Portrait of the Artist as a Young Geek

In case I neglected to mention it earlier, I'm toying around with joining the JET program. (It's in Japan, it pays money. What other reasons do I need?) Went through the interview stage today... not sure how well I did, though. I generally don't interview well. And I can't just go in and say I want to be an JET ALT because Japan and money. Fortunately, I'd already thought that through to some degree when I cranked out my application essay a couple months ago, so I had a few more answers prepped on that subject. And I was able to come up with something off the cuff in response to "you enjoyed your time in Japan before, but what if it proves harder or more stressful this time?" On the other hand, I had a bit of trouble with "how are you qualified for teaching?" (why, WHY didn't I mention that I've done both amateur and professional proofreading?) and I don't think I impressed them with my uncertainty over which grade I wanted to teach ("wherever the class is taught in about 50% English, 50% Japanese" was my best stab).

But actually, the most stressful part was getting lost on the way there. One hour from San Jose to SF, 45 minutes driving the streets of the city with a bunch of maps and a confused expression. Whoever designed the city layout ("can't turn left here... or here... or here... you know what? screw the signs!" *completely illegal U-turn*) needs to be shot.

I arrived back safe and sound, jet-lagged but otherwise fine, Wednesday morning. If you're curious about my lack of online appearances since then, well, I've been kept occupied dealing with ten billion people here who want to see me (as well some last minute shopping for stuff I won't have to pay duty on). Managed to poke my head online a couple times over the past few days -- you may or may not have noticed -- but anyway, I'm back in business. Sort of. Much of my luggage remains partially packed, since I'm going to have to move it all south again in about two weeks, but that makes it a pain to find stuff sometimes. Also, I may still be a bit hard to find for another couple days, until the festivities are over. Anyway...

Tokyo trip went well, if you were curious. Signed up for a tour: saw the Tower, the Emperor's Palace (from the outside of the walls, anyway), Akasaka Temple, and a brief viewing of the Diet, as well as general views from the bus of other locations. Really good tour guide too; spoke good English, and had a lot of interesting info about the history and sites of the city, as well as a few jokes. ("The tour bus cannot wait here for you due to parking rules. So if you come back before the pick-up time, you will not see the bus. If you come back AFTER the pick-up time, you will not see the bus.") Also, on my own power, visited TouCho (the Tokyo Metropolitan Area government offices: great view from the top, all the way to a faint but visible Mt. Fuji) and Akihabara (premiere tech equipment shopping district, where I picked up a discounted TM Revolution CD and an expensive but high-quality Japanese electronic dictionary, complete with handwriting kanji input).

The Kitais surprised me by giving me a lift to the airport and saving me about 4000 yen train fare (though I think they spent MORE than that on tolls; just about all the highways in Japan are turnpikes). Mr. Kitai even took the afternoon off to see me off. They also tried to pump me full of presents for myself and my family, but my baggage was already overloaded, so they wound up having to put most of it in a box and ship it from the post office that was conveniently right in the airport. Hasn't gotten here yet. *shrug* Anyway, it was really nice of them, although it also stretched out the goodbyes...

*sigh* I'm really going to miss everyone... When I head back and forth between Irvine and Campbell, that's not a big deal, because I know I'll see the people I'm leaving again in six months tops. But I have no idea when I'll be in Japan next, if ever... ...honestly, I'm getting a little teary-eyed right now just thinking about it.

"Where is the 'sigh' in 'sayonara'?" (Oh, wait, there it is... -_-)

( Rambling about yesterday before I get to the meat of the post. )

As I type this, David is off to the train station on his way to Narita Airport. We just saw him off. An hour after watching Laura leave with her parents: they'll be touring Japan for a week or so before flying back to America, and even if they decide to drop back by Tsuru before leaving the country, the only person left by then will be Mike, so it was our big farewell for her too. I mentioned way back when I first got here that I'd probably get pretty close to these people... but it didn't really hit me until, well, literally just now, how close the ryuugakusei-gumi are to family for me... *gets quiet for a moment before composing himself enough to continue*

My own farewell from Tsuru will be Wednesday around 10:30: I've checked the train schedules and I can get to Narita Airport a full two hours before my flight leaves if I start then, complete with time for lunch at Shinjuku station. I figure that will give me more than enough time to get through customs and any hazards of finding my way around a Japanese airport.

As things wrap up, I think it's about time I gave credit to the tutor crew. Some, like Taka, vanished without a trace and eventually dropped from the program; others stayed in but were rarely to be seen; but the few, the proud, the diehard could always be found to lend a helping hand. Marippe and Keiko, who were the only two I could ever seem to flag down during the intensive language portion. Noriko and Ayako, who were busy during August but who made up for it by camping out in the lounge in the fall and helping anyone who asked. And then there's Yoshi, who organized our translation sessions of "Yuki-Onna". Who, if you really need an explanation in terms you can understand, speaks better English than some American high school graduates. Who, despite constantly working on passing his qualifications for his own trip to America next fall, was available more than anyone else. Incidentally, he's managed to qualify for a year at any college in the University of California system (Keiko's going anywhere but Berkeley, no one else from the tutor team is applying yet). I wish him the best, and may he find as good help there as we found here.

Woke up this morning to find the ground had vanished. It had been raining a lot the day before, and for a brief time the sky attempted to mix a few snowflakes amidst the water, but nothing really came of it. So it tried again that night with far greater success. Tsuru was about four or five inches deep by the time I woke up, and it's still snowing now even if the current layer is slowly beginning to melt. Nice mood booster in the midst of finals...

Fumi-san (the program coordinator) has informed us that in its 7 semesters of existance, the Tsuru program has yet to send a group of yuugakusei back to the States without one of them hooking up with a tutor. Make that eight semesters. Actually, being Mike's neighbor, I've been aware of Marippe dropping by his apartment almost daily for well over a month, but I didn't feel like mentioning it earlier; now that they've made it public, I figure I might as well spread the love. ;D Dunno what they're going to do when Mike leaves for home at the end of the month, but it sort of puts the long-distance relationships I see online in perspective...

Oh, and ( Be afraid, be very afraid... )

And I had to hold off posting this for several hours because LJ was doing maintenance. As was Keenspot. Take out half my online addictions, will ya?

Blech. Spent the entire morning writing and typing up a two page essay (in Japanese!) because I'd been putting it off and it was due at 1pm. Just barely made it under the wire, and I didn't have time to go online this morning as a result. My apologies if I missed anyone.

This delay will not, however, stop me from posting ( Hiroshima Update Part 2! )