The Farm

Well, this past weekend I've been visiting my relatives at the farm with my mom, which is always fun. We figured it would be the last time I saw them before I left for Japan, so I decided to go ahead and go with her.

Well, as soon as we got there we found out that the cats had had kittens. Fourteen kittens to be precise, and they were the cutest little things! I really wanted to take a couple home with me since I knew my aunt wasn't going to be able to keep them all, but I knew my dad would have a heart attack if we brought them home. They were mostly tabbies. There were three orange tabbies and several gray ones. The orange ones reminded my mom of the cats that she and my dad had had before me and my brother were born.

But we spent most of our time catching up with the relatives. Had some laughs, ate tons of good food, etc., etc. So here are some pictures from my trip:

High School

So, this past weekend was tax-free weekend. For those of you who don't live in Texas, a week or two before school starts there is a period of two days (a weekend) where you don't have to pay sales tax on certain items like backpacks and clothing and such. Well, we generally try to avoid shopping on these two days because people go insane and perhaps a bit dumb. Believe me, I used to work in a clothing store when I was in high school.

Well, I was in dire need of some new jeans so I decided to just brave the crowd and go to Kohl's, besides I knew what I wanted to buy. So I'm driving up one of the aisles in the parking lot, which is packed, and I get stuck behind this guy who's just idling in the middle of the aisle with his blinker on.

Hellloooo? Um...hi?

We just sat there like that for a moment. Since he had his blinker on I assumed he was claiming a spot which, as of yet, had not been vacated. I looked along that row but I didn't notice any of those little white lights that tell you when someone is backing up. So I look again and the person he's waiting on is still putting stuff in her trunk.

Dude, you couldn't go a few feet further to that empty space three spaces down?

When I finally got into the store it was mass chaos. Clothes were laying everywhere and there were people galore. But while I was trying some jeans on in the dressing room I could overhear the three girls that were in the stall next to me talking about such...oh, I dunno, high school stuff. It was that "he said she said" stuff that makes you want to hit your head against the wall.

And I got to thinking, I'm glad I'm not in high school anymore. But then those girls finally left and I realized I just didn't like that particular part of high school. I definitely still miss band, especially marching season. That sense of unity with that group of people was such a great thing. During the past year that I've been in college I've found myself missing it, being able to make something beautiful as a group. Maybe I should try theater....

Endings

Well, with every beginning comes a few endings, too.

My last day at the daycare will be two weeks from yesterday (August 31st). I'm a little relieved, I have to admit, to get away from some of the stress that goes along with working with large groups of kids. But overall I will definitely miss every single one of those kids as well as my coworkers and the parents who have been so kind to me.

I'm sure my last day of working at the dentist office will probably be either September 2nd or September 9th.

Also, I've come to the end of my waiting for my visa! I received it yesterday in the mail. At first all I found in the envelope was my passport, which scared me a little. Haha, I thought I had not been granted the visa at first. But then I noticed that it was just attached on the inside of the passport. It had made my day exponentially better. Not to mention that I received the movies I had ordered an Amazon.com. I'm still waiting for my kanji dictionary, but that should be coming any day now.

Also, some good news to report. My former roommate no longer has a boyfriend...she has a fiance! They are thinking about tying the knot sometime in May. Unfortunately I will not be there to witness the ceremony, but I wish them the best of luck in their coming marriage.

However, I am still waiting to receive a host family. One of my best friends, who will be studying in Nagoya this year, has already received a letter from her family. I'm hoping to find SOMETHING out before I leave so I can get something appropriate for them.

The children I work with have also told me some things I should take pictures of while I'm in Japan. Let's see, I think the list contained the Daibutsu (big Buddha), friends I make over there, my host family, Mt. Fuji, a sumo match, a koi pond, samurai armor and weaponry, a Buddhist temple, the university I will be attending, Japanese currency, a volcano, a Transformer, and some more that I cannot remember off the top of my head. That should be fun...

My Kids

So, as I've already mentioned, I work at a daycare during the week. Well, I just thought I'd put up a couple of funny happenings from the past week.

First of all I work with 6-12 year olds in the morning. Just after lunch one afternoon a couple of the older girls decided that I needed a boyfriend. So, they go to each of the male teachers working at the time and who knows what they asked them. Haha, it was so embarrassing. I got an answer from one of them, though. I believe it was something like "sorry, I'm more like a good friend." Aw, rejection hurts every time.

Then, one day I was telling some kids about a dream I had had where someone had accidentally elbowed me in the ribs. It hurt so much that I had dropped to the floor and was rolling around in pain. One of my kids interrupted me at that point and told me "You should go to the hospital. They can give you plastic ribs."

I also happen to work in the four-year-old class in the afternoons. I come in and wake them up from their naps. And we generally take it for granted that the fours are potty trained. However, sometimes they DO have the occasional accident. They had been up for about 15 minutes when I went to tickle one of the girls and I found her dress was wet. Now, this girl is always dressed in the cutest clothes and she has tons of clips and bands for her hair in her cubby. Well, I went to check and see if she had any spare clothes, but she only had underwear and shorts. So I told her to go into the bathroom with the new shorts and underwear and to get changed. Well, I come back with a shirt and I open the door to see her bawling her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong and she wailed, "I don't want to wear these!"

...oh my goodness.

She didn't tell me that she had wet herself because she didn't want to wear her spare clothes. Wow. So I promised her I'd fix her hair up real cute once we got outside. Haha, so I fixed her hair into little pigtails, she looked so cute! And she seemed a whole lot brighter after that was finished. Heh. Kids...

Good News!

Well, I finally got my Certificate of Eligibility! WAHOO!

Yesterday I had my eyes checked and ordered a year's supply of contacts. Fun. Then I went to DSW to get a new pair of shoes that I can actually do a lot of walking in and then I stopped off at Barnes & Nobles. (I can never have too many books!)

And then I made a wonderful discovery yesterday. I know some of you will think "Duh! It's about time" and roll your eyes, but I had never thought to look for stuff on amazon.com. So I've finally ordered a Kanji dictionary, and hopefully it'll be a good one. And then I received my Certificate of Eligibility! It's purple and yellow and has an absolutely horrible picture of me on it, but it's finally here!

But I also got a bill for my first semester of housing, so approximately ￥262,500. Which isn't too bad, I guess. It's just that there will be a two month period in the spring where there will be no school. So I have to figure out exactly what I will be doing during that time...

Still waiting...

Well, I'm STILL in America. I have exactly one month left before my plane takes off. Haha, but I've entered a stage of denial. It doesn't feel like I'm going to be leaving the country for an entire year in only a month. It feels like it's happening to somebody else, but like I still have the bragging rights.

Right now I'm still waiting for my Certificate of Eligibility to apply for my VISA. I sent an e-mail to the university I will be attending in Japan and they said that they had sent them in the mail on this past Monday. As of now it's just left the inward office of exchange in San Francisco. As soon as I receive it, I have to get my passport, VISA application, a passport picture, and my Certificate of Eligibility off to the General Consulate of Japan in Houston. Hopefully I'll have enough time in between now and September to mail it in.

And, I also got another e-mail from the university saying that I have to take my Japanese language placement test by August 25. (!!!) I had thought that I was going to take it as soon as I got over to Japan. So it's really crunch-time now. I've been spending a lot of my free time going over my notes and textbooks for the past two years of Japanese class. I'm a little nervous that I'll have to take my fourth semester over again while I'm there which would throw my whole degree plan off schedule.

I also have to start thinking about how I'm going to get all of my stuff over to Japan. Does anybody have any ideas? Not to mention I have to get a cell phone as soon as I get over there. I won't have AIM when I get over there, but I will have Skype, so if you want to chat or something, send me an e-mail or leave a comment or something. (Note: I WILL NOT GIVE OUT MY SCREENNAME TO ANYBODY I HAVE NOT SEEN IN PERSON.)

However, I still am working at the daycare. A lot of my co-workers are leaving today to go back to college. I think it's going to get a bit strained now, since we'll be down about three people or so. And today was the last day of math class. I'm actually a little relieved. Now I have more time...which will inevitably be devoted to more studying. Yippee.

A Beginning

Welcome! This is the first blog I've ever had, so here we go. Some of you may know me from school, others may know me from my jobs at the clothing store, or the daycare. And some of you just found out from myself or through somebody else.

At any rate, this will be my communication to you guys from Japan.

I am currently a student at the University of Texas, majoring in Japanese and minoring in English. And I am on schedule to study abroad in Machida, Japan. I will be leaving on September 10th of this year and I do not expect to return to the United States until August of next year at the earliest.

I am so excited about doing something so radically different from what I've grown used to. But at the same time, I am extremely nervous about leaving pretty much everything I know behind and starting a new life in a different culture. Any advice?