So I drove down to LA this weekend for the JET program pre-departure orientation. It was a little pricy considering getting a hotel and gas cost, but it was well worth it.
I drove down from Tucson with my friend Cameron. I brought my really old portable DVD player and we watched some Simpsons, King of the Hill, and My Name is Earl on the drive. It was nice because those are shows you can enjoy even if you can't see the screen. The driving in LA is insane. There were so many last second turns and mergers with just jammed packed traffic, I honestly feared for my life. I got a hotel a few blocks away from the hotel that the orientation was actually held at.
I had a little bit of trouble actually finding where in the hotel event was but I found a few equally lost JETs and we ended up finding it. The overall orientation was a real eye opener to both the fact that I am really going to Japan very soon and how much of an adult I now am. Fancy hotel, everyone wearing suits and ties, professional atmosphere. This isn't Wal-Mart any more. I learned a lot of good stuff like how to file taxes so I don't have to pay US or Japanese tax for two years, what sort of games and gifts I should prepare, and how to take care of legal paperwork abroad. I also got to talk to a lot of people who are going and who came back form my area, which has helped prepare me mentally.
The orientation was over at 4pm after that I went back to the hotel where Cameron was and we headed towards China town. We originally were planning on going to the California Science museum because it had free admission and both of us wanted to do this trip as cheap as possible. The traffic was just insane getting there because right next door was a huge rave/dance party where like 100,000 people showed up. And all of these kids were wearing quite frankly the slutiest costumes and just anything that they could do to be weird. Me and Cameron both felt it was funny how we wanted to go to the boring museum but there were so many kinds going to this party that we weren't able to.
China town was cool if not a little disappointing. Weren't really that many shops or restaurants. The China town in Kobe was way better. We did eat at a fancy Chinese restaurant, like the ones I see in Chinese movies.
The next day we went to Hollywood and did the tourist thing, that was fun. Just walking up and down the strip. After words we picked up Sam (who is also a JET) and headed home, which since we had three drivers really wasn't that bad of a trip either.
It was a pretty good weekend.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Getting close to JET
Well it has been 4 months since I last posted a blog and for anyone who didn't know I did get into the JET program and I am going to Kamogawa city in Chiba prefecture. It is a smaller town of 35,000 people but it is only a 2 hour bus ride to Tokyo! So I really can't complain about that one bit. Chiba was my first pick and to actually get it was pretty amazing.
I ended up going back to wal-mart for a few months because I could not get a job anywhere else at all. I mean it got to the point where I was applying to be a pizza delivery guy and I wasn't getting a call back. But it wasn't that bad, there are a lot of things I do not like about the job but over all it wasn't the end of the world. But that is almost over as Friday is my last day again (the third time I thought it was my last day). After that I will have about 5 weeks to prepare for Japan.
I watched a dvd I got in the mail with my JET paper work and it showed what life is like and what to expect in the JET program, I am really excited right now. I just can't believe that I will get to live in Japan, do a fun job, and get paid that well. As a single guy with little debt, I'll be pretty well off. After paying $1000 a month to student loans (for just a few months) and living expenses I'll have more spending money then I did while studying abroad. I'm going to buy a lot of gundam models! Or maybe not, well see. But I am just so grateful to the Lord for blessing me with this and the Japanese people in general. I would be willing to do this job for longer hours with less pay and yet I don't have to.
I really need to start finding more people who live in the area and start making some friends. I really need to put a lot more effort into building a social life over there. I think it is really important to understand how busy people actually are and the whole soto uchi thing. I think you need to make a lot of acquaintances and from there you will make a few good friends. I also need to not limit myself to just finding otaku friends but find things to talk about with everyone.
Not related to JET but I have been building an arcade machine. I am leaving soon so I wont be able to use it that much but I more wanted to build it then to own it. I always think I am so close and then I get hit with another problem, its just one thing after another. The goal of an arcade is to have every single game be easily accessible from one joystick without having to change settings or use a keyboard. Since each single program is different this is next to impossible. Some programs will only work one way and others another way, there seems to be no way to win with them. I really just want to have it done already.
I have been working with a translation group called KAW and we have been translating an anime called senkou no night raid (flash of night raid) and it has been insanely hard to translate. What makes it so hard is that it takes place in 1930s Manchuria where Japan does a lot of political stuff and takes over the country. I have a very loose idea of what happens but not nearly enough. When I translate there are so many people talking about so many complicated things, it drives me insane. I really want to do a simple slice of life anime after this.
We went to Disneyland and six flags last week. We went with my sister's friend's family and they had a bus and all of that stuff. It was kind of a mistake to do it that way because we had no idea where the bus was half the time, we were all dead tired and couldn't get to the hotel until late. Dad likes to really plan stuff out and have a schedule but the group all sort of played it by ear. Jessie wouldn't hang out with us though. She had her friends and she said she would spend the day with us but then would break off and just have fun with them. I kept telling her, you are upsetting dad, he wanted this to be a family day, and she couldn't understand. He never told her she couldn't hang out with her friends but it was more then obvious how he felt. Jessie still has some maturing to do if she really couldn't figure out what she ought to do. But all in all Disney land was fun, I got a little sick on space mountain and I didn't do many rides at six flags but I had fun all around.
I ended up going back to wal-mart for a few months because I could not get a job anywhere else at all. I mean it got to the point where I was applying to be a pizza delivery guy and I wasn't getting a call back. But it wasn't that bad, there are a lot of things I do not like about the job but over all it wasn't the end of the world. But that is almost over as Friday is my last day again (the third time I thought it was my last day). After that I will have about 5 weeks to prepare for Japan.
I watched a dvd I got in the mail with my JET paper work and it showed what life is like and what to expect in the JET program, I am really excited right now. I just can't believe that I will get to live in Japan, do a fun job, and get paid that well. As a single guy with little debt, I'll be pretty well off. After paying $1000 a month to student loans (for just a few months) and living expenses I'll have more spending money then I did while studying abroad. I'm going to buy a lot of gundam models! Or maybe not, well see. But I am just so grateful to the Lord for blessing me with this and the Japanese people in general. I would be willing to do this job for longer hours with less pay and yet I don't have to.
I really need to start finding more people who live in the area and start making some friends. I really need to put a lot more effort into building a social life over there. I think it is really important to understand how busy people actually are and the whole soto uchi thing. I think you need to make a lot of acquaintances and from there you will make a few good friends. I also need to not limit myself to just finding otaku friends but find things to talk about with everyone.
Not related to JET but I have been building an arcade machine. I am leaving soon so I wont be able to use it that much but I more wanted to build it then to own it. I always think I am so close and then I get hit with another problem, its just one thing after another. The goal of an arcade is to have every single game be easily accessible from one joystick without having to change settings or use a keyboard. Since each single program is different this is next to impossible. Some programs will only work one way and others another way, there seems to be no way to win with them. I really just want to have it done already.
I have been working with a translation group called KAW and we have been translating an anime called senkou no night raid (flash of night raid) and it has been insanely hard to translate. What makes it so hard is that it takes place in 1930s Manchuria where Japan does a lot of political stuff and takes over the country. I have a very loose idea of what happens but not nearly enough. When I translate there are so many people talking about so many complicated things, it drives me insane. I really want to do a simple slice of life anime after this.
We went to Disneyland and six flags last week. We went with my sister's friend's family and they had a bus and all of that stuff. It was kind of a mistake to do it that way because we had no idea where the bus was half the time, we were all dead tired and couldn't get to the hotel until late. Dad likes to really plan stuff out and have a schedule but the group all sort of played it by ear. Jessie wouldn't hang out with us though. She had her friends and she said she would spend the day with us but then would break off and just have fun with them. I kept telling her, you are upsetting dad, he wanted this to be a family day, and she couldn't understand. He never told her she couldn't hang out with her friends but it was more then obvious how he felt. Jessie still has some maturing to do if she really couldn't figure out what she ought to do. But all in all Disney land was fun, I got a little sick on space mountain and I didn't do many rides at six flags but I had fun all around.
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