Packed and Ready

Wow. It is 11:42 as I begin typing this. We'll just call it fashionably late, even though by the time I finish this entry, it's bound to be Thursday. Ah, well. I've been a little busy. 

So, a re-cap of what I've been doing in preparation, of sorts. 
Thursday and Friday I was completely free, and I don't think I got a single thing accomplished. It was absolutely beautiful, although I had kind of been wanting to see some people. They must have been too busy, though, so as a result, I just didn't do anything. 
Saturday was a dinner with some of my close relatives, to see them one more time before I leave. It was a pretty good time. Sunday I hung out with a friend of mine I haven't seen in months, and it was good to catch up with her. Before I left, though, I wrote up an essay for scholarship applications within my own university [the work is never done!]. It really was the only day I'd have left to write anything, and so I had to get off my lazy duff and actually get it accomplished. Once I got it finished, though, and looked back in retrospect, it really wasn't too bad. Monday, I went to go say goodbye to close family and friends, as well as help my aunt set up her Skype account so that she and her family can talk to me while I'm away.


Somewhere in-between all this hectic stuff, maybe on my two days off, I managed to walk outside at the right moment and catch a beautiful sunset. 

Lovely, isn't it? 

Yesterday, Tuesday, was both extremely happy and extremely sad. I had to say my farewells to some of my closest friends, and it was also my last poi class. Some of the people that I've met from that have become much like my family, so since it was the last time I'll see them until August, it was very bittersweet. Awesomely enough, though, they were having an impromptu party [my teacher had forgotten I was leaving so soon and was shocked when he found out] with all the Fire Tribe members, and so they had me stick around for that. I was there until midnight, mostly just watching people, but they made me spin some fire poi one last time before I left, and I must say, I feel as though I did a little better than I did the first time. It wasn't quite as intimidating as the last time. Of course, I singed the back of my hair [no major damage even to the cut, it just smelled awful], but once I was able to just shake it off and have no repercussions, it was all smooth[ish] sailing from there. Anyway, I said my good-byes, and even though you think I am, Emily, I'm not going to get swept off my feet and married within four months. I promise. I'll be back in August, at least for a little while.

Today was last-minute laundry and packing day. While I had started getting things together last week, today was my designated, official pack-up-my-junk day. I think I over-packed, but since I have absolutely no idea of what I'll need yet, it will be okay. I hope. 

Since I haven't been sleeping well recently, once I had the bulk of it packed up, I went ahead and took a nap.

This was my stopping point.

I slept for about an hour, and woke up to the overwhelming need to finish what I'd started. So I gathered up last-minute things and got everything I think I'll need, and some things that might be extra, because I know that if I forget something, I can't exactly just hop another plane back to the US like it's nothing. Once I'm there, I'm there. 

Oh my goodness, I'll be there on Monday. 

All finished!

Speaking of which, I found out that the friend of mine from school also going to Oberlin will be arriving in Tokyo about one hour after I do. I'm quite happy with learning about this development, and told him to find me once he arrived, which he said he would. I'm sure by then I will be eager to see a familiar face, if only to gather myself to jump back in and amongst the thick of things. Maybe not on Monday, though. Surely I'll be tired by then. 

Finally, what kept me from posting at a reasonable hour today. I went out with a friend of mine to go get some dinner and go see the Hunger Games. A couple other friends of mine had me reading the books just a couple of weeks ago, and I wound up reading all three books in two days. Needless to say, I've been dying to see the film, but I just hadn't been able to find the time. But I wanted to go before I left, so I took the opportunity to make some last-minute plans while I still could. 

I'm really grateful that I did, too. They didn't follow everything in the book, and some things that I had thought might be considered important were skipped, but they did stick pretty closely to the plot, and I did enjoy it quite a bit. Seneca Crane's facial hair was awesome, and the details they added to the costumes and design were lovely.

Besides that, oh my goodness, Lenny Kravitz as my favourite character yes yes yes yes. Perfection.

My current desktop wallpaper. Guess whose music I'm listening to right now? Mm...
Yes, Mr Kravitz. I would gladly go your way.

Tomorrow's the first of several big days!

Tomorrow I've got to go over everything and make sure I didn't forget anything important, and then tomorrow night, after I give a friend a picture she had commissioned me to work on, I'm to be whisked off to the train station. I'll arrive in Chicago Friday morning, where I hope to be greeted by my aunt and an old friend of mine. Saturday will be for me and my aunt, and Sunday morning, I'll be off.

I'm really nervous,

and really excited.

Wish me luck, guys! 

My next entry will be the first from Tokyo!

Hopefully, everything will go smoothly.

I'll tell you about it next Wednesday, which, I hope, will be on time. 

Sorry about the late post, guys.

Talk to you soon!

-RD

Status Updates

Ohoho, second entry.


I almost didn't have anything to really write about this week, but by good graces, I have found something I can provide. It will probably be dry, but I don't expect anything to turn out interesting for another two entries.


But.
This week, I can talk about applying for a visa. 

I make it a point to look like a dapper gentleman in every photograph.

The information that Oberlin wanted could have either been sent before December 18th or after January 3rd. It was a simple enough list of a few things; I can't really recall what all it was right now, but they weren't anything that would take four or more weeks to obtain. So, I decided to get all my things together and go ahead and submit it. It's a good thing I did, though, because had I not, I'd still be waiting on my visa.

Basically, visa application [in this instance], breaks down into sending the school some information, and then they send it to the Embassy in Japan. The Embassy then runs off a Certificate of Eligibility and Certificate of Admission. From there, it's sent back to the school in Japan, and then that school mails it to the school that the student actually attends.

So it went from me, to Oberlin, to Tokyo's Embassy, back to Oberlin, and then it was supposed to go to my university. After that, they'd call, let me know, I'd have to fill out a couple more pieces of paperwork [visa application and release of liability form], and mail it all with my passport to the Embassy in Nashville.

It is really freaking confusing.

Anyway, for whatever reason, one of my certificates got lost somewhere in transit, and when I was supposed to go and pick them up in February, there was only one. The Study Abroad office got in touch with Oberlin and asked what was up, and we found out that there wasn't an extra copy.

So, Oberlin had to re-apply to the Embassy in Tokyo, and we pretty much had to start all over again.

Whooo boy, I was stressed out. It had taken about two months to get everything processed the last time.

I didn't have two months. 

Luckily the re-issuing didn't take as long as it did the first time. I got it in just a couple of weeks, and mailed everything off the very day I received it. Sadly, I had to overnight it both ways instead of sending it only via priority, and as a result, spent $37 dollars to mail it to there and back as quickly as I could. Nashville is only about three hours away. 

Had I gotten everything earlier, I could have sent it priority.

That would have only been about $10 dollars, maybe up to $12. 

But mistakes happen, and I'm glad I got everything done in time. Had I taken too long, I still might not have my visa yet, and I don't know what kind of mess I would be in by now.

So this goes to show you, kids--finish up your stuff as early as you can!

And here is a suggestion for fellow honour students looking to study abroad: 

Remember to e-mail someone in charge of the honour's programme of your school about study abroad. I'm happy that I remembered to, because I came to find out that I can get three of my college credits put towards my honour's credits. All I had to do was fill out a sheet of paper with where I was going and a basic outline of what I planned to do, and then have someone in the department sign the trip off as an honour's experience. It was so very easy. 

I've gone ahead and bought my train ticket to get me up to Chicago on the night of the 29th. I'll be hanging out there with some family and friends right before I leave for Tokyo. What I'm working on right now is getting more information together so that I can pay for my dormitory fees at Oberlin. I came to find out yesterday that my bank doesn't handle any international money wiring, and as a result I had to put the money in my aunt's account so she could wire it over. But instead of everything running smoothly, we can't wire the money over without one more number to route it to the right account.

Another reason to not wait until the last minute, I suppose. 

I've e-mailed Oberlin about this, and hopefully will have a response by tomorrow. 

A good thing about all of this is that the dollar is getting stronger against the yen at least. That's nice, at least. I'm saving a few more dollars every day. 

I'm just ready to have everything finished and good to go.

Soon.

My younger cousin heard about the earthquakes that have been happening over in Japan these past few weeks, and tried to tell me the other day that I could no longer go.

I was charmed, but I told him that it was too bad, because I may as well already be gone. 

Then I reminded him that we sit on a fault line, too, and could have our own earthquake at any moment. 

And he proceeded to legitimately fall out of the couch in melodrama. It was quite amusing.

Packing will begin soon, as well as last-minute visits with family and friends.

I'm sure it will be quite fun, except for the packing part.

That's all I really have for this week, though.

So, I'll sign out now.

'Til Wednesday,

-RD

First Entry! Prepwork and General Status

That title makes it sound as though it will be incredibly boring.

Don't worry, it probably won't fail to live up to that expectation.

Hello and good day, regardless! I will be your tour guide for this hopefully spectacular study-abroad trip to Tokyo, Japan, where I will be doing an intensive study of, you guessed it, Japanese. I'll be there from April to August, hopefully getting some of my upper-division hours out of the way while I'm at it. It's nice to meet you, and if I already know you, well. It was nice to meet you whenever I met you, surely.

A little about me, I suppose. Call me Rigantona, for internet anonymity purposes. I'm 19 years old and floating aimlessly somewhere between a second and third year in college, majoring in foreign language. At the moment, my concentration is divided into Japanese and Russian, but hopefully I'll learn several other languages before my brain decides it hates me and retires. My hobbies include spinning poi, being a complete newbie to bellydance, reading, writing, sewing, drawing, and playing the piano terribly. 

I've been obsessed with Asia in general since I was a tiny sprout. Somewhere between my aunt having amazing Vietnamese friends around while I was growing up, my first restaurant being Chinese, and Disney's Mulan being released when I was still relatively small, I was pretty much set up to love the area from the start. My focus narrowed down to Japan when I was about nine years old or so and discovered comic books and anime, and from then until about 14, I was one of the more obnoxious fans you could potentially come across.  Then I discovered the intrigue of Russian history and the beauty of their literature, and I also learned the ideas of balance and moderation. It was about that time that I successfully learned how to discuss other topics. A bit of personal growth didn't hurt, either. 

From there, my interests have broadened substantially, though I have never forgotten my original interests. Needless to say, a trip to Japan has always been a bit of a dream of mine, and so, to have the date of my departure for Tokyo approaching fast is both incredibly exciting and incredibly nervewracking. 

I head out April 1st, and that, I'm positively ecstatic to say, is no joke. 

I'll return on 10th August. 

It's really incredible, how far this has all come. I started working on my application during the late summer of last year--In July, I believe, just before a trip to see my parents. I e-mailed the study abroad advisor, who I found out was no longer the study abroad advisor, and was re-directed to the head of study abroad entirely. Arranging a time to meet, we got together some time and discussed my options. I had originally planned to go to Nagoya Gakuin to study, but was re-directed to one of the new schools they had just formed study-abroad ties with, in Tokyo. So, after some initial confusions and complications, it was decided that I would study at JF Oberlin in Machida, Tokyo. 

And then the paperwork began. Oh, goodness, did the paperwork begin. Except it wasn't all on paper--the university had just switched to an internet-based application, which is all fine and dandy, save the fact that I was one of the first students to apply that way and, as a result, something of a guinea pig. Fortunately, the Study Abroad staff are all kind people who were willing to help me through every step of the way, and, miraculously, I somehow turned everything in the day before the due date.

On top of the application, though, there were the scholarship applications. The university's scholarship application wasn't too bad--I finished that in a few days. The others were quite long, some requiring me to write several essays to explain why I'm going to Japan and what I'm doing there, all individually. It was worth it, though, in the long run, because although I didn't get all of the scholarships, I did manage to scrape up one really good one. The Freeman-ASIA scholarship proved quite generous and, from them, I received $5,000 for my travel expenses. It has wound up covering both my plane ticket and my dormitory expenses, which were both pretty hefty purchases. It may be worth looking into for anyone planning to study abroad anywhere in Asia. It's designed especially with those, like myself, who rely heavily on the FAFSA and other scholarships in order to even consider attending college. The other two scholarships to which I applied that I did not receive, but may be worth your while, are the Bridging Scholarship and the Benjamin A Gilman Scholarship.

The applications all took a lot of time and effort, but in the long run, I feel that it was worth it in trying. 

Once I had all of that applied for and out of the way, I could finally take a bit of a breath and relax. I couldn't relax too much, mind you, but I could relax some. I got approved to go some time a few months back, I believe in November or December, and I had to scrape up some small things in order to get my certificates to apply for my visa. Oberlin itself also had a few things it wanted me to fill out just recently, a couple of forms to fill out discussing my goals and what I already know in Japanese. 

So, by the time Winter Break rolled around and I had all of this done, I could finally slow down and take some time for myself and my family, which was good, because that break demanded a lot of family time as well as time to sort out some serious personal matters. 

I was originally planning to audit a few classes in order to keep my languages up and well-studied, but by the time the Spring Semester rolled around, so much had happened over break that I decided it was best to get some rest while I had the opportunity, and I must say that so far, I don't regret the decision. Not to say I've accomplished much in the past few months, but that was kind of the entire point of it all, and I'm happy it was successful. 

I bought my plane tickets some time in late January or early February over Vayama, back when the gas prices had started to fall [got them pretty cheaply that way], and I sewed a couple of new clothing pieces. Played through a few video games, too, and made a lot of progress in my extra-curricular pursuits. I guess these past few months haven't been entirely unproductive, then, hm?

Two more updates until I leave. Wednesday seems like a fine day to write up reports, hm? Rounded and perfectly in the middle of the week. 

Perhaps this is how it should be, lest something unforeseen demands my attention on a Wednesday and I have to postpone the update.

Wednesday it is, then.

Have a photo of one of the daffodils currently in my front yard. 

'Til next week.

-RD