Nice day of resting, planting, and packing today. As opposed to yesterday. Wednesday night Nick and I (the person I'm going to Japan with to teach) got an email saying that we needed more paperwork for the visa to go through, then everything will be all set. What we thought we needed was a scan of our diploma, and a "certificate of graduation." Wait, isn't that what a diploma? So I scanned the diploma and got up early Thursday morning to call registrar of Alfred University so see what that meant. They pointed us towards something called an "apostille" that sounded really official, and takes 4-6 weeks to get. Cue freaking out. A call was made to Yatani, and he said that something official that says we graduated should do. So I call registrar again, beg and plead to get an official transcript done yesterday, and drive down to pick it up. All this and a letter written by someone from registrar clearly stating that I graduated with an official stamp, just in case they were still in doubt, were sent via express mail to Japan, costing about $30. That night, Yatani called Japan, and apparently all we needed was a scan of the diploma. Yay. Crash.
While in Alfred, I stopped in to see Petra (study abroad director) to chat a bit and make sure we were on the same page. Seems like Yatani had been keeping her well-informed, so we just talked about what to expect when I go there, oo thats a shiny new phone, and Dutch people are tall.
Meanwhile, mom is freaking out a bit about what happens when Japan gets the paperwork, do I rive to the N.Y. embassy, do I get more paperwork done through mail, or do I just fly over? Who knows. It'll happen SOON, which is all I need to know!
Just packed the suitcases with what I think I'm taking, stuff MIGHT barely fit into 2 of them, I'm a bit concerned with that, because an extra suitcase is more expensive, and everyone's telling me to pack light. Well everyone else can actually buy clothes and shoes there, I'm kinda sunk in that department, so I have basically most of my closet in there.
Just to be really prepared, I got all the Yen I'm gonna need for when I go over (hopefully) from AAA earlier this week. As mom says, "It looks like play money." There's a little circular window in the middle that's usually blank, but when you hold it up to the light, a picture appears! Omg! Also, the 10,000Yen note is slightly longer than the others. Different, but makes sense.
To relax a bit today (and because mom is really good at guilting me into doing things) I spent a bit of time planting flowers in the garden. Mmmm, mud. Also, there are random chunks of charcoal in the garden! They're from the bonfire we had this spring, and they write just like soft charcoal sticks. This makes me happy.
Lately I've bee addicted to Japan blogs like
Myargonauts who talks about being a JET ALT, teaching, and Japan in general. I bow down before him for how useful he is.
Also Tokyocooney is worth a watch, although he can be a bit too negative at times, but his comedy is generally good, talking about life in Tokyo.
Cooking With Dog is a really good Japanese cooking Youtube channel I found by accident, its traditional Japanese food as cooked by a Japanese lady (gasp!) and narrated in English by a talking dog with an accent. The bentou video is really good, although that is waaaay too much work for one meal lol.
That's all for now, it's late and my book is calling.
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