Wow, the last entry in this poor neglected blog was nearly 2 months ago! I promise to do better
I'm currently in Tama-shi with my dear Miki-chan. She's been working for almost 2 months now, loving work, loving Tokyo, and loving life in general. Good for her--I've been leaching off her, but I finally got off my haunches and applied for a few jobs, one in Tokyo, the other in Fujiyoshida--a city nestled in the shadow of Mt. Fuji, and about a two-hour bus ride away from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. I already interviewed for the job in Fujiyoshida, and I have an interview for the Tokyo job on Wednesday.
Miki and I have met some really amazing people here. We've started a theater troupe called "Topdog/Underdog". Our first meeting is October 5, 2008. I'll let you know how that goes. Also, here's the website: Topdog/Underdog.
PS: Many people are afraid that CERN's LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is going to kill us all. Find out more:
So Miki left from Detroit to Tokyo earlier this morning. Since then, I've been feverishly checking the NWA website to see where her flight is (I'm guessing it's somewhere in the middle of the Pacific right now). I've also been putting in random google searches like "plane + crash + NWA + Japan"
A bit scary, I know.
I can't wait until she finally lands in Narita. It should be about 3am Ohio time, and I will definitely be up to take her call.
Anyway, The Soup is on. The perfect thing to lift my spirits. :)
I have all my materials for Sheffield, so I will be sending those out by the end of this week. Hopefully I will hear from them soon about when I will know (definitively) whether I am in or out.
Miki is leaving for Tokyo July 30th. I'm sad, but at the same time, I'm excited for her. Tokyo is an amazing place full of amazing and crazy things. Hopefully she doesn't get swept away by the huge crowds in Shibuya, but I think she'll be fine.
Must finish writing essays and other things for jobs in Japan. I also need some sort of headset for a skype interview.
Meanwhile, Ronald Mallett is building a time machine:
So I decided I don't just want to go to University. Because my program is distance learning, I'll only be meeting up with my classmates twice a year. That's pretty lonely, so I think the best course of action would be to get a job.
So far, I've gotten two interview offers, and I'm in the 2nd stage with another school. I haven't passed 2kyuu yet to be able to get a non-teaching job, but I don't think I would want to work in a Japanese company anyway.
So I talked with immigration at Detroit, and they informed me that there is no such visa as a "general" visa, and that I had mistaken the heading of "general" as the name of a visa. I was actually looking at the cultural visa (which they gave me specific instructions on how to get).
As it stands, though, I'm looking to get a job for an August or early September start, so that I don't have to worry about renewing a tourist visa, or scurrying to get a cultural visa. It's too much work, and I hate all the red tape.
In other news, Miki has gotten her apartment, and the former tenant has decided to leave her a television, a couch, and a shoe rack. How lucky is that? I think the apt. already comes with a refrigerator, a washing machine, a toaster oven, and some other stuff. All I need is a rice cooker and some nori.
I will be calling the Japanese consulate in Detroit tomorrow to figure out exactly what visa would be best for me. I would like to get a General Visa, which lasts for one year but if that is not possible, I will just have to get a 3 month tourist visa and try to figure out a way to change that to a General Visa.
Hopefully the embassy workers will be helpful, and immigration will be kind, but if it's anything like Mexican immigration, I know I'm in for a lot of red tape and excruciating headaches.
Miki found a job in Tama-shi, where she'll be teaching the little kiddies how to be assholes good English speakers. I passed the LTI Japanese exam, which means I can finally get my diploma (after a year of semi-graduation limbo) and visa for Japan. I am searching for PT work while I complete my MA in Japanese Language and Society from The Uni of Sheffield (actually a UK university), which shouldn't be that hard.
I emailed some people on craigslist and a few of the Japan-oriented forums asking about apartments and the like. Hopefully some good news will come in the next few days. Tomorrow, I have a meeting with an unnamed university, where I'm going to try to squeeze out the last bits of leftover financial aid, and put it to good use.
In other news, there is a full moon* "huge moon illusion" tonight, so don't miss out on that.
I usually never tell my friends and family details about things I plan to do in the near future because my plans almost always go through a few changes.
Earlier this year, I was supposed to be in Japan with the now-defunct NOVA Group. After they crashed, Miki went to grad school, and I found out I didn't pass my Japanese language exam for graduation.
Fast forward 3 months, and Miki gets the idea for us to go to Korea. 2 weeks later, we both decide we're going to Indonesia. A month later, I decide I should try to check out Korea again. It looks like we're going on separate ways.
A month ago, Miki and I had a talk, and we finally decided on a place we'd like to go together: Japan. So the whole thing has gone full circle.
Right now, we're looking at places outside of Nagoya, or the Tokyo/Chiba/Saitama area. Miki has had some great prospects, which is fantastic. She'll most likely be leaving in July, while I'll leave for Japan in September.
Anyway, that seems like a plan. Seems like. Who knows what will happen a month from now
One of my recruiters contacted me and offered me a position with the Seoul Metropolitan Office HOWEVER I need 2 recommendations by early May to forward on to my school in Korea. Heh? How am I supposed to get these recommendations in such a short time? I'm not in school, and I don't feel comfortable asking my amazing professors only two weeks in advance to write me a recommendation.
They might as well ask me to fly to Pluto or something equally ridiculous...but I'll probably buckle down and do it.
In other news, I have another interview with a private language school which should be coming up this weekend. I might just end up going with a private school, because I don't know how "up" I am for working with 30 kids for 5 classes a day. It's just not in me. 10 kids I can handle, and give due attention, but I don't know about 30. I'll have to work up to that, I suppose. Maybe at a summer camp.
Maya should be heading off to Indonesia in July, and I guess I'll be leaving for Korea sometime in August. Damn my diploma taking so long. Oh well, I'll probably try to find a Korean tutor to help me learn the basics before I head out. That should be fun.
Want to learn how to turn a sphere inside out without poking a hole through the middle?
Here is the longer, 21-minute version titled "Outside In."
I've been obsessing over this for the past week or so. Maya says I may have a problem.
More interesting geometry:
It gets you thinking about what, exactly, is the difference between "inside" and "outside" if there are no distinct areas represented in one object.
How to make one:
In other news, I had two interviews today. They went pretty well, minus a comment in one interview that I was "excited to teach Korea in English." Mon dieu.
