Tag: Japan

8 Days to Liftoff

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Much progress has been made my friends. The narrow gap between myself and Japan is quickly closing.

Omiyage have been bought. Boxes are filled with clothes and shoes and jewelry I can let go because of this move. My cat has successfully assimilated into my parents’ household and is working his way into the hearts of their own two cats. My suitcases lay half-packed with much cat hair amassed in them. There’s still a few things on my to-do list, but I even closed a couple of US bank accounts I had yesterday — which was remarkably easy — and cutting up cards has never felt so great. ^__^ I’m also digitizing a lot of docs I’ll need while abroad and storing them in the cloud so that they won’t take up space in my luggage. One notable part of this digitization process is recipes, of the Texan/Southern/Tex-Mex variety. So yeah, I’m trying to be prepared in any case. I’m also apparently trying to eat as much good food as possible before departing. I don’t know if I’m a good cook, but I am definitely a good eater. That is the truth.

Basically, the only thing left at this point is to linger and enjoy the presence of my family for a week, go to Pre-Departure Orientation at the Consul-General’s, pack, and then catch a plane 8 days from now. That day, in the words of a very good friend, I will have to wake up “at the butt crack of dawn” to facilitate group check-in and catch the flight, but I think I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

Last week, Wednesday-Sunday, I completed a circuit of where I grew up and where I’ve spent the majority of my “grownup” life. It was pretty great to see some friends and family that I haven’t seen in a while. But it was also humbling for me to be there again. The overall effect though was positive, and it put me in the right state of mind to move forward confidently!

This past week I had some Honest Tea – you know of it I’m sure. Well this is the quote I discovered inside of my lid:

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” – T.S. Eliot

This seems to be very true. And I can’t wait!

So Much to Do, So Little Time

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Whoa guys! Hey! It’s three weeks until I’m leaving for Japan!!

How did that happen so quickly…. LOL. Never has this crappy saying been so apt.

The other day I suddenly had the thought.. WTF am I doing?! But not a second later I was like… Nah, this is totally necessary.

What’s really been the challenge lately, and what’s been making me fall behind on blogging and everything else, is the preparation required to get all your banking/finance, medical, and pre-emptive shopping out of the way. I’ve still got a TON of stuff to do and about two weeks to do it in (because I’m visiting some extended family and friends this week before leaving and I will likely get nothing done during that time).

Anyhow, been hanging out with my parents and the cats as much as possible, and I’ve taken to bicycling a bit because I know I’ll be doing quite a bit of that in Hondo. I’m still not 100% sure of my car situation, just because a lot of my Japanese friends have warned me off of getting a car that is 10+ years old because of the required (expensive) inspections every other year, and this is mostly what I’ve been seeing people advertise on the Facebook groups for the area. So maybe I’ll be looking for a scooter? And navigating the bus schedule would really require my Japanese to improve so… hell, I’m gonna wing it and just wait until I get there!

Also had a really fun and productive Skype chat with my pred!! We shall call him… L-san.  He gave me the scoop on what it’ll be like working in our schools, which is incredibly helpful. I’m excited I’ll actually get to meet my pred IN REAL LIFE once I get there. I don’t think many people get to do this so hooray! He can show me the ropes.

He also approves of my omiyage ideas. Basically, food-type items go over well, so I thought: candy, pecans, bbq? And this was based off of research! So I hope to bring pecans and make Pecan Sandies – southern cookies. (But mostly southern just because of the pecans.) Heh heh. I may also bring some knick knacks and candy of course, but over time I think my big thing will be making southern food of just about any kind. I think there’s another Texan headed in the Amakusa direction, so we could have a legitimate Texan-style BBQ/cookout thing. (Non-normative Texan here – I know absolutely nothing about preparing barbecued foods.)

So other than worrying about being a poo Texan, and worrying about getting my nuts through customs, and making sure I get my medication, all is well. I think I’ll go do some dusk-time biking now. :)

IDP Acquired

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idp shotInternational Driving Permit Acquired! It’s roughly a little bit larger than passport size…so a bit awkward. And in a booklet format. Still pretty exciting, even though I didn’t exactly know what it would look like or what to expect! I just whipped into a AAA (not a member) and they made it for me with one of the two photos I brought them. I did think it was a bit weird they kept one though. D: And I just sent off my yakkan shoumei the same day as well, so I’m ticking the boxes. Will be really busy this weekend as well because I’m moving. All of a sudden it seems that things are moving at an all-together RAPID pace! Still haven’t heard from my CO/Pred yet.. Looking forward to the Q&A session though!

Goodbye Days

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The last week or two has found me saying goodbye to quite a few people I’ve met in DFW in the past 5+ years I’ve been here. It’s sad if I think about it too much (in some cases I’ve thought about it A LOT), but I’m really looking forward to spending time with my parents and the cats.

I’ve been having quite a lot of fun engaging in celebratory drinking with everyone up to this point. Last Friday I went out for drinks with a few coworkers on my last day and it was a bit bittersweet as I hadn’t been there for very long and hadn’t gotten to know certain people as well as I might have otherwise. The same goes for my Japanese-English Exchange Meetup, all of whom I met Saturday for the group, ultra southern food (Babe’s FTW), and then ye ol’ drinking party! It was a lot of fun and soo many people came and enjoyed themselves, which made me very happy. And then there was sleepy karaoke for an hour or so (for me at least) but it was still fun. Anywho, my meetup acquaintances all signed a card wishing me well with my Japanese life. It was very cute and a lot of nice things were said. :) I’m going to miss everyone a lot!

goodbye card

The Yen: Where It’s At?

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Just a quickie post today. What’s it about? You guessed it! (And the title probably gave it away..)

1000yen-soseki-vector

I don’t want to jump the gun here but yesterday and today are the first few days in a long while that the yen has been exchanging at below 100 to a dollar. (Ah, recalling the fine times 5-7 years ago when the yen pwned the dollar.)

Now I know that this is purportedly an indication of Abenomics financial stimulus plan, but there’s several factors going into it and no one thinks it’s going to last. Loads of people are interpreting it badly but finance seems (to me) to be a fickle mistress. I only know the way I hope it goes, which is the beneficial one… ^__^

To that point, I find a lot of people on the forums rooting for the strength of the American dollar to the yen so I feel like I must be opposite by cheering on the strength of the yen; from the way that it sounds, you’ll have more $$ going home if the yen remains strong against the dollar, whereas hoping for a great exchange rate on the way over seems to be a one-time, one-off occasion. I mean… how much of an impact is twenty bucks ultimately going to make when you arrive in Japan?

So, in brief summary, I want to err on the edge of caution, but hopefully the yen will reach a steady, strong point throughout summer because it’s really too early, for me at least, to be exchanging savings of any kind.

I will keep an optimistic mind as I continue to hope for a steady, non-chaotic Japanese economic situation. :)