Rat Tales

My application to stay for a fourth year on JET went through! I received the paperwork today and have never felt so relieved. Well, there was that time when I got the acceptance notice from JET. I felt pretty relieved then too.

 

I have big plans for the next year in terms of cementing my lesson plans, continuing my professional development, and getting involved with JET on a local and national level. Hopefully I still have time to socialize and see the last things on my Japan Bucket List!

 

It’s really interesting looking back at how quickly time has gone by. Some days it still feels like I arrived a few months ago. It’s only when I compare my life to the lives of others, when I hear about graduations, weddings, break ups and other adventurous stepping stones of life that I grasp how long I’ve lived here.

 

Remember that umeshuu I started brewing last summer? Well, The Dude and I got back from our trip to the US for the holidays and after all the hell United Airlines put us through, we needed a drink. Voila! The perfect “I-have-no-energy-to-leave-the-apartment-much-less-my-bed” answer. It’s still a bit tart, however store bought umeshuu has a tendency to be sickly sweet so this is a nice balance. We found that adding a bit of Sprite or soda water tones down the tartness.

 

Surprisingly enough, our rats like the flavor too- what few drops they’ve managed to lick up behind our backs.

Hans enjoys the sweeter things in life

 Oh, yes! The rats! It’s been a hard transition to a life without pets. My kitty passed away in the time that I was gone too. It wasn’t unexpected, but it still hurt. Anyway, I got to reminiscing about pets with The Dude and my rats were a topic that kept coming back up. The Dude was really curious about pet rats, and I apparently managed to convince him they were cool, because we searched out a pet shop and brought home two little bouncing balls of energy.

 

Their names are Hans and Dieter and their presence in our lives has been nothing short of magical! Recently, I’ve been dealing with some really lame school bureaucracy, and the thought of going home at the end of the day to play with the rats is sometimes the only thing that get me out of a negative funk.

 

Thank goodness for pets. Even better is how much The Dude has fallen in love with them. He has an album on his phone dedicated to them and I fear it’s only a matter of time before he makes a Facebook page for them!

Felix Felicis

No sooner do I wring my hands about my placement than I receive word that placements are being announced!
Aaaaaaaand *drumroll* I got placed in Saitama!

I had a little squealing dance party at that moment, jumped up, ran around my house while my parents just looked at me and muttered, "Must've gotten her placement" and went back to reading the newspaper.

Just so you have a reference, behold:

Saitama is pretty much the closest you can get to Tokyo without being IN Tokyo (Aside from Yokohama...).
My first choice was Kanagawa-ken, which is where Yokohama is located. I am extremely surprised that I got this placement, but it makes me really happy!

I can actually see my boyfriend on the weekends. We'll be roughly a 2 hour train ride apart, but we can be normal; instead of this incredibly lonely long-distance relationship limbo, we can finally see each other on a regular basis, go out on dates, do normal, couple things that everyone else I know seems to take for granted.

I do feel a little bad for one of my friends who got placed in Niigata, although I'm sure she'll make the most of it. As for the JETs I met at Taco Tuesday, they got placed in Hiroshima-ken, Nagano-ken, Ishikawa-ken (to the west of Nagano-ken), and Akita-ken (one of the northernmost prefectures on Honshu). Thus far, no one is close by me, but that just gives me an excuse to go and visit these people and soak up the part of Japan that I haven't seen!

As for the game at work, one of the doctors won! I'm glad it was her, because she's quite possibly the sweetest person to grace this world. Congratulations Jenevieve!

Guessing Game

I had a fun idea today while at work and trying to get my mind off less-than-pleasant-things: Why not make a game out of my placement notification? Everyone keeps asking me if I've gotten the word, but not yet.

So, I printed up a map of Japan with the major cities, highlighted the areas I had requested (Tokyo, Kanagawa and Fukuoka/Kyuushuu) and told people to guess.

Some of them wanted hints, thinking I already knew. Each person is allowed one guess- and "Somewhere in Japan" is not a credible answer. Whoever gets the closest to my actual location will get a prize- or prizes if 2 people are ridiculously close- mailed to them from Japan once I get there and get settled!

I thought it was a great way to get my coworkers involved. I'm going to miss them bunches. And I'm anxious to see who will be the Winner!

Waiting waiting waiting

JET seems to be nothing but a waiting game, either that or they are slowly trying to teach us the art of patience.
You have to wait to hear back for an interview.
You have to wait to hear back about your acceptance.
You have to wait to hear back about your placement.

"You'll find out in mid-May where exactly you'll be placed," they said.
Hm, the 26th is not "mid-May".
The suspense is killing me! I just want to know how far away I will be from my boyfriend and my other friends!

In truth, at least there are shinki-dink-kansens (my friend's word, not mine) and night buses, so as long as I'm not on...Okinawa per se, I can easily get around.

Now that graduation weekend is over, I need to find something else to occupy my time. Any Netflix recommendations?