Archive For The “The Beginning” Category
Hey, I’ve finally gone live. Lucky Isle is the place where I’ll write about whatever happens while I do the JET program in the Japan. So far I wrote up the process of actually getting into the program and getting here, but eventually I’ll catch up to the present. For now, have a look at [...]
Arrival, For Real This Time The four or so hour bus ride was broken up by a rest stop or two. On one of these stops I got the first taste of restaurants that use vending machines instead of cashiers. Food places at most rest stops, and some regular restaurants even, instead of telling the [...]
Tokyo Orientation With Japanese conferences there is a very set order and methodology. You must first have someone introduce the speaker who will be introducing the speaker who will open the opening ceremony. Then the person who was just introduced will introduce the person opening the opening ceremony. The person opening the opening ceremony must [...]
Arrival The plane landed and we all disembarked. The first order of business before we could do anything was to get our passports stamped and do all of that immigration junk. Unfortunately, as there were hundreds upon hundreds of JETs entering the country at the same time at Narita, Immigration was packed. I felt bad [...]
Depature and Flight The following morning we all piled into some busses and drove over to the airport. Due to my hating to wait in line, I made sure to sit near the front of the bus so I could get off first, check in first, and get through security first. Unfortunately the guys taking [...]
Pre-Departure When they’re actually on time (or within an hour of on time) and aren’t freezing cold in the middle of the winter due to electric malfunctions, I really do enjoy riding on Amtrak trains. It’s relaxing. It was also surprisingly easy to transport my large bag and my big-ass unicycle on the train. I [...]
The Preparation Now that I knew that I had gotten in, it was time to complete all of the paperwork that I now needed to do: get fingerprinted for a background check, submit said background check, go and get a physical and chest x-rays, apply for some IRS forms, etc. It should be of note [...]
The Interview At the consulate there were a few other college-aged people meandering around, mostly being quiet. Though I do specifically remember one guy who I oh-so-creatively nicknamed Mr. Japan. In short, he was talking about how awsome he was and how much experience he had with… everything to anyone who would listen. And by [...]
The Application To get into the JET Programme there are three things you must do– Be able to endure hassles with lots of strict paperwork and inordinate waiting times while you put any possible post-college plans on hold Satisfy the official requirements Survive their seemingly random selection generator Note that the official qualifications in actuality [...]
First post. The purpose of this site is so I feel more compelled to write longer and more thought-out entries about my stay here in Japan. LiveJournal is nice for little single-paragraph random blurbs, but I figured that if I actually went out and made my own site I may actually write about things more [...]