ONE OK BUNNY vs the other ALT

I really neglect this blog! Sorry! Not that many people read it XD

I do post a lot on my vlog though lol This I did not feel as comfortable talking about that way and it is just easier to rant typing.

So how it started I guess... I love working with my 1st years! It is so fun... well usually. So a while back when I got sick I guess. The JTE for my 1st year invited the other alt to his house. Then it seems sometime since then the JTE went to the other alts house. Adding to that the ALT asked to see more (teach more) of the 1st years.

Result I am dropped from all 1st year classes.

Now not completely but what classes I had with them the other ALT was there too and it was very clear I was support and the other ALT was lead. The JTE stopped talking to me about changes in class content and whenever I asked do you want me or the other ALT to do something the answer was the other ALT.

Now the 2nd years... well I love the teacher but the second years are really your classic human tape record teaching. I only read words and dialogue and sometimes i don't even do that when the JTE plays a CD instead. >_<

So the shame and confusion in all of this that this other ALT is not being renewed. Sure I have yet to hear but I haven't heard bad news yet either. I am more out going and animated in class though... so I wonder did I do something wrong?

Oh right and the kicker sending me to the edge before today? We have a sub ALT with us for a few weeks to make up English hours at my school. He is to be with me.. in second year classes... so meaning I really have no work! And when asking the second year teacher if she wanted me or the sub alt to do the flash cards.... the JTE told me to tell the sub how to do it *dies*

Today it came to a head... this whole thing just kept making me feel worse and worse.

A recruiter for the UK section of Interac came to watch the other ALT ( the ALT is from the UK) in class. Not even being renewed but being shown off?? what?

Now understandably so the other ALT is not too thrilled with the new work load and focus since there are only 4 weeks left for them anyway. Everyone knows that feeling when the job is coming to an end you don't want to do anything XD

I did a warm up and it went over really well and the kids loved it. Even got great feedback from the JTE and asked about leveling it up. So I did it first period but passed on it second period because the other ALT was asked to do something. There was a reading test of reading aloud from the text to the ALTs and the other ALT was asked to give an example of good and bad reading.

I really wish I did my warm up cause the branch manager came with the UK Rep.... the branch manager even came up after saying she didn't know I would be there or she would have told me she was coming. >_< FORGOTTEN!

So the next class we had I wanted to do my warm up again. Going great as usual but then it came for me to check the answers and do a little repeat after me... the JTE asked the other ALT to check the answers........................

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Yup! straw that broke me!

When the student rep from the 3rd year class I was going to eat lunch with didn't know my name or who she was going to get for lunch I almost started crying right there. Granted I don't teach the 3rd years at all but still just bad.

Lunch did end up cheering me up a bit thankfully. ^^;;

The last class we had today (all classes we had were the three of us JTE, me, other alt) It was going so bad with the other ALT so I kept giving help and kicking myself. Like telling the other alt that they look really sleepy so do the activity with them standing up.

This week is over now and it will be another week before the sub alt comes back for a couple weeks.

ok I think just ranting about it helps lol The other ALT knows how much this is bothering me and when I said I was sorry for complaining cause well here I am still with a job and they were fired you know. They said it was ok cause it sucks for me too.

Oh well it's friday I can relax for the weekend and be fresh on Monday. And if there is another drinking night with the JTE this weekend maybe the other ALT will tell him what's going on XD well at least that they aren't renewed or something saaa

ONE OK BUNNY vs the salon

Hello! Happy New Year!! and all of that ^^

I don't know why but when I get stressed, depressed or something along those lines, something gets done to my hair. Shortly after I got back to Hawaii after the summer of 2009 I chopped my to about a half inch above my shoulders which was a first in a long time besides my hair was almost to my waist at that point.

I walked by a super cuts in Waikiki, walked in and had my hair chopped off no real reason just needed to change something or have control over something. I again a while later started stressing of keeping up with school work, applying for JET, and depression that in the shower one day I just out my hair in a ponytail and cut it ^^;;; Didn't do that bad a job at it.

So I think my decision yesterday while watching the Tale of Genji at the theater steams from recent stress but also it was a mess and needed work XD

Yesterday I walked into a local salon and asked if I could get a cut and color. I have been worried about color reading stories about Japanese color being harsh on western hair esp bleach. As the hairdresser put it 'High Bleach' would be needed for my roots XD

So I make an appointment for today!

It was actually a great experience. I did kind of want something more drastically different cut wise but I like it! ^^ For some reason when I would go get my hair done with something in mind I never got it but ended up loving what I got. So today the only thing I wanted was for my roots to match the rest of my hair and not have it fall out XD

When it comes to the salon I am really submissive, quiet and if I'm in pain I hide it as well as I can. The only thing I think I'm missing is that I want my bangs thicker but it's ok ^^

So he talked to me quite a bit and we talked on a lot of topics. He used to go to the JHS I teach at when he was in Jr High and said one of my students comes to the salon ^^ We talked on music and he loves Aerosmith and Oasis. Told me he was fishing at a beach once and ran into Kimura Takuya from SMAP who was surfing with his wife.

The salon is really close to my apartment which isn't saying much since there are like 5-10 salons or barbers in a 1km radius at least. I hardly see if use when I walk by on my way home and he seems to be the only one working there. He was alone when I went in last night saying that he was too busy to take me and to come back tomorrow and he was alone when I came in.

I don't know his name but I think I will be going there a lot. 7000 yen really isn't a lot for cut and color. Only thing that sucked was the chair he moved me to so I could look at magazines while the bleach sat my leg started falling sleep XD I was so worried when he asked me back to the salon chair that I wouldn't be able to walk lol

Still on winter break until the 10th! but an all day training 9:30-16:15 on Saturday. I get to see people!! No more lonely bunny! at least on that day ^^7

ONE OK BUNNY vs the sickness

So here it is. I will soon be here for 5 months on the 7th and I got sick!

I have felt off a bit like I was getting sick before but increased my Vitamin C and got better.

Now my throat hurts and it's a little painful to talk. This is day 3 and in a couple minutes or so I am calling the number you need to call when you are too sick to go into work.

I should have done this yesterday. After waking up feeling bad I spit a little blood and wasn't worried about it because it really wasn't a lot. Same thing this morning.

ok just called in and I got the day off to rest and yes they wanted me to go to the doctor! ^^;;

In Japan because the health care is so good at the first sign of a cold people will go to the doctor. I am sure that is an over generalization and a stereo type but stereo types are stereo types for a reason.

I haven't had health care for years so I'm used to just bedding down with some interesting feel good movies and riding the illness out. I did buy meds so that calmed the companies nerves.

So this is about being sick in Japan. As I said I am used to riding it out. Get some nyquil take a big dose and sleep. When I worked at Macy's years ago i would start getting sick on my last day off before like 3 or 4 days straight full time. So I took nyquil at night dayquil in the day and do my best to get through it. As far as I know Japan has nothing like that.

The first time I was really sick while I was studying abroad I was watching TV and saw a commercial for meds. It got my attention because it was Yankumi from Gokusen staring in it. Well it was Nakama Yukie ^^ And it was simple Japanese "anata no kaze doko kara desu ka? " (Where is your cold from?) "Hana kara, Nodo kara, Netsu kara?" (From the nose, throat or fever?) Each box has a color Yellow=nose Silver=throat and Blue=fever. My nose was so so stuffed and all that so I got the yellow box and it was amazing ^^ V

So this time around I got the silver box. And as soon as I finish this entry I am going to make some breakfast and take my first dose of the day. I took it when I got home and had dinner last night and I passed out for oh 13 hours. not surprising I was so tired and sleepy at work.

Work was hard. The teacher knew right away I wasn't ok and said "Genki nai!" and asked why. I said I caught a cold and in the second class I said I have a cold and it became a lesson for the students as they looked up words Cold, Sick and Fever in their dictionary. After that since it was hard to talk and do the flash cards and what not my JTE took pity on me and told me for the rest of the day I can sit in the teachers room.

So lunch I am to eat with the students but if I'm sick I am not going to do that. So the other JTE bless her heart went to call the class to come get me and I tried to stop her but just couldn't. I couldn't make words come out fast enough. So my amazing VP at the school asks me if I want to eat in the teachers room. I nodded and just then the students came in to get me. He started off with a "honto sorry!" to them and explained I wasn't feeling good so I was eating there. <3

I am so thankful for that cause I felt so much worse when I got up on my feet to go to the restroom or something so staying seated was very nice ^^

After work I walked to the local Matsumoto Kiyoshi which is 700 meters or so from my apartment and 30minute walk from the school. I wanted to get a pain reliever as well but only had enough cash on me to get the small box of silver meds and a thermometer...which I am not sure if it works lol it keeps showing my temp at 35.9 or 36.6 which is lower then a normal temp should be i think ^^;;; The box of 18 pills was 1180 yen (2 pills, 3 times a day) and the thermometer was 980 yen or something s0 expensive! The was the cheapest one too.

I should probably go to the doctors but i really don't want to spend the money but we'll see how the meds work today and that 13 hours of sleep does me ^^;;

ONE OK BUNNY vs over productivity!

Hihi!

Been a while since I wrote here! Sept. 16th O_O way too long!

I have been trying to keep up with video vlogs and felt like I would be repeating things on here so haven't updated ^^ gomen gomen!

So I came up with the great idea of making my own 'Apples to Apples' cards for my 1st years at my Junior High. Wow what was I thinking! lol I love the game but didn't think how much work it would be!

I ran it by my JTE and he went for the idea and said he'd copy and laminate them. I love working with my JTE for the first years but get left with the feeling of not doing enough for him. I feel like I disappoint him a lot so when he wants me to work on something I go right into it and work hard on it and as fast as I can.

So it's been about a week or so and I have finished 81 cards for the game on the computer. Last week after I told him about my idea I went home and made one set of cards for red and green with nine cards on each sheet. I showed it to him the next day and he loved it and he wants 8 sets of the card.... I tried to keep him to six but nope he wants 8 ^^;;; So now a week after I told him about it I finished the cards and brought them in on a USB drive to print them out....

omg I'm just thinking on that now I made 81 cards but 9 cards on one A4 paper...so 9 but 8 sets of that 9 and that's 72 and there is a second page that has the back of the card so that is 144 sheets of paper I used.... wow!

ok it's freezing and I'm still a little =( so going to make hot chocolate and marshmallows! BRB haha

Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate baby!

Where was I? oh right! cards.

So the second year JTE had time and helped me out with printing. She even suggested using another color printer that was cheaper on ink or something. She was a great help!

So I got all the papers printed and started laminating them. I'm not sure how many i did before I realized that there were only 6 laminating sheets left. I was going to ask if there was another box but had classes to get to.

Well I went away to brush my teeth after lunch cause that's what they do here ^^ I walked back into the teacher's room and the Vice Principal was talking with the 2nd year JTE about my laminating. I heard her explain that she had nothing to do with it but was asked to help out. It seems that with the open class tomorrow the vp was thinking of using a bunch of laminating sheets!

FAIL!!!!!!!!!!!

In standard Japanese form they made it seem like they were worried about when I had to have the cards done. I have no deadline at all, I just wanted to get it done ASAP. So the VP decided he didn't need to laminate the paper he's hanging up. The one for the English room said English 4th period... we'll see how that goes!

So being over productive got me in trouble ^^;;

I was upset that I messed up and caused a problem and the 1st year JTE came over to me before class and told me not to worry about it. He joked saying we had bad luck that hardly any laminating gets done but they needed to laminate now. He also said that my wanting to get it done was right.

I am going to apologize again and again tomorrow. bluh I don't like causing problems for others at all. I am loving this school and really hoping i can continue to work there next year too!

in a smaller point but maybe more important...

Yesterday had a 5.5 quake on the fault 5 miles away and it really scared me. Broke 2 dishes and olive oil too. Now I'm freaked when I feel little quakes....

ONE OK BUNNY vs the first worst day

This was my first full week since I started teaching. Once I finally got my JHS schedule for the week on Monday I was worried about Friday since I had 5 classes. Up until today I have been teaching at most 4 classes in a day... I would say that might be normal since most school years only have 4 different classes. I had my first couple of classes with the 2nd year students at my JHS. After a quick introduction I took half the class for English speaking tests. It was basically their self introduction to me. I really wish I had an amazing memory that would remember all 30 or so students that introduced themselves to me. After one class of that I had break.

In the teachers room working on my coffee the first year teacher comes up to ask about today's plan. On my schedule I had oral intro and interview activity. I assumed the intro would be changing the books dialogue a bit so I didn't think of anything of it. The interview activity was something that i would assist with by reading the dialogue and going out and asking students. Nope! I was to come up with a script for the opening dialogue as a warm up and an interview activity. O_O!

I was so used to my ES laying out every step for me and just being a human tape recorder with the JHS I don't even think of needing to come up with something! He seemed to think that was ok for the day and said he had ideas and things set.... he had print outs of the interview activity for all 3 classes so i don't know what he wanted really. He said to watch and not take part in class.

So after another round of speaking tests with the 2nd years I had my first class of 1st years of the day.

I really did nothing the first lesson... I felt like I was being punished! He read out the dialogue and everything and I was only asked to walk around to check work or to help with the interviewing. ugh it felt like time out lol. By the end of the class I was really dizzy and returned to the staff room shaking a bit. I had some water and hoped the class I was to have lunch forgot about me. The class I was to eat with was the first year English teacher's class as well so I wanted to try my best with talking with the students but in my state that wasn't going to happen.

They came for me and I went and ate lunch in the classroom and didn't speak. In schools here there is a set time for the kids to eat so once time is up they clean up finished or not and brush their teeth. So when it finished I went back to the staff room feeling a little better.

Lunch break finished and I headed for class 5 minutes before it started and when I got to the classroom I noticed the teacher had already started class. I walked up to the door and looked at the clock sure enough it was still 3 minutes before class was to start and he was already going. When he finished the warm up activity he talked to me and I asked if I was late and said I was sorry. He said class started at 50 not 55... i swear it starts at 55! ^^;;; He said it wasn't that big a deal and told me he wanted me to read the dialogue.

After that it was fun again! ^^ The kids seemed more brave to come up to me with their interview sheet as well. Needless to say I checked what I need to have prepared on Tuesday! lol

I think the biggest brainstorm is how to make the reading assignment more interesting and fun. Right now I read and have them repeat word by word then sentence by sentence. a little boring ne

So far my worst day at work... mainly because I messed up (not prepared and seemingly late to class) It wasn't that bad so I hope it stays the worst... but as you see by the title.. not a lot of hope for that lol

ONE OK BUNNY vs the Revenge

So for those who might not know in Japanese saying rebenji or revenge means more a loser who returns in hope to win. Today was my second time with my 6 year students. It was my first day last week so I bombed a bit during my lessons last week. So today I wanted to show them what I got!

Last week I had a change in the class schedule; the last class of the day became the first. I admit it was nice to get all 4 classes done before lunch and then sit around for the rest of the day ^^;; Well that class stayed where it was as the last class today. So far I noticed that the 6th years are going to be my tough year for my ES. There is one class that seems to have no interest in English; when asked to repeat there are only a couple who do it so most of the time I have to have them do it a couple times.

There was a part of my lesson plan that said to ask the teacher I was working with "Can you play Soccer?" and they answer. Well it went fine enough with the first class. When it came to the second class I was with a teacher who likes to sit back and not do anything while I run through my lesson plan. The lesson starts off with the teacher picking 5 students to ask question to the class... she didn't seem so happy to do it. Then I got to the part of asking her if she can play soccer and she had no idea what I said.

orz...

The last thing I think the students need is for their teacher to come off as not knowing what they are doing. Needless to say I didn't ask the next couple teachers if they liked soccer. Though because of that mistake i ran through class faster for some reason and when I turned the class back over she had them one by one say one thing they could do. I took that idea and asked the next two classes "What can you do?" one by one and that helped fill time. The next teacher which so far is my favorite teacher to work with seemed so excited that each student was saying what they could do. My last class of the day had a great idea for doing the 5 questions in the start it was 5 stations and each student had to go to each station, get asked the question then answer. If I have to do that again I will use that method!

During that class though I was shocked to see one of the 6 year students flip the homeroom teacher off. Nothing came of it really because in Japan it just doesn't have the same feeling as it does in the states. But it shocked me!

Today was the first clear day at the school and I realized as I looked out at the students working on getting ready for Sports Day on the 17th I could see the ocean from my English room! ^^ I love it!

All and all I think I got my revenge! but that one class... I will nickname them the Johnny's Jr. class (because there is this one kid who seems to run the class that I wouldn't be surprised if he was a Johnny's Jr.)... I will just have to work on figuring out how to get to them. Also keeping control when doing activities was a little tough as well so go to stick on that as well.

AH! almost forgot! for this month I am going to get as many pictures of my school lunch just to give the world an idea of what I eat at school. I will edit that in a video later ^^ Speaking of that I was scheduled to eat with 6-3 but no one came to get me... I don't know if they just didn't know or if I was to bring my lunch myself -_- saaa waited 20 minutes then hurried to eat my lunch.

ONE OK BUNNY vs the First Week

It is Friday and all I can say is TGIF! The last few days I felt like I haven't gotten a lot of sleep. I am someone who needs to wake up a bit in the morning before doing anything so leaving the house at 7:20 to catch my bus means getting up at 5: 30 am or so. In the morning I've been feeling feverish and thankfully by the time I got to school I felt better but once back at home I start feeling feverish again. Even now still feeling a little off.

My time at my Elementary school was so much better then the day before! I liked the lesson well except for the chant I had to do... the kids aren't really feeling it... don't blame them but the rest of the lesson went well ^^ I seem to be getting over the "OMG I don't know what I'm doing and they are going to kill me!" phase faster then I thought ^^

Though never assume anything when teaching! I had a script to read and CD to play and I assumed that the teacher would give those/bring those to my English room. Nope! Thankfully I had memorized the script but not the answers... ok it was a self introduction and the character says they like one of the items and the students draw a line from the person to what they liked. So with the first group I improv'd the answers but it turned out I had them right! ^_^ V

The kids were shy and had to get in groups to come up with questions to ask me. All asked when my birthday was and I answered today! lol I love the slower recognition when translating in their minds. Today? Kyo? Kyo desho!? And I got a 'happy birthday!' and claps ^^ They are amazing!

When meeting new people and things of the like I am usually quiet and sit back and listen more than I talk. It sadly is the same with the students as well yesterday having lunch with the students I didn't say anything but laughed and enjoyed listening them talk about what animal, fruit they were. ^^;

Best part of the day was standing at the bus stop and a car drove by and two of my students were in the back and hear the shock when they saw me outside of class and telling their mom I was the new teacher ^^

I now know that when parents tell their kids they don't have a favorite child it's a lie lol I can see there are some kids I am looking forward to seeing again and some because of their name will just get called on more lol.

Seriously though there is one 6th year student that looks like he is a Johnny Jr.... maybe he is! He is going to be trouble so I got to win him over fast! ^^;;

Today I was back at my JHS I love love love the teachers at the school! I sit next to the vice principal and he is so amazing! So I spent the day mostly at my desk working on a story. The students were in full practice for sports day. I felt more comfortable heading out around the school to watch them. Still from afar ^^;; I am new so I would be too distracting to them. I stood on the balcony outside the teachers room to watch a relay-race and I got spotted and a few of them started waving and saying hello!

I ended up helping Super Vice Principal who had so much going on today. I was happy to help lol I had a feeling I was a little late today having not heard anything from the school or interac about starting time. I had a conversation with the super vp about it and he let me know when he thought would be a good time to show up ^^ I know the schools shouldn't give you orders but getting on the same page about when to show up when you haven't heard anything isn't a bad idea .

There was a meeting at the end of lunch to talk about the Typhoon coming in and how it will most likely cancel tomorrows sports day. Very sad the students have been working so hard! I hope it means it's next weekend if it gets canceled.

My first week was amazing! Can't wait for next week!

ONE OK BUNNY vs the start of Elementary School

Another day at a new school but today I actually had to teach ^^

I got thrown into it right away and bombed my first class. I think I was assuming I would get more queues from the teacher in terms of timing but no. The first teacher I heard about before; he seems so strict and by the book in class but he is a great guy. I felt bad messing things up. My timing was off and I believe i ran into the next class. The next class I ran out of time during the second to last activity. >_< The next class was the least responsive and it was a bit like pulling teeth. The last class though was the best with my timing down as well the teacher helping me by placing the flashcards on the board for me as I ran through them. Then the two periods after lunch were prep times so I sat in the teachers room writing.

So I had lunch with 6-2 which was my best class of the day. It was something else! I was escorted by two of the kids back to the teachers room where they took my tray of food and carried it back to their classroom with me in tow. I felt like a queen with her court lol I also would get summoned to the classroom by a couple of the kids coming to the teachers room.

That has been something amazing to me! Kids would come to the room to say get me or get a key from the cabinet they stand at the door and announce themselves; "I'm Tanaka from class 6-3 here to get oneokbunny-sensei!" then the vice principal or other teacher will give them the ok to come in and they hurry to my desk ^^

Also after lunch well during lunch but after we all eat there are a few kids who come in to clean the teachers room for us. They take out the trash and sweep the room. I love seeing how much respect the teachers have. I personally believe they deserve it! Our future is coming from their lessons ^^

So the annoying thing about my ES is that the bus comes over an hour after I get off and if I miss that one I wait 2 hours >_< but there is a 100 yen shop and it is a huge one at that! I might be able to run over and get some things and make my bus. Though I swear the IC tried to show me the bus stops for my ES and they were in front of the 100 yen shop! but today I went to head back that way and there were no stops on that street O_O shocking! so I have a bit of a worry on timing on making the bus if I go shopping ^^

So tired at the moment and feeling a little off so taking some vc and getting some sleep!

ONE OK BUNNY vs the First Day

Today seems a very long time coming. Coming in one of the last groups of recovery teachers and being one of the few who didn't have to teach for over a month... had it's pluses (who wouldn't want to be paid for sitting around? Extra time for settling in!) and well it's minuses... like training after training... after training. Training started to get annoying for me because I am the type of person who opens a manual reads "flip the on switch" and throw the book aside in favor of pushing buttons to see what they do. During training you can try things out in front of others and get feedback but it's not the same as working with the kids. Or at least I don't think so! ^^;;;

Today was my first day and it was at my JHS. In spite of how things turned out before... I got a lot of info about my ES but heard nothing about my first day at my JHS. I did was I was supposed to do telling Interac a week before. I heard nothing. So last night after yet more training I went into the office to at least find out what time I should show up.

The scheduler quickly called the JHS and asked what was going on. We learned that today would be the opening ceremony so I would most likely give a speech and sit in the teacher's office for the rest of the day. I was so so so relieved and all the fear I was feeling about my first day was gone! Now that I knew what was going to happen and I could relax!

So today I headed out early to see where the bus would be for my trip to my ES tomorrow and to get to school around 8am. On my walk I came across a couple of my future students who said "Hello" to me. I made my way to the hill which my school sits on top of. I still hate this hill but today it seemed shorter then I thought lol

I arrived and walked up to a teacher welcoming students in and said I didn't know where to go. She took me in the teacher entrance, which is next to the students, and up to the teachers room. I met the principal and vice principal and was served iced coffee as I waited.

I was introduced to the teachers and made them laugh. I was told I would be saying something at the opening ceremony and met the English teachers for each year. The 1st year teacher helped me out a lot and stood by my side during the ceremony. He explained parts of the ceremony as well.

I got up and when I said Good Morning! the 100+ students replied lol I said in Japanese my name where i was from and said my Japanese wasn't good so switching to English, Let's try English! ok? and I heard the reply ok!

My school is currently readying itself for the sports day festival this weekend so most of the teachers were working with their students. I wrote most of the day in my notebook; working on a new novel.

Lunch was good! Some of the best Curry I've had! ^^ I am hoping that most of the school lunches will turn out as good.

After lunch I made the mistake of how i answered a question the vice-principal asked. He asked if I knew how to get to my ES. I answered "...yes?" This lead to the VP the P and a couple teachers looking at maps and buses for me. I feel the love in it but I feel bad for putting them out like that... and felt even worse when they called the ES @_@! But it reminds me what I love about Japanese culture! They all seemed to really want to help me figure out how to get to my ES.

I went home and yeah even though it's 9:30pm now as soon as I finish writing I am going to sleep!

Today was magical though! one of those moments when the universe seems to click and say hey you've been through bad stuff in life so hey here's one on me be happy! It's ok!

Butterflies and Dragonflies going about in the gym during the ceremony. My coworkers at the school seem amazing! It seemed that every time I left my desk there was a treat left on it. Random students walking by the open door to the teachers room seeing me and whispering hello. Watching the students prepare the games and dances for the sports festival...... it was all so magical!!

Tomorrow.... my first day at my ES and my first day teaching. Hope it's as magical as today!

ONE OK BUNNY vs the Earthquakes

So I'm in Japan and the big elephant in the room at the moment here is the disaster that happened on March 11th. An almost unimaginable and unheard of 9.0 earthquake struck just off the coast of the Tohoku region of Japan. Unheard of that is until the recent increase in mega quakes.

As everything unfolded before my eyes on CNN I worried about my friends and their families. My heart went out to all those lost as well those they left behind. I really wanted to be on the next plane to Tokyo to go help out those who were not homeless and living in make shift shelters. But pushed in the back of my head was the most selfish of thoughts....

"What did this mean for my dream of moving to Japan to become an English teacher?"

Now we know what happened after; I got hired by Interac and ended up moving my departure to July 7th. I am now sitting in a seaside city(thankfully a city mostly high up so no worries so much) and I see damage from the earthquake everywhere; mainly in the appearance of tarps up on numerous roofs around the area and cracked stairs as well as severely damaged sidewalks.

I have been here about a month and half and the reason I am deciding to collect my thoughts so far is because the largest earthquake that has happened since I arrived happened today.

Earthquakes are a part of my life right now. There is not a day that goes by that one or two 3 to 5 pointers happen. The first night in Japan just before 4 am I experienced my first earthquake here this time. It even got to a point I could assume there would be a sizable quake sometime in the 3am hour. ^^; The one that worried me the most was a... 6.2 that happened when I was down in Yokohama for the weekend. Since I was away I worried about what had happen with things in my apartment. I thankfully only returned to this

A couple knocked over classes and picture frames. So yesterday I came to the conclusion that I am too numb to earthquakes now. I fear to the fault of not taking cover when I really would need to. Today opened my eyes to that more.

I was at training with 7 guys that are the first batch of fall intakes for Interac. One of them had never experienced earthquakes before landing in Japan. There were two quakes strong enough to notice during training today. The first happened and I didn't think much of it at all. I heard some slightly panic breathing next to me and realized to one who was not numb... perhaps used to is a better term.... to the earthquakes it would be a frightening thing. Especially this is someone who did not come early to be placed "most probably" in Tohoku and might have had worries of being so close to disaster area. These earthquakes would be very scary in your first week.

I might smile and laugh a little about the fear but if you were to put me in the middle of tornado alley and a F1 was touching down or a hurricane cat 1 was coming I would be really scared.

So that was my reason for talking about daily life and quakes! ^^

The ones that do worry me are the ones that epicenter is within a few km of here. The earthquake monitoring station near by is the first to read the quakes. They have been strong jolting quakes but they only last a couple seconds.

outside of all that....

Still waiting for my first payday but life is fine and I have one more week before I start teaching! I am looking forward to it but after today.... bombed my demo and had to take a moment for some tears and pull myself together... I am a little worried about my "AH!!! I CAN'T DO THIS!!!" phase but I got to get through that to get to what I'm looking forward to when it's second nature. ^_^ v

ONE OK BUNNY vs the Juo Matsuri

Today was the local Matsuri!

Even though I've studied Japanese culture there is still so much to learn about it! I have to say that today felt like some happy memories from my childhood.

Growing up the town I lived in was one of the few in the area that had a Independence Day Parade. I lived only a few blocks away from the parade route so within the blocks between me and the route was staging grounds. A block away was the horses and the block after that was the line of floats. I remember waking up early putting out chairs to save our spot then walking around and seeing everything. There was just something about being so close like that.

Today reminded me of that feeling! I walked out to take a look after applying for my concert tickets to go see ONE OK ROCK in November and saw things were still getting ready and people where really out yet. I also remembered that I needed lunch ^^;; So had a quick bite and checked again. I loved that! Going and coming back then heading out again.

Today was really hot! So after getting some footage of the shrine being moved and some girls dancing on the stage I went back to my apartment in fear of getting sunburned. I also poked my friend who wanted to check it out (sadly the one i talked about in the previous entry). She came over and as I got an update from her about things we cooled down in my ac'd room before heading out.

So what to know about a Matsuri!

First off Matsuri means festival! just in case you didn't know ^^;;

The man things to see at most matsuri is the shrine being carried along as well as the hanabi or fireworks at night. Sure there are some huge matsuri out there like the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto which is worth seeing! And I plan to find a way to weekend in Sapporo for the Snow Matsuri in February as well. But there are a ton of matsuri's happening all over because there is no set date for them. though July and August with Tanabata and Obon sees a lot of them.

Another point to matsuris are food! Lots of yummy japanese food like Yakisoba, Takoyaki, as well as one of my favorites Okonomiyaki! But the highlight of summer matsuri is shaved ice! ^^

There was a stage built and seemed throughout the day there were dancing and other shows going on. Some were hiphop dancing to popular songs and others were traditional Japanese dance complete with flutes and drums. I almost wished they had seats in some shade so i could enjoy it the whole time.

I was really excited to see one thing I've known to be popular with matsuri is Goldfish scooping. You get a hoop with thin rice paper and try to scoop the fish into a bowl and you keep what you get. It's harder then it looks I bet!

Something that seems rare in Japan is the added event of bird fishing at the Juo Matsuri. At the river they close off an area and set some torches/bond fires on the shore. Then set two cormorants and their handlers loose in the river to catch fish. It was amazing to see and next year I want to get a pic of the bird with the fish in it's mouth!

After that the lights on the bank were turned off and the fires put out and the hanabi started!

I really wanted to see Hanabi!! But I didn't want to deal with a million people or walk a few km to get somewhere to watch them;alone to boot! nope not feeling it!

so the local small hanabi outside my front door worked perfectly!

The local people are amazing and I really got a feel for who they were as group. The matsuri was more about local flavor then overall japanese flavor and i really enjoyed that.

When the hanabi started and there were about... 30second or a minute of solid fireworks and they stopped the old lady next to me joked that was it. lol I seriously lol'd. Then hearing the girls in front of me laugh and mock one of the fireworks for making a loud exciting noise then not being much visually. I just felt the local community.

Best day for far! ^^

ONE OK BUNNY vs the loneliness

So starts the new world of this blog! I wanted to come up with a way to title my blogs with some kind of uniform. So ONE OK BUNNY vs... what ever the topic would be ^^

Tomorrow will mark a month since I landed in Japan. Though I have only been in my apartment under two weeks I am still working on getting things set up.

What I want to talk about is what I'm sure most people coming over alone will deal with in someway. The situation is worse in my case then most because I tend to be shy in new situations and have had very little money this far. I don't see the situation changing much until my first paycheck at the end of September.

I'm talking about the whole starting somewhere new and meeting new people thing. In this situation every situation is different as every person is different. I am going through a strange phase of being so lonely and going out of my mind sitting in my apartment as well as at the same time just wanting to be a hermit and not do anything or see anyone.

The ALTs I met in Hitachi are amazing and it might because I came right before break that I find myself with a lot of time on my hands. The ALTs I'm sure are also busy because they are on holiday. That coupled with no money means not seeing anyone really.

I got invited out a few times by the girl I came up with from Tokyo because the ALTs invited her out. It was left with a "I'll let you know" from her then nothing came of it. She had done that a few times so I just rolled with it.

I think this phase will go better for those in the fall intake because they start work shortly after arriving and I will have to wait a few more weeks before my first day of class.

I did meet one ALT that lives about 2km from me that I seemed to hit it off with. She told me when she came about a month before me she knew no one until the day we met in training. I couldn't believe it! When I arrived the company was all about me meeting the other ALTs so I wouldn't be lonely.

Today the one ALT so far I've started to get to know told me she wants to go home and break contract. Now this is her business but I wanted to bring it up because she is for sure not one who would crack in a new country; she's been there done that and is well traveled. There are worries about family at home that could turn into an emergency which anyone would want to be home for. Even though every job tells you leave personal problems outside of the work place it's almost impossible to do! Sometimes life points you in a direction that you need to head and that maybe why she wants to go home. on a more personal note one summer I had to drop out of summer classes and go home because everything worked against me and I couldn't afford it. It turned out my mom passed away that summer so I had just short of 2 months with her before it happen suddenly.

I'm sorry about being random in my thoughts and just kind of rambling. Emotions do that ^^

So as bummed as I am about the one friend I'm making leaving soon I totally support her and hope the best for her in the future. I just wanted to point out that I don't think there is a guarantee that you might not get depressed here no matter what you've done in the past or what type of person you are. I look back at my time studying abroad and see I spiraled into a depression and I thought it had to do with having no money to do anything. After today I wonder if there was more to it. I am being fully aware of all that keeping it in mind and trying to stay sane now ^^

And on an unrelated note! My money issues are sure to continue... why? because I had to buy a new computer with my loan... yeah my other broke. Though a friend pointed out that the difference in power would kill the computer at some point. So I got a new laptop yesterday and with that my issues with money continue! ^^

In my town~!

I'm in Hitachi got in mid-day yesterday and had a few hours of training looking over paper work and what not.

I found out 2 of my schools have been finalized and I love the name of them! So I know now what area of Hitachi I'll be in. I see how far the schools are from bus stops or train stations and I'm a little worried lol. They both seem about 1 km from the closest train or bus stop. I can't picture it so it seems so so far lol.

Today I got a call earlier about them getting information about my apartment. They basically apologized for not having an apartment yet for me and asked if it'd be ok to call me later and have me come into the office if they got info on one.

So about an hour and a half I think before they closed I got the call to come in. Since when I first went to the office and to the hotel I went via the local super market and by car so I didn't know how to get to the office. She told me to go to the reception desk at the hotel and call them and they'll tell them the directions and they'll give me a map.

Well I asked about directions and well... I got directions to the old office ^^ Due to damage from the quake they moved to another building. So I walked back to the hotel called the office and had them tell the front desk the directions. And now it started raining...

I was soaked by the time I got to the office! After waiting a bit and filling out a tax form I learned of the apartment they had in mind for me.

it seems to be 500 meters from the local station and my main JHS is about a km from that so it's close enough to walk or bike.

The problem with it is though that it's unfurnished... it also seems that the "move in help" for coming early doesn't include rent. though rent will be just over 40,000 yen a month so it's not so bad. I only have 7900 yen left though so I am really worried about money. I can rent furniture for 7000 yen a month i think.

Ok to give you an idea an unfurnished apartment in Japan means no stove or washing machine or anything. So I move in on Monday but there is nothing in the apartment. They are planning to have the local IC meet me and take me shopping but I have no money. I have no idea what is going to happen now.

Though tomorrow after training I'm to get the internet ball rolling which here it can take a month to get internet sometimes. She kept saying a week or two so that's what i'm hoping for but we'll see tomorrow.

I am loving Hitachi so far though!

Training coming to an end!

OMG!! That was something @_@ So tired from training!

I learned today that we did undergo a slightly shorter training period of 3 days with final demos on the 4th day.

I have to say the staff at Interac is A~M~A~Z~I~N~G! I feel like I already knew them so who knows I might just stay with them and move up in the company. I did not meet the infamous Jodie who a couple people I talked with about training had mentioned.

BAD THING ABOUT TRAINING

The health checks. What made it bad was the last minute change in our schedule so we were sent out to the clinic early. We didn't know the clinic went to lunch from 1-2 so when we arrived a little before 1 we signed in and then had to wait for an hour. We didn't have lunch so we were all starving! Plus to add to it we were going to have a urine test so we couldn't pee while we waited or drink anything else besides water.

Stephanie and I worked as a interpreter for the whole group (though a couple others knew a little Japanese). My Japanese wasn't so fluent at the time though lol Interac wanted us back around 3pm to keep going on training but we got back around 4:30pm I believe.

What we had done... it was amazing it was going station to station and they moved us around differently for the quickest result.

Urine test-> chest X-ray -> Hearing test -> EKG -> Eye test -> Blood test -> Doctor consultation. @_@

I think I was the only one the doctor gave orders to. Cut back salt because I had slight Edema she said to cut back on water but realized it's hot so she scratched that ^^

Haven't been to the doctors in a long while so it'll be nice to see how it all turned out.

I hate the hearing tests though lol I have bad hearing and it was those push the button when you hear the beep test and I started to hear beeps I'm not sure were there lol

I am currently working on laundry needing to pack up my suitcases again today to send them off to Hitachi.

I don't want to get ahead of myself ^^

Only Stephanie and myself are in the Hitachi branch and the rest of those at training were with the Tokyo branch. Tokyo got all their contract info and signed for housing and health care and all that. We Hitachi people got handed a train ticket to Hitachi for Tuesday. So it turns out we are here in this hotel for the holiday weekend. I got a phone call from the MC at Hitachi and learned that we would once in Hitachi be spending another week in a hotel. During that time my schools and Leo Palace housing would be worked out.

I'm scared a bit because I came over with very little money and already got a 30000 yen of the loan to survive and another week in a hotel means another week until I get the rest of the loan. The MC asked me how my money was doing and I told him and he said not to go crazy this weekend. Which means I shouldn't go see Harry Potter this weekend... They have been very helpful so as long as I'm vocal about needing help I should get it.

I can only pray and hope the bed in the next hotel will be softer then the hard as wood bed I'm sleeping on lol

Ah! talking with the MC it sounded like Hitachi branch office got a bit of damage so they were in a temp building waiting to move into their new permanent building. The MC seemed really nice so I'm looking forward to going into the office and meeting everyone!

I guess it's a good thing that I will start teaching when school comes back from Summer break. I get to move in and explore Hitachi as well as get the way to school timed.

So far this experience has been amazing!

......cept for the bed that is hard as wood -_-

Training Day 1 ~ placement get!

I can't wait for winter!! I had hopes that they would have a van or something to take us to training but seeing how close the main office was I wasn't surprised we had to walk. Sure I'm lazy so any chance to drive somewhere instead I'd take! lol But it was humid and hot and we were all a sweaty mess by the time we got to the office. Some of the other trainees were even talking about taking a taxi this morning lol

The overall day of training was overwhelming and now I have a new habit of getting sleepy when learning new things ^^;;; I noticed it in hawaii and at Target and training yesterday. But I have to say it's a gift and a curse to have Cedric training you. He is an amazing teacher and he gives you so much amazing help on the 5Es with the kids but he's so good I know it scared me into thinking if i can handle this.

Starting knew things scare me and I assume I can't do it after a week or so I just pass that hill and I'm pretty darn good at it. I'm in the freak out stage still but I know I actually have to be riding the bike myself to truly get my mind around all that. Even doing demo's in front of the other ALTs won't do it but it'll help me for battle with my future students.

I notice a lot of time during the training was asking questions about things not going as planned and learning more about how the school system works. Even me who is a up and coming Japanologist didn't know how involved teachers were with their student's life. I knew they had much more responsibility then their western counterparts; them being called to the police station if the kid gets in trouble and what not. But not so far as calling their student to make sure they woke up and were getting ready for school if needed. It's always made sense to me that a teacher should have a more respected and responsible role in children lives since they spend the same (if not more) amount of time with the child as the parents do. As an ALT we got all the respect that comes as being a teacher in Japan but none of the responsibility. I haven't taught a class yet but in hearing all about this and other ALTs interaction with their students I just feel like my day job here in Japan will be an English teacher and I'll want to get certified and everything. We'll see if that sticks when I start classes lol

Also because Japan+ME=money problems I went to training with only 4000 yen ($45-ish) left and talked to Dennis and David about it. By the end of the day I had 30000 yen ($350) signed out to me with the rest of the loaning coming when I get my bank account all set. I also heard a comment of getting my signing bonus at the end of the month as well. Things will start looking up!

I got my placement as well! I heard things can change during training so I'm keeping in mind it's not final until I sign contracts and get my apartment and school assignments. So where am I going at least for the moment?

Hitachi, Ibaraki!

Yup! Hitachi as in the TVs and other electronics ^^ As for those who got their placements today I got the biggest city. It's also a non-driving placement too. which i had told my friend here i had only just got my license and he said it was really nice knowing me XD well now i dont have to worry about driving! Though I worry about hour walks or bike rides to school ^^

I'm thinking it's time to get ready it's 6:23am and breakfast starts at 7am!

Day 2 of training starto!

In Japan!

<3<3<3<3<3<3

I am in the hotel on lock down with a headache. Japan has been really hot and humid! I am so looking forward to winter lol

My hotel room over looks Tokyo dome! See the pic above yup that's it! ^^

I haven't done a lot or seen a lot of people... due to money issues I wished I hadn't come early but I'm going with it. I visited Hakusan and walked around the dome.

Met up with Stacey yesterday and after talking to her about teaching and work I am so excited about starting work! I want more and more to know where I am going and as the days pass I get more excited! Tuesday!! training!

So before I left my dog got really sick. Head tilted and having a really hard time walking. We took her to the vet and as I got dropped off at the airport the vet called about results of test and it looks like she might have kidney damage.

Things happened before I left that changed my money situation so I'm freaking about money. I hope to have enough to eat until training is over but after that I have no idea. I got in contact with Interac about getting my loan or bits of it to survive soon and will have to wait til tomorrow to hear back.

Though I heard there was someone whose money situation changed (parents were to send money later but then couldn't) and they were ready to head home but Interac seemed to have worked something out with them. I hope this will be the case. I have to say even though there are bad things you hear about them I am hearing more and more about Interac and how it seems they really care about the people they work for!

So soon!

Leaving in 28 hours! I'm so excited!

I need to finish up packing today! So much left to do!

I emailed Interac because I had not heard anything about where to go on Monday lol. "Leaving in about 38 hours and have no idea what to do" lol The hotel is like across the garden from Tokyo Dome!! ^^ and it was a few hundred yen cheaper a night too so I booked it for the 7-11 ^^ I'll only have to bring my suitcases down to the lobby and then to the new room if anything. It'll be nice if I don't have a roomie during training I can just stay in the room I get ^^;;;

I got an email asking for my a copy of my JLPT level 3 certificate. O_O Not sure where it is lol I got to find it! ^^

10 days!

So I got my official start date of July 11th!!! <3<3<3

I've been really busy the last few days as you can guess. I learned that my CoE got FedEx to me the day before so I was able to officially buy my ticket for the 6th! I have said in my vlog that I have something for the number 7 so I decided to start my new life in Japan on the 7th! It's only a few days in a hotel before moving into Interac's hotel for training ^^

I have had a life in Tokyo and have friends there so I wanted a few days to see them without worrying about training. For example that Friday I'll stop by Toyo and see the old school again ^^ I might go to the nomikai the next Wednesday for the exchange students ^^

I am tempted to stay at a friends house instead of a hotel but I don't want to impose you know ^^

Ok! So yesterday I quit Target and my amazing brother took me to Ross to get a big suitcase! Rose was the best place to go! They had a selection of cases and even had the type I was looking for.

the Suitcase:

Ok if you aren't much of a traveler and you're moving to Japan and it'd the first big thing you've done now that you are out of school or just thinking of going there for a couple weeks and you came across this post I have some advice for you!

This will be the 10th time I'll be going to Japan since 2003. I lived in Hawaii for school and came home for the winter break or packed it all up to go home for summer. So I've done some traveling ^^

The only bag that you have should that is not a rolling suitcase is you laptop bag, backpack or purse that you would carry on to the plane. If you are packing up a carry on bag so you don't have to check anything for a shorter visit (2 or so weeks) home or in Japan. GET A ROLLING CARRY-ON SUITCASE!

I can not express this enough. When I traveled for the holidays from Hawaii I had a large duffle bag that would fit carry-on along with my laptop bag. @_@ After a couple trips I knew I had to get something else. My flight would be at a gate way on the other end and I would have to carry all that weight on my shoulder in a rush to get to my gate. Very tiring!

Last summer I had to go to Japan for a couple weeks for a class I took at UH. It was a history class so we were in Kyoto! I only had a big suitcase since I was a moving student (from dorm to dorm) and I did not want to use that bag again so I got a rolling carry-on from Walmart for around $20.

Now my insight that I learned about suitcases that i'll pass on to you! A case with 2 wheels is fine for a carry-on case. When rolling it the weight of the case is on your wrist. I have weak wrist so even the carry-on will start annoying my wrist but it won't be that bad. So you can imagine the check luggage around 50lbs is going to be a lot to roll around so I would say GET A SUITCASE WITH FOUR WHEELS! Especially like in this case I will have two 50lb bags along with a carry-on suitcase and my laptop bag to pull around.

That's my rant on suitcase lol even if I helped one person hehe ^^

Anyways I'm getting really excited! this coming up Wednesday night through Sunday my good friends here are going to kidnap me and take me to Disneyland as a goodbye! <3 It'll be amazing! ^-^ So I'm getting into packing mode! Not only am I packing for Wednesday (that carry-on I talked about!) but for the Wednesday after that as well! ^^

Along with the new purple 4 wheel 29" suitcase to go with the other large one I had my brother also helped me out by getting a pair of indoor shoes i'll need for my schools as well as two skirt suits. One gray and one silver... I still want one that is black though ^^ I got myself a nice pair of shoes I was thinking for indoor but liked them so much I thought it would be sad to keep them indoor lol. I think they will be my slip on and go to the conbi or vendi shoes ^^;

Now that all I have left to do is pack up everything I hope to get motivated ^^ I've tried for weeks to get things done but got distracted. Usually I can watch a tv show or movie I've seen and work on something but they've been too distracting ^^ Today I will just try music and see how it goes ^^7

At this point with Interac,

I received emails introducing the staff at Interac. Orientation manual and other info. I believe some info about healthcare and I need to get back to them today about that. They want you decided what medical coverage you want before you come. I think they would need it to start in July and that's why they needed to know by the 30th of june ^^

oh ok! So Friday got my CoE and that day took it to the SF Japanese Consulate. We (my brother drove) arrived around noon which is when the Visa window closes for lunch 12-1pm. We spent the lunch hour looking for parking....omg the city is a nightmare! lol We ended up parked right outside the building ^^ It was nice to be there at the opening after lunch because I was #1 and the first person served.

Entering the building you have to show your id and get clearance to go up to the 23rd floor. You go through a metal detector and the staff is behind windows. I was told if there was a problem they would call me Monday or Tuesday and I thought I heard in the end that if all went well my visa will be ready on Tuesday. I'm going to call tomorrow and check because we will have to plan it.... we have one car for the household and the person who works is in end quarter so he can't really leave so we'd have to get the car in the morning by driving him to work.

Anyways! ^^ I'm excited!! and hears to packing ^^;;;

Time flys!

It's been just under a month since I updated! Shock!~ There really hasn't been much to say. I emailed Interac to see what was going on and maybe a timeline if they could give one. I freaked a bit because the plane prices are going up more and more. well this is what I got....

"You will be happy to know that we have lodged your application for eligibility with the Immigration authorities on 5/20/2011. It usually takes at least 22 working days to obtain the Certificate of Eligibility. We expect to receive it after June 21st. Please note that this is just an approximation, based on the most recent batch received."

I was at my fitting for the bridesmaid dress and setting the date to come back after they finished with it and seeing how close the 21st and the assumed start date of the 4th of July sent me into a little panic lol

I will still need to get the CoE in the mail and then turn around and take that to the Japanese consulate to get my work visa. I called them today to see how long it would take and they said 3 to 5 work days @_@ I think I will be picking up my visa the day before my flight lol

This last Monday i took my driving test and passed so i am now a licensed driver! so now Interac can put me anywhere ^^;;; Though in perfect fashion with my luck the DMV was closed because the system was down but they were still doing driving tests. I girigiri passed lol but hey I passed! though because the system was down i had to go back the next morning and finish up my paper work. I really hope i get the license in the mail before i go! Next thing will be going to AAA and getting my Internation Driving Permit. I might do that on friday. so things look good there.

I woke up to an email from interac saying to fill out an online resume. I've done this but it was yet another resume to be filled out. This I believe was the actual resume they will use to send out to the BOEs to find me placement. I got it done quickly... there was a short essay area asking to intro yourself and what you like about japan/your experience with japan. after that you put down your degree and school and work history and you're done.

I wonder if there is anyway i'll have a placement before i go. I know that if I did get one not to get attached to it because it might change. Funny my thoughts are wanting to know how far i'll be from tokyo. My friends are there and well I'm already planning trips lol like for my birthday I want to treat myself to the musical Dream Boys! ^^

oh I start to ramble so should go work on packing something ^^;;;

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!