Hello everyone!
Sorry for the lack of update again. I had numerous midtderms recently and then I also became pretty ill and am still trying to recover. Speaking of being sick, that is a true first for me here in Japan. Granted though in 2006 when I was living with my host parents I suffered from a huge migraine but I blame that one on the lack of sleep and left over jet lag. Anyway, last week I visited the health clinic on campus to see if they could tell me what illness I had. The first day I went they were apparently closed, despite the fact that there were doctors in the office, and told me to visit this throat clinic (the day I went my throat was in pain and I thought I may have had Strep.) There was no way I was going to do that! I felt waaaay to weak to venture to some place I had never been to before. And on top of that all they needed to do was take a giant ear cleaner, swab my throat, and see whats there. I know at the clinic at Pitt they would do that all in the same day.
That is something that I have realized bothers me about Japan. In the language and culture, everything is very round about and answers tend to not be direct. For example, a friend of mine asked me something like this the other day:"I am trying to study English and I want to get better and I know that we will be meeting often but... (will you be my language partner?)" I was frustrated that the facilities at school didn't have the resources to do a simple throat swab and that they had to send me to some other location to have that done. I could understand if they did a test on me, obtained positive results for some illness, and then sent me to a specialist clinic. I knew that this 'beating around the bush' way of speaking and acting existed in Japanese culture prior to arriving here. However, there is a difference between learning about it and seeing it in full-blown action.
Regardless, the next day I returned to the campus clinic when it was apparently open and I was finally able to receive treatment and medicine. That day, my throat no longer hurt and I was more concerned with my fever, coughing, body pains, and runny nose. The medicine I received, interestingly enough, isn't sold in the United States. It is apparently more naturally based and comes from a plant of some sort. I found that very interesting.
It is now been about week or so later since and I am feeling better. I still have a runny nose and a cough but my fever hasn't really flared up again. Also some love and help from my dearest who visited me that weekend helped the healing process.
Speaking of which, on a day that I was feeling somewhat better, I visited a place called Arashiyama to view the changing leaves in Kyoto. It was truly splendid but extremely crowded. I didn't see a much of Arashiyama simply because it was flooded with tourists and as a result I felt slightly claustrophobic. Seeing the changing leaves in Kyoto is a big deal for the Japanese. As a result all of the trains and buses have been unbelievably crowded recently. All of the temples, like Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, and others are having light up nights and extended hours to accommodate all of the visitors. I can't imagine what spring will be like when the Cherry Blossoms start blooming.
Though it was crowded, the leaves were still beautiful and I found one other lovely surprise along the way.
One weekend prior to visiting Arashiyama, I was able to experience Ritsumeikan's Gakuensai or school festival. At the school festival, all of the clubs in a school open up different booths and make food, perform, or sell other things. I don't believe anything like the gakuensai exists in American schools. The Buddies (the students that help us adjust to life in Kyoto) made C
orn Soup and gave out free hugs. After my friend, Maki, went on break from the booth, we walked around together and saw the entire campus and
the various activities going on. I enjoyed our conversations and she has become one of my good friends here.
Next month I will be trekking up to Sendi to visit my dearest for Christmas and maybe go up to Hokkaido for New Years depending on what my host father says. After that I only have a few weeks until the end of the fall semester. Time truly flies! Speaking of holidays, this is the first time I have spent Thanksgiving without my family. I do miss them and I also miss Thanksgiving dinner. For the record, turkey meat isn't sold in Japan though my sources say that you can buy a small Turkey in Kobe. For my Thanksgiving dinner I did not eat anything special. Nothing like wh
at is in the US around this time. On top of that I had to be in school on Thanksgiving day. Not fun. Oh well, at least I lucked out because Christmas is on a Saturday this year.
Next Tuesday I am going to be in a fashion show. More on that next week :D
オリビア
11/27/2010
About Me
- Liv
- "People see me, I'm a challenge to your balance, I'm over your heads, How I confound you and astound you" -- Wonder by Natalie Merchant
Hello everyone!
Sorry for the lack of up date. I just finished taking numerous tests so I have been studying a lot recently.
Tonight is the SKP Halloween party! I am attending however, my costume that I wanted to wear, has, well, not arrived from the states. So, I am just going to have to do a makeshift version of my Star Trek costume. Maybe I can borrow leggings from someone.
Anyway, so, many things have happened since I last posted. Tons of really awesome things. Where should I start...
Two weekends ago, a friend of mine from Pitt came from Kobe to Kyoto for a school trip. She stayed in my apartment and we went out and saw Kinkakuji and did Nomihoudai (all you can drink) together. It was so much fun. So many funny conversations.
That same weekend, I saw my host father for the first time in 3 years. It was just awesome to spend the day with him. He is currently on a business trip in Kobe, which is close to Kyoto, and had time so he came out to visit me. We had lunch together and talked for hours! So much to catch up on!! We then went to Kiyomizu Temple which I have officially decided is my second favorite place in Kyoto. This temple is literally built on the mountain side and you can see all of Kyoto. I need to go back there again when the leaves change color and in the spring. There is a whole hillside of Cherry Blossoms there. I bet they are stunning in full bloom.
Last weekend, my lovely traveled all the way from Sendai to watch the Jidai Matsuri with me. The Jidai Matsuri is one of the three big festivals in Japan (Gion Matsuri and the Aoi Matsuri are the other two). We watched people dressed in traditional 
Meiji costumes parade to 
the Heian shrine. All of this is a re-enactment of when the Shogun handed the central government power back to the Emperor of Japan.
After that, the two of us traveled to the lovely area of Inari, home of the Fushimi Inari shrine. This place is by far my favorite place in Kyoto. I had been there with my sister and my Dad three years ago on my first trek to Kyoto. I remember seening the endless lines of Toorii gates (red gates) all with inscribed with the names of different compaines who purchased the gates as a way to try and please the mercantile god, Inari. This place is also shown in the film Memoires of a Geisha, which is one of my favorite moves.
Inari uses foxes as messengers so naturally the shrine is filled with statues of foxes (though oddly enough I never saw any real foxes. However, there were countless numbers of cats.) When I was there three years ago, I knew that this would be somewhere I would want to come back to and walk the entire trail of Toorii gates.
Last weekend, with someone near and dear to me, I finally lived out my dream and walked the ENTIRE trial which took about 3 HOURS. It was AWESOME and at some points, a bit scary. It was dark and there were no people (we would maybe see one person every half our or so). While 
the trail was lit with electric lanterns, the dark wood surrounded us on all sides and it felt like all that was protecting us was the red gates lining the path. Along the way we saw the homes of the caretakers of the shrines. Seeing the houses and hearing the boom and clack from within the house made us feel unwelcome at that hour of the night.
We reached the top of Inari Yama (Inari Mountain) and couldn't help but feel some sort of presence. The wind was blowing gently through the trees and I sensed that something was near by. Perhaps it was Inari!
Also, if you walk the trail to a certain point in Fushimi Inari, you can see a splendid and breathtaking view of the western part of Kyoto.
Wow so much has happened and already I am more than a month into my Journey. I wonder what lies in November for me.
オリビア
10/30/2010
Hello everyone!
So, I lied when I said I would be writing about the first day of school. Instead, I am going to write about the first week of school! Sorry for the delay.
Yes, I have finally started classes. I am enrolled in 5 classes: Japanese Economy, Japanese Comprehension, Japanese Listening and Speaking, Japanese Research, and Calligraphy. Not a whole lot but enough to fulfill my requirements at Pitt.
Japanese Economy is taught in English. It is as the title says. I think this will be a great way to add to my business education.
Japanese Comprehension, Listening and Speaking, and Research all kind of go hand in hand. They are all taught in Japanese and while a lot of the material now is quite simple and I have had exposure to, there are still a few things here and there that I have not learned. In Japanese Research, we learn about history, culture, and well, a little bit of everything. Next week I have to do a 発表 or a presentation in Japanese about a famous person. I was thinking about doing Mineko Iwasaki, the Geisha that Saiyuri was based off of for Aurthur Golden's book "Memoirs of a Geisha."
Based off of my placement tests, I was put into the C2 language class, which is about the mid range (Ritsumeikan has class levels of E to A, with A being the highest.) According to a friend of mine who went to Rits, she said that after completing Japanese at Pitt, C is a pretty typical level to be placed in.
Aside from all of this, I am also taking a Calligraphy class. I enjoy it and find it really relaxing but I found out that my professor is really strict. That makes me a bit nervous but I will still try to enjoy it anyway. I thought that by taking Calligraphy I could some how apply use it and its techniques in my art. While we were learning how to make the ink, (there are two different ways to 'create' ink. One is to pour it from the bottle, and the other is to take this thin, tiny, slab and rub it in water), our teacher told us that while using the small slate our hearts must be 'quite' or 'at peace.' I found this to be a very interesting way of thinking.
On a different note from school, I was able to go to Gion this weekend with few friends. Gion is the place in Kyoto where there are many of okiya or Geisha houses. I was lucky enough to see two Maiko (apprentice Geisha!)
They were running to their appointments!
It is really cool because my one friend who I was with knows a great deal about traditional Japanese culture. She does traditional dances, plays Japanese instruments, and is even friends with a real Geisha! It was really great to get her perspective on Japan's traditional culture and we even discussed how interest in Japan's tradition arts is fading among the youth.
That is pretty much it for now. I am not sure what the next blog post will be about but I am sure something will happen that is interesting, soon!
オリビア
10/6/2010
Hi again everyone!
So this past week I was super busy with attending orientation at Ritsumeikan. Orientation consisted of taking a placement test, touring Ritsumeikan's campus, a welcome party, opening a bank account, and various other things. The study abroad students even had the opportunity to experience a 7.0 earthquake in an earthquake simulator that was brought to campus. Very amusing and helpful. Seeing and participating in it reminded me of when my dad, sister, and I were in Japan together and that earthquake in Niigata occurred, the one that my dad claimed to feel the tremors from.
To celebrate the end of orientation and the beginning of the new semester we had a party on Sunday. There was so much food! Everyone was required to make something and bring it to the party. I ended up making 
mac-and-cheese from scratch which actually didn't turn out so bad. I was quite pleased with myself.
Though it turned out ok, I had a really hard time thinking what to make. One of my friends suggested to me to make something that was from Pittsburgh. Obviously, I wasn't able to do that because most of Pittsburgh's famous dishes use lunch meat and that is few and far in between here in Japan. However realizing all of this made me see how much of a Pittsburgher I really am. For example, I realize how much things like lunch meat are a staple to my diet, almost like how rice is to a Japanese person. It is really interesting how food can say endless things about a culture.
Moving away from food and my own cultural realizations, I wanted to bring up something I have noticed about the way Japanese is spoken here at the I-House. Now, I don't know if this is because formality in Japanese has been beaten into my head by my sensei at Pitt, but I have come to realize that when people don't speak formally at first it bothers me. For example, there are people in this dorm who I have just met and already they start using informal speech. For example saying sentences like "Kore taberu?" rather than "Kore tabemasu ka?" Which both mean "will you eat this?" but the latter is more polite. Even the SKP buddies, who are Japanese, speak to me this way. Because I am not yet close with many of the people here, I expect them to speak politely to me and then I doing so in return. Until I become closer with them, this is how it should be.
Perhaps I am being too serious. But what can I say? This is how people at Pitt are trained when it comes to Japanese; you have to be polite and use polite speech often. Also, many Japanese people I have talked with told me that they like the formal language used by Pitt's Japanese students (as compared to students at CMU or another university that teaches Japanese) and how culturally appropriate it is.
Anyways, that is the end of my rant about formalities in Japanese. Next entry will be about the first day of school!!
オリビア
9/27/2010
"WELCOME ようこそ日本へ
君が今ここにいること
とびきりの運命に
心からありがとう"
--Dear WOMAN- SMAP
So I am finally back in Japan! It is good to be here again. On my first full day here I was able to call my host father and he happily welcomed me back to Japan. It made me feel at home.
Speaking of which, I have noticed that Japan has lost its intional shock factor, if you will. For example, the fact that I can't read the signs doesn't suprise me like it did in the past. Regardless, I am still pretty illiterate. Hopefully that will change this year.
I am all moved into my dorm and I am slowly in the process of making it feel like home. I want to decorate it a bit more and hang some posters here and there.
I saw Ritsumeikan University for the first time in three years. It was pretty crazy. The exteior of the buildings seems diffrent from what I remembered. I am so happy to finally be here. I received my ID card which makes me an official student! Speaking of which, today was the first day of orientation and I took my placement test. Hopefully I did well. Also, we had a welcome party with all of the Buddies (the Japanese students who will help us through out our experience at Rits) and I had the oppertunity to speak lots of Japanese and become friends with them. Maybe we will all go out to Karaoke on Friday.
Changing topics, this pas
We also stopped by Kinkakuji. I still can't believe this was my second time there. Who would've thought I would be back there again. Kinkakuji is a hot spot for tourists and it was overwhelming seeing so many foreigners there. The outside of the pagoda is laced with a gold foil material (I believe so at least).
So that is really all the updates I have for now. Classes begin next week. I am looking forward to studying Japanese intensely again. :D
オリビア
9/21/2010
"Let me show you the way to the way
to the new world
Now feel the winds blow
to your heart
I will take you right now
where the scene grows
Hold on to your seats
to the new world"
Hello everyone,
Tomorrow morning I will depart for Japan. It is kind of mind blowing. As I reflect back on the path I have walked, I can't belive that I have finally reached my grandest dream.
I think back to the time when I was sixteen, the first time I was in Japan. I was young, excited, and even a little naive. There were things I admit I didn't understand, simply because I didn't have the maturity to wrap my mind around it: What Japan was to me, Japan's history, what it meant to me to be there, how pathetic my language skills truly were, and how much this experience would shape me.
Now, at the age of twenty, I will have the fortune of returning to Japan for the third time in my life. Looking at how much I have changed since I was sixteen, both mentally and physically, I really want to look at Japan as "twenty year old Olivia" and see it as a new world all over again; to look for the things I may have missed as a sixteen year old or just couldn't comprehend.
Taking what I have learned about myself and Japan from my first experience will allow me to appreciate this year abroad even more. Living this dream that I have wanted for so long and the opportunity to make my language skills better are all goals I retained from that time.
Changing subjects, I know that my leave will be super hard on my family. I am trying to stay strong as the three of them seem to show signs of melancholy. However, I need to go to Japan. I need to do this for myself and for my language skills. I am thankful that they understand that and that the support me. They have really helped me achieve my dreams.
I am ready to go. Finally, everything that I have dreamed of is coming to be, and I can't be more thankful. Thank you to my family and all of the people who have watched, aided, and grown with me on this journey. I will make the most of this experience, I can promise you that. You will not be disappointed.
See you from the other side,
オリビア
9/13/2010
I am back from my vacation! Sorry for the long delay in posts. I ended up not bringing my computer because all of my Visa paperwork had been taken care of (and we didn't have much room in the car.)
Though I am not much of a beach person, I did enjoy my time with my family. Aside from sitting on the sand and watching the waves, I got to go Parasailing! That was awesome! I loved being up 800ft in the air and it was so peaceful. My sister and I did it together and we even got dipped in the water of the bay. I also boogie boarded for the first time in years. I had forgotten how fun it was to ride the waves. Aside from that, I went to a night club called the H20. The interior had cages and a second floor. It was pretty sweet to finally dance at a club but it was mad expensive. Like, $20 which was obnoxious. It wasn't THAT nice of a club. But anyway...
So, I am back and now I have a little less than a month until I am in Japan!! :D
Now that I have the opportunity, I feel like it is finally time to write that "What I hope to do in Japan" entry. I will write it all in list format:
What I hope to do in Japan (listed in no specific order and by place)
** All of this is of course money pending and based around my class schedule. I know I will have a lot of time off in February and March, so that may be the time to do most of this.
1. Osaka- Countless times I have driven through Osaka but I have actually never been there, if you know what I mean. Luckily, it is just a short train ride away from Kyoto and friend of a friend's family offered to take me around the Kansai area, so I will probably go to Osaka enough times to make up for all of those instances I just drove through it.
2. Nikko- Nikko is a very interesting city. It is north of Tokyo and it has some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. I saw model replicas of the buildings in Takayama and thought "Why aren't we seeing the real thing?!" Theses buildings are actually old Shogun homes, I believe. They are so elegant and lovely. I think though that when my family comes to visit me in Japan next summer, I will be able to go up with them to see this city. Of course, if I can go more than once, that would be sweet!
3. Fukuoka- The hometown of one of my dearest friends and my favorite singer. I have another friend who lives in Northern Kyushu so maybe I can go visit her and we can go to Fukuoka together. I have always wanted to go to Kyushu.
4. Fukushima- A good friend of mine who use to live in my neighborhood had to suddenly move back to her home in Fukushima because of her husband's job. I never really got to say bye to her and her family so I would like the opportunity to see her once more.
5. Shikama- This is in order to visit my lovely. Shikama (along with Fukushima) are both in norther Honshu. Going to these places will defiantly be a Christmas and/or February/March trip. I can go there and meet all of my boyfriend's friends and see the place he works. That will be fun! Shikama is also near Sendai, which is another city I would like to see.
6. Tokyo- I will probably end up taking many weekend trips to Tokyo. There is so much to do there so I know I will be amused. There is one special person I want to see in Tokyo. My best friend lives there and it has been three years since I last saw her. It would be great to spend another day with her in Tokyo.
7. Hakone- A place with wonderful hot springs. I have a friend who lives there and actually works at an onsen. She is very sweet and I would like to see her again. It is funny, after I told her I was from a place named after a planet, she found it hysterical and had this strong desire to visit my hometown. I think that Hakone is either south of Tokyo or on the same latitude as it. Maybe I will also see Mt. Fuji since it was super cloudy and the rainy season when I went to see it the first time. All I saw were clouds.
8. Hiroshima- This one is pretty self explanatory. I am a history buff so going to Hiroshima, seeing the memorial, and the museum will be an enriching learning experience. However I also can finally pay my respects. Something I feel like I should do as an American.
9. Kobe- Another city close to Kyoto. Many of my Pitt friends are doing their study abroad there and I would love to see them and get a tour of Kobe. And I will do the same for them intern when they visit Kyoto. :D
10. Sapporo- This one is perhaps the most important place I want to go to. My host family, who I stayed with four years ago, lives in Sapporo. I miss that city so much and I want to go back. If I can go, I plan to fly up there in February for the Yuki Matsuri. I have only seen Sapporo and Hokkaido in the summer. Now that I will be living in Japan for a year, I want to take the opportunity to see it in the winter. Aside from that, I also want to revisit all of my favorite places in the city; Odori, Shin Sapporo, the second hand kimono store, my favorite CD shop, Fujiya, the sweets shop next to my house, the list goes on! And of course, the best of all, I will stay with my host family. I plan on also FINALLY paying a visit to a certain bar I have wanted to go to since I was sixteen.
That is pretty much all the places I hope to go to during my year in Japan. Most of this will probably take place during the months of February and March. The closer cities, like Kobe,
Osaka, Tokyo, Hakone, and other places near to Kyoto I will probably visit throughout the year. And of course, I will do a ton of sight seeing in Kyoto, that is a given. :D
I have another friend who I plan on going to MANY Jpop concerts with. Specifically, to see w-inds. but that will be next Spring/ Summer. w-inds. does performances throughout Kansai so I know that seeing them will not be an issue. :D
I have three other ambitious trips I want to take, however, I know that going to these three locations is slim and unlikely to happen but I figure I will list them anyway. Regardless, I would like try to travel to these places partly because of my location and how much cheaper it would be. Of course, this also depends on my visa and how much money I can make at R-Pool.
1. China- I have become friends with numerous Chinese students at Pitt. Many of them I would like to visit in China. I know that this would be a good opportunity because I am close and it would be cheap to fly there.
2. Korea- A good friend of mine, the one who I will go to see w-inds. with, is currently studying Korean and travels there often. I would love to go there with her and goof around in Korea. Like with China, it will be super cheap to travel there rather than traveling from the US to Korea.
3. The Philippines- Something I have always wanted to do is visit my lovely's hometown and see his home country. Once again, I am as close as I will ever be to The Philippines and I want to take advantage of it.
So yeah, this is pretty much Liv's grand list of what she hopes to do while in Japan. Now of course, I don't expect to do all of this. Most of this list depends on my funds. I have to pay for my housing when I arrive at Ritsumeikan and also I have no meal plan. This means that I have to grocery shop and buy my own food. This aside, there are other expenses too, like my textbooks, supplies, and what have you. I really need to watch my money and also make sure that before I venture off somewhere that my school work is done. However, I think that if I save my money, manage my time well, spend wisely, and get that job at R-pool I think I can accomplish most of these things on my list, especially with the locations closest to Kyoto.
All of this, money saving and managing my time, will defiantly be a good lesson for me.
オリビア
8/15/2010
I am happy to inform that my visa paperwork has been officially sent out and my plane ticket has been purchased! I am leaving the States on the 14th of September and will arrive in Japan on the 15th!! Everything is finally starting to fall into place.
Recently, I was sending out emails to all of my friends in Japan and my host parents telling all of them that I will be coming back soon. My host family is especially ecstatic. This will be the first time I have seen them in over three years and I miss them terribly. Especially my host father because he left two or three days after I arrived in Hokkaido on my last escapade to Japan. I think that they may make a journey down to Kyoto to see me around the time I first get there. Nothing is set in stone of course, but it sounds like they want to do that, which, would be awesome if I saw them right away. I want to go back to Sapporo of course, hopefully in February for the Yuki Matsuri. :D My host parents told me in their emails that their house in Sapporo is also my house and that I can come up to visit as many times as I want. (^_^) I feel so loved.
Switching topics, I have been trying to figure out how to split my finances for the next year and it really has me worried. Providing I get a job at R-Pool and that I only make trips up to Miyagi once a month to visit my boyfriend (if I am lucky), I should be able to save my money for that trip to Hokkaido in the winter and go to other places in Japan around Febuary and make all of this work. However, until I get that job, I don't have a lot of money to work with (much less than I thought my dad was giving me) and hearing my dad talk about how he just paid for my sister's schooling and that he doesn't have much cash to work with makes me feel really uneasy. I am afraid that I cannot make my finances work out.
I am still trying to apply to that one scholarship though, so, I hope that I can get some money from that.
I actually feel bad about being such a money vacuum. I hate the strain it is putting on my family. And not having a job doesn't help much either.
I am leaving for my vacation on Saturday. I plan on having my laptop with me in case I need to do things relating to my trip to Japan.
Yes, I know, still no 'What I hope to do in Japan entry.' It will come, don't worry. ;D
September needs to come faster.
オリビア
8/4/2010
Like the title of this post says; Today is a good day.
So, I found out that my Certificate of Eligibility (COE) came in today! I am so relieved. It was sent to the study abroad office at Pitt and I have to pick it up there. I can now get to work on that and send it in to the Embassy and receive my visa. I feel soooo much more relaxed now that I have learned that it has arrived. So happy. So excited.
Now for the other reason that today is a good day. I received my final grade for my Japanese class and I got an A! This means two things: First, I have received an A in every single one of my Japanese classes since first year Japanese. Second, my GPA is officially a 3.510! I have a 3.5 GPA again!! So happy. So excited.
And yes, I know. I said I was going to write an entry about what I wanted to do in Japan but I haven't quite gotten to that yet. Just be patient. ;D
But yes, today was excellent. Only one more problem remains that needs to be resolved that is preventing it from being a perfect day: my tuition bill. I still can't seem to get all of that sorted out. I pulled out of my housing contract last week and I noticed that it STILL hasn't taken effect and changed my bill. This is irritating. And Panther Central says it doesn't take effect until like, a few weeks from now? I need it to happen NOW not weeks from now. Ugh, I don't know. Either way, I am going to Pitt tomorrow to finish up my abroad contract, obtain my COE and try to resolve all of this. Hopefully this will get resolved.
Next week is my vacation in Ocean City. It will be nice to be with my family but Ocean City has never been my most favorite vacation spot. Actually, I do not really enjoy being at the beach at all (my dad and my sister are the same.) I am one who likes to explore and find new things, not lay out on the beach. Perhaps it is just because Ocean City seems tacky in my mind. Or perhaps I created a stereo type. I don't know. Oh well, at least I am with my family before I leave.
I guess that is all for now. I promise I will write that 'What I hope to do in Japan' entry soon! :D
オリビア
8/2/2010
Today was my final day of third year Japanese. I am sad that it is over. It was so much fun and I would do it all over again if I had the chance. I will miss being with my classmates, some of them I may never see again. I learned a lot and learned about what I still have to master. The oral final was quite a challenge. More so than I expected. It just shows me that I have to get better, practice, and master all of the new material I learned this semester.
Now that class is over, all I can do is wait for September. But, I will be keeping myself busy in August. Finishing the rest of my paper work, seeing people.
I need to study more, study harder. I need to be as ready as I can be.
オリビア
7/30/2010
July will soon be coming to a close. Time flies fast!
Friday is my last day of Japanese class. It kind of makes me sad. I really have enjoyed this semester (event though it was quite a challenge) and it was a nice way to pass time.
Now I am trying to begin to plan things for August. I have to finish up my abroad contract, visit the doctor, collect my check from Addison Gibson, meet up with people, and gather everything for my trip in September.
Unfortunately, I still haven't officially decided when I am going to be flying to Japan yet. I need to find out my housing placement from Ritsumeikan before I can pick a day (this is because some of there housing requires me to move in on a certain date). On top of all of this, I still need my Certificate of Eligibility. I will be going on vacation from the 7th to the 14th of August with my family and I am hoping that paperwork will be here before I leave. I am not even 100% sure whether or not there are things I have to fill out. All of this is coinciding at once and makes me feel uneasy.
I am eager to begin my journey and I really wish I could be on the plane tomorrow. I guess this is just because I have been waiting so long to do this.
At some point, I want to do a post about the things I hope to do and the places I want to visit in Japan. I will save that for next time though. (^_^)
オリビア
7/29/2010
So I finally received my housing information from Ritsumeikan. Because I am staying for the year, I have the option of staying in their International houses plus their two apartment complexes (that I didn't even know existed). I decided to go for the International houses first and put the apartment complexes last (was able to select my preference on the sheet sent to me).
Now that my housing choices have been sent in, I can focus on my Study Abroad Contract paper work and figure out what classes I will be taking over then next year. I am glad that I will finally know what classes I am taking because now I can plan out my last two years at Pitt (Wow! My last two years already!) I think though that I will not get the bulk of this paperwork done until August because Japanese class here at Pitt has been keeping me very busy. :D
Which reminds me, I need to work on two scholarship essays that, luckily, are not due until the end of August. I did receive that Addison Gibbson loan which will help ease paying for school this year. Sadly, I did not obtain either of the scholarships Ritsumeikan offered. Oh well, at least I got the low interest loan from Addison Gibbson.
While on the subject of money, I am trying to decided if I should do this thing called 'R-Pool.' It was recommended to me by a former JET alumna's husband when I went with my boyfriend to a special JET dinner a week or two ago. He said that R-Pool is based in Kyoto and it is a way to make money by teaching English. I checked out the website and it seemed fairly straight forward; I submit my information, then they direct me to students who want to learn English. I just wonder if I need a work permit. I should ask Rits and find out.
Off topic of Japan really quick to mention something that happened in my personal life. Today someone that I love very dearly left Pittsburgh to return home. He has to pack and prepair for his journey to Japan but I can't help but miss him terribly. I have to hold on. We will see each other again come September.
I just have to be strong.
Somehow.
オリビア
7/10/2010
Wow it is almost the end of June. Time really flies!! So, I guess this post is just really about planning I have to do in order to get ready to go to Japan. Currently, I am waiting on a package from Ritsumeikan about planning for my trip over and among other things relating to my housing. Included in this parcel should be an official acceptance letter from Ritsumeikan which I need to show to Pitt's Study Abroad Office so I can sign their special contract. From there, I need to decide what classes I am going to take throughout the year. On top of this, there is all of my visa paper work! Ah! So busy!
As for my departure date, it will be sometime between September 9th through September 16th. Orientation starts the 21st. Classes, the 27th.
I just wish it would be September. But until then, gotta get to work!
オリビア
6/26/2010
Hello to anyone who may be reading this.
I decided to start this blog as a way to keep track of my adventures for when I leave for Japan this September (and possibly use this for a scholarship that I am applying to). This blog will probably (well, hopefully at least XD) be filled with some pictures, interesting stories and other peculiar events that I will experience during my year studying abroad in Kyoto.
It has been three years since I was last in Japan. That time felt so long ago; the two weeks I spent with my dad and my sister, and my adventure as an exchange student the year prior. I hope that this adventure, this story, I am going to create, will be the grandest of all. I am finally fullfilling a promise I made to myself when I was sixteen years old. The night I returned from Japan for the first time, I told myself that I would go back to that country when I became a university student. And this time, the duration of my stay will not be two weeks or a summer, but a full academic year.
I am so excited. My story, watashi no monogatari, is about to begin.
オリビア