Well, the counter is down to 19 days remaining. Friday, October 19th is my last day of work. Some friends from work and myself are going out tomorrow night to celebrate, and I'm looking forward to spending some quality - albeit probably intoxicated - time with the people I've had to spend my time with nearly everyday.
Lately I've been a little lazy with the Japanese studying - shame on me! Except for something really cool I've found - read on to find out...
I do plan to study my oshiri off as soon as I'm done with my job, but until then I'm just trying to stay afloat and not forget anything.
However, there is a valid reason for this recent slacking (kind of). My new shift has been from 8:30AM to 5:30PM, and although I like the day shift over the night shift by far, by the time I get home from work I don't feel like looking at a computer screen, let alone trying to study on a computer. Even studying with good old pen and paper is often too much of a chore as my job leaves me mentally exhausted.
I work at a call center doing tech support for HP computers. A lot of stress. 'nough said.
Anyways, as an alternative to hard studying, I have had the chance to exercise my 日本語 (read: Japanese language) in an entertaining and indirect way. I've found myself nearly addicted to a number of Japanese Drama TV series. I can finally rationalize wasting hours on end watching TV, as I get to practice listening comprehension. Mind you, subtitles are usually included, but just the same I try to go without reading them as much as possible.
Anyways, as the time to take-off creeps closer and closer, I find the reality that awaits me sinking in. I'm getting ever more excited, and slightly nervous. I wont lie, part of me is borderline scared, but I'm just as anxious to get my feet wet and step outside of the western world for the first time.
Well, I'm off to watch some more J-drama. Ja...
Friday, October 19, 2007
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
35 Days to go
Well, I haven't posted on here in a bit because I've been so busy. I'm getting anxious to quit my Job, and I'm also really looking forward to becoming a student again. I have basically 5 weeks from tomorrow until I leave, and my last day of work will be in about 3 weeks. I definitely feel the excitement building up as the days go by, and it makes it kind of hard to keep going to work while anticipating my last day.
I've gotten a few really important things taken care of since I last posted.
First off, I've paid my tuition for the school in Fukuoka. It was pretty pricey and I wont go into the details, but it was more money than I've ever paid into anything before. Nonetheless, it felt good to get that out of the way.
Secondly, I've secured a plane ticket from Tokyo to Fukuoka. I will be flying on All Nippon Airways (ANA). Now, a little tip for anyone buying a domestic flight ticket from ANA - dont buy it from their American website! This is because, on their American website they generally charge a flat-rate price no matter if you buy the ticket a month in advance or a week in advance. On the Japanese site though - and might I add there is an English version of their Japanese site - they have a different price for each ticket depending on how far in advance you book your flight.
If I were to purchase the same ticket from the North American ANA website, I would of ended up paying $296 US! But, I found the same ticket on the Japanese website - same price - except after a big discount for buying my ticket 8 weeks in Advance, the total came out to about $115 US. The only catch is that you need a contact phone number in Japan.. Luckly, one of my friends in Japan - Yuko - let me use her phone number to buy the ticket. She even called ANA in Japan and verified that it would be ok if I used her number - thanks Yuko! ^^
This past weekend I visited Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi, we had a really great time. I've been learning some Japanese tongue twisters and proverbs and we exchanged some of our favorites as well as some English ones. Akemi has found some good directions for getting from Narita Airport to Asakusa, where the Hostel I'll be staying in for the first 8 days of my trip is located. It will actually be about a 1.5 to 2 hour commute because Narita Airport - even though it's called Tokyo New International Airport, is not located in Tokyo, but rather in neighboring Chiba prefecture.
Anyways, aside from helping me with that, Mrs. Taguchi and I also made plans to meet in Tokyo. We even set a date, time, and location to meet. It's kind of cool to have a plan to meet at a certain place and time in a city I've never been to. Needless to say, I'm excited. =D
As always, we enjoyed some nice Tea and conversation.
Well, I have to go to work now. Mata ne.
I've gotten a few really important things taken care of since I last posted.
First off, I've paid my tuition for the school in Fukuoka. It was pretty pricey and I wont go into the details, but it was more money than I've ever paid into anything before. Nonetheless, it felt good to get that out of the way.
Secondly, I've secured a plane ticket from Tokyo to Fukuoka. I will be flying on All Nippon Airways (ANA). Now, a little tip for anyone buying a domestic flight ticket from ANA - dont buy it from their American website! This is because, on their American website they generally charge a flat-rate price no matter if you buy the ticket a month in advance or a week in advance. On the Japanese site though - and might I add there is an English version of their Japanese site - they have a different price for each ticket depending on how far in advance you book your flight.
If I were to purchase the same ticket from the North American ANA website, I would of ended up paying $296 US! But, I found the same ticket on the Japanese website - same price - except after a big discount for buying my ticket 8 weeks in Advance, the total came out to about $115 US. The only catch is that you need a contact phone number in Japan.. Luckly, one of my friends in Japan - Yuko - let me use her phone number to buy the ticket. She even called ANA in Japan and verified that it would be ok if I used her number - thanks Yuko! ^^
This past weekend I visited Mr. and Mrs. Taguchi, we had a really great time. I've been learning some Japanese tongue twisters and proverbs and we exchanged some of our favorites as well as some English ones. Akemi has found some good directions for getting from Narita Airport to Asakusa, where the Hostel I'll be staying in for the first 8 days of my trip is located. It will actually be about a 1.5 to 2 hour commute because Narita Airport - even though it's called Tokyo New International Airport, is not located in Tokyo, but rather in neighboring Chiba prefecture.
Anyways, aside from helping me with that, Mrs. Taguchi and I also made plans to meet in Tokyo. We even set a date, time, and location to meet. It's kind of cool to have a plan to meet at a certain place and time in a city I've never been to. Needless to say, I'm excited. =D
As always, we enjoyed some nice Tea and conversation.
Well, I have to go to work now. Mata ne.
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