Monday, June 18, 2007

The Suspense Isn't Killing Me

Welcome one, welcome all to my little corner of the internet. Here over the next weeks, months and possibly years you can read all my mindless drivel and keep track of my (mis)adventures in the land of the rising sun. I guess I should start out by catching everyone up to whats about to go down.

In six weeks time I will be moving to Murakami City, Japan where I will be living and working for at least a year and up to five years. Hell, you people may never see me again (unlikely, but possible). I am going as part of the JET program (Japan Exchange and Teaching) which is a pretty sweet program funded by the Japanese government. It will be my job to teach elementary and middle school children how to speak English so as to ensure that Japan will never face a shortage of incredibly broken, inappropriate sayings to put on signs and t-shirts.

Soooo Murakami City is in Niigata prefecture, which is on the west coast of the country. I'm right next to the mountains and the beach, which is pretty sweet. Even sweeter, I'm living within 30 minutes of two different ski resorts, so I plan on doing plenty of boarding in my free time, of which I will have a fair share seeing as I only have to work 35 hours a week. Although I'll be living in virtually the middle of nowhere, I'll be 1.5 hours away from Niigata City, the largest city on the Japan Sea coast and about 5 hours away from Tokyo by car/bullet train. This will be great for those inevitable occasions when simply nothing will satiate me but a Wendy's Classic Double with Cheese.

It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm moving to the other side of the world. I know its gonna happen, and I think about it on a semi-regular basis, but I'm not really counting down the days. In fact I'm not keeping up with how many days I have left at all, I rely completely on my dad for that information. Honestly, I don't think it will sink in until I step off the plane and realize that I understand very little of what's going on around me. Until then, theres a lot of partying to be done (and maybe a little nihongo benkyoshimasu) before I leave lovely Chapel Thrill. If you're reading this you probably know me, so hit me up before I go!