Though Anthony said Monday of next week... might just mean next Monday ^^; Though the sentence 'I believe that you've a strong application...' I am keeping at the front of my mind as I wait. Along with Richelle saying I'd be a great addition.

I hope I get the Harker School summer camp job. Target is nice to a point but retail is just not what I should be doing. The way things get ran sometimes is silly.

Speaking of that the more I work at Target I think I might be an oddity of the human race. I love interacting with the customers and I work hard. Sure I might not start counting my break until the moment I sit down with my soda to rest but when there is no one to ring up I leave my lane and start cleaning up around my area or taking the hand held baskets back to where their kept. Well my coworkers don't do that. They wonder off and try to do the whole 'look busy without really doing anything' thing. That just shows their immaturity i guess.

Though interacting with the customers.... One guy bought a lot of things around... $200 and he had a ton of coupons! In the end it turned out he only had to pay around $18 dollars. Amazing!!

My favorite thing so far was when a women came up with a pregnancy test and I rang her up and then moved on to the next customer who was her friend. She too was buying a pregnancy test. They laughed and said they were really good friends and did everything together so why not this. It was touching and sweet. ^^

I guess I'm just a people person ^-^;

waiting with fingers crossed.