Suprise, I'm Alive!

Hey everyone! Well I've been in Japan 5 days and I'm still alive. The flight to Tokyo was, uh, long. I went 13 hours only peeing twice! Once I arrived in Japan, I was overwhelmed by the number of other JETs from around the world. I spent 2 days in a fancy Tokyo hotel learning all about the crazy life I've signed up for and talking to young people with every kind of accent.

I'm afraid I don't have much time right now, but I wanted to post something quick to let everyone know I'm here in Ajimu and having a good time. I did freak out yesterday and cry some this morning, but this evening I'm fine. SO MUCH TO TAKE IN! SO MUCH TO LEARN!

Love you all.

Destiny Realized

For over a year now I’ve been talking about going to Japan. I think in April 2004 I yelled at Matt Kiefer in the Undergraduate Library because he was joking with me as I was desperately searching for English teaching programs in Asia (the University Career Services people were absolutely no help). Sometime last summer, as I was cutting the grass at 5705 Old Warson Court in Raleigh, I felt the wind blow over me and I knew I wanted to go—no, had to go—to Japan. I found the JET Program, waited until the fall to apply, was interviewed in the winter, and now at the height of summer, I am about to embark on a long awaited adventure to the Far East.

My final destination is a little town of 8,000 called Ajimu located in the Usa District of Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in southern Japan. I’m telling you all this because that’s all I know about my new home (specific information about Ajimu is not published in any guide book or found on any website). I’m excited beyond belief about going and can’t wait to start a new life there.

Through the mystical powers of the Internet, I will be able to stay in contact with my friends and family and I will use this blog to share my stories and experiences and maybe even the local gossip of my town.

Thanks to everyone who asked me 50 billion times over the past year what it is I want to do with my life, and then asked again when I would hear back from JET, and then continued to ask when I was leaving for Japan, and then finally asked when I would be back. The answers are: to find adventure, sometime in March, July 23rd, and when I’m supposed to.