19 July 2010

5 Days to Departure(!)

Ok so now I've packed, but I keep having to take clothes out to wear them! Also, I was pretty sure I wouldn't need to send anything after me to Japan, but I really, really do...I have a second case, of a similar size to the first one, full of 'send-on' stuff. One advantage to the packing is that I've thrown out so many clothes that I never wear, which I probably would have held onto for years more if I hadn't made that strict 'take or dump' rule.

My last week in Ireland has quickly filled up with things to do and people to see. Finally, and I knew that this would happen eventually...I had something that I was definatly going to do before I left that I've had to abandon because there just aren't enough nights in the week. (Why are there no midweek matinee shows of Death of a Salesman in the Gate?) In any case I'm looking forward to 5 days full of parties, people and last minute shopping!

Finally, lately I think I've been focusing on leaving Ireland rather than going to Japan. The slow realisation that I had to leave one country in order to enter the other only dawned fairly recently and since then I've been getting over the shock! I am looking forward to going to Japan though. I've gotten so much help from my predecessor (who is completely fantastic), from pictures of the apartment, to info on the local oversized insect-life, to answering all of my random, random questions. What have I forgotten to ask? It remains to be seen...in 5 days time

11 July 2010

13 Days to Departure

As the days roll by it's occurred to me that I NEED to start packing, but it's so complicated! Unlike any temporary trip away I can't just pack my favourite clothes - I have to pack everything! And I can't even just pack everything - because I need to buy a lot of new professional-looking clothes as well. The suitcases are needlessly complicated also...should I beg/borrow/steal a massive one, or just post most stuff after me?

Meanwhile I'm supposed to be studying Japanese...which hasn't happened so much yet...but I have read a lot about different food types in a phrasebook someone bought me! My Japanese is still at the Ohayo-Sayonara level, but hopefully the motivation to study it will increase when it becomes necessary for human communication!

Finally, possibly the most important part of preparing to leave...and the only one I've started really, is making time to see everyone before I go. There's something scary about trying to schedule coffee with a friend, when they suggest a date and you have to say, sorry but I'll be gone then. A kind of desperate urgency seizes me sometimes, and I have to be dissuaded from contacting people I haven't seen in years, just to say goodbye to them!
There's an odd feeling of finality about leaving in my mind, which is crazy really - I'm only leaving for a year! It's all relative though. In 2008 I went interrailing for a month, which felt like a LONG time. That makes Japan a LONG time times 12.

08 July 2010

16 Days til Departure

Hi, my name is Emma and I'm going to Japan with the JET Programme this year! As you can see from my title, departure's in 16 days and counting, on the 24th of July. I'm hoping to post regularly during my time away, but for now I have so much preparation to do!