A month left in Britain
With only four weeks before I fly out to Japan I have finally got some more information about where I will be living, who I will be teaching and what my island looks like.
The photo above is of the island I will be living on, and came from the website my agency gave me. I will try and put a link to it once someone shows me how. It looks so beautiful, and I'm very excited about going now. I recieved an e-mail today from a girl who is currently teaching out there, and she gave me loads of information. I will be teaching in 2 high schools and 4 primary schools. Apparently I visit the high schools twice a week and the primary schools once a week, but I only have to make lesson plans for the primary school classes.
The weather is hot, it's 30 degrees at the moment and it never really goes any lower than 20 degrees in the winter. I'm really looking forward to having some sun! I also found out some details about my house, it sounds quite big and I have a western bed (which is a shame because I was excited about having a futon to sleep on). I also have a spare room so visitors are welcome. I also think I will have other JETs on the island with me, which is a big relief. I should have two at the least so I shouldn't feel that isolated. I should be finding out more information soon, I sent a reply to the JET with loads of questions, poor girl.
I can't believe how nervous I was about going last week, I nearly contemplated not going at all! I feel so positive now though, it's so exciting! Who could possibly turn down the chance to work on a tropical island in Japan!
Oh, I also realized I never really gave the resolution to my dress issue. Well I found two really nice dresses in size 12 for only £60, and also discovered the shop of my dreams! 'Where?' I hear you ask,
TK Maxx Well, TK Maxx is amazing, it's so cheap but the clothes are so nice and good quality. I'm going to spend a day in there getting clothes for Japan!
A student no more
Here is a picture of me in the second year with my house mate John, as a student.
Well, on Wednesday I received my degree results. I got a 2:1, which I was very happy with. The whole day was quite amusing as the department supplied lots of wine and I drank at least a bottle. Then me and one of my tutors went out and got very drunk and wandered round campus, well, I actually danced around campus. It was a great night, but did get me thinking about student/tutor relationship.
The tutor who came out and celebrated with me is certainly one of my good friends, yet some of my student friends think it's weird to get on so well with him. I always thought that at university your tutors would be people you could occasionally socialise with, or who you could pop in and see for a cup of tea and a chat. I have to admit, I didn't quite envisage going out on the town with a tutor, but I was lucky to get on with mine so well. Most of my fellow students hardly know their tutors though, and wouldn't dream of talking to them outside of seminars and lectures. I think that's strange to be honest, because although I don't go out drinking with them all, I'd often stay and have a chat after seminars with them, and go to the pub for one drink after departmental seminars. It's a shame that many students have trouble getting a reference because the tutor doesn't know them very. I think that university life is better having a tutor as a friend, rather than a stranger.
Anyway, I may not be able to post as frequently over the next week because my access to the internet has become limited. I will be returning to Wales soon though so all should return to normal then.
Five things I miss from my childhood
As instructed by Rhys I have carefully thought about what I miss from my childhood. I am hoping the bottle of wine I drank before writing this will help me remember what I really miss.
1. Sunday Walks
Every Sunday my dad would take me and my brother on one of the many beautiful walks in Wales. At the time I hated it, and would think of any excuse to avoid a hike up some random mountain or round a lake. We would walk in any weather and my dad would make me and my brother wear over-sized bright red coats and hats. I now really miss those walks as they kept me fit and also gave me some time to myself. I would often walk ahead, and it allowed me to be the most creative I have ever been, thinking up poems and stories. I also loved the journey to the destination and have a cd of all the songs I listened to in the car. I have also seen a lot more of Wales and miss how pretty it is when I'm not there.
2. The Raccoons/ X-men
The Raccons was one of my favourite cartoons as a child, and even now. The theme music 'Run with us' was very cool, and you couldn't help but sing along. The characters were also really good, and you couldn't help but pity Cyril Sneer, the bad guy in the show. I really enjoyed this cartoon, but not as much as I loved X-men. I remember watching it and talking about it with my friend Jason when I got into school, and also singing the theme tune.
3. My Nintendo
I got a Nintendo when my brother got a mega drive, and I remember being very jealous. My Nintendo was old and not very cool, but I became addicted. I still never completed a game, but I loved it and wish I still had it. My favourite games were California Games and Super Mario. I loved it even though I was useless. I lost my Nintendo when I was a member of the college student union. I let them borrow it and the president stole it and never gave it back. I have since been given a Playstation but the games are too hard. I can play most of Spyro the Dragon, but when I got Spyro three it was far too difficult, I got stuck at level three! I had to go into Gamestation and ask for a game that was easier, which was very very embarrassing!
4. Acting, singing and dancing
When I was younger I was always acting, singing and dancing. I was in acting clubs till I was 12 and took ballet, tap and modern till I was 14. My singing I managed to keep up until I was 17. I would still love to do these hobbies, and my dream job would be to act in musicals. I love it so much. I did try and recreate my dancing days by joining the cheerleading society in the second year, which was quite fun! I'd really like to sing again, and have thought about having lessons again, but then I should really do something productive like learn a new language.
5. Army Cadets
This is a strange one because Army Cadets is so unlike me, but I was a member for over three years and it helped me develop as a person so much. I was quite unpopular at school and bullied alot, but it was very different in cadets because nobody really went to my school. I was useless but I made some amazing friends and got my first boyfriend. Although some of the people I met are now in prison, they were really good to me and made life in Colwyn Bay as a teenager so much easier. I got to fire weapons and run around playing army. I also met lots of boys and got quite streetwise.
Well, that was quite a poor meme but my long term memory is very bad so I blame that.
Anyway, last night was my graduate ball and I had an amazing night. I really expected it to be crap because the Christmas ball was so poor but I had such a great night! It was at Blackpool winter gardens which is huge. I managed to get drunk quite cheaply and spent alot of time running around meeting new people and dancing. I didn't get home until 5am!
I get my results tomorrow so I'm very nervous, but all should be ok. I'm also feeling very positive about Japan now, decided I love my figure (mainly my boobs) far too much to ever want to be a size 10 let alone a size 6. I'll be proud to be different in Japan!
Drunken rant now over, please ignore spelling mistakes!
Which letter is like an island?
T, because its in the middle of waTer.
I recently discovered that my placement in Japan is on an island away from the mainland, and it's a small island. My initial reaction was panic, as there was little details about the place online. Thankfully I have an amazing mother who spent the whole weekend searching for more details, and after reading what she found and looking at how pretty it was I felt better. I'm still apprehensive, as I may be the only JET placed there and I could be quite isolated.
After getting over the shock of my island placement, and beginning to feel more positive about it, I began reading a book for western women in Japan. This book made my panic increase substantially! It talked about how even small (like size 10) western women feel insecure about their size (as most Japanese are about size 6). Also, most Japanese women are always very made up, even wearing make-up for hiking or going to the gym. These two things scare me, as I feel big in Britain, let alone Japan. I also wear little make-up. The book goes on to profile how western women often feel very lonely, get little attention from men or any respect in the work place. There are also problems with hair loss and depression.
If all that doesn't seem bad enough, western men are in heaven in Japan. They are constantly surrounded by Japanese females and also respected in the workplace. I know this should not effect me, but certain things in my life at the moment do make it an additional issue for me to deal with.
I'm not really sure how I feel at the moment, I'm beginning to feel my time in Japan will be more of an endurance test than a wonderful experience it's supposed to be. I have to optimistic, and I should really have been prepared for this before I applied for the job. Hopefully my feeling will change when I get there
Farewell to Fairfield Stores
Today is my last day at work. I've been working in a corner shop about ten minutes from my house since the start of the third year, and I've really grown to love the place. Obviously my move to Japan means I had to hand my notice in, but it is sad to be going.
Working at Fairfield really helped me to settle at Lancaster, and it has been such a great place to work. I worked quite a lot of hours over my time there (which could be seen as foolish being a third year) and I've become a familiar face to the regular customers. It's really made me feel part of Lancaster itself, rather than just the student community.
When I first moved to Lancaster I was really aware of the student/local divide, which is made even more visible as the university campus is a 20 minute bus ride away. Although there was no real hostility between the two groups, as a student, it was hard to feel part of the community. Moving off campus in the second year helped, but working at Fairfield really made me feel part of the town. I think after living somewhere for three years you do start to really settle, but as many students move back to campus in the third year I doubt many of them really feel part of Lancaster the town. I think this is a real shame, but I do understand why some people feel the need to return to campus in the third year. The rules at Lancaster Uni. originally stated that everyone (except special cases) had to move off campus in the second year, and that third years would be allocated on a first come first serve basis. This has now changed. With plenty of new and very expensive accommodation being built, staying on campus is open to all students, including second years. I think this is such a bad idea, surely the idea of student life is about learning to look after yourself, live in a new town, pay bills, cook by yourself and clean. Living on campus is just like living at home but without the parents! You don't pay bills, you have a cleaner, you rarely have to see 'locals', and everything is close and under cover.
Ok, I admit, I can see the attraction to the on-campus bubble, but I think everyone has to experience at least one year away from it. To me, university wasn't just about a degree, but about learning to live alone. I feel that living on campus was great in the first year, as you need some security to begin with, but you also need to learn to step out by yourself. The university seems to be more focused on making money than ensuring students experience life outside of campus.
Anyway, my final shift is 1-10.15, then it will all be over!
Dress for a wedding
I'm currently facing the dilemma of trying to find a dress suitable for both my dads wedding and my graduate ball. As both are a few days apart and I have limited funds I am trying to get one that will be good for both. I've put off the task in an attempt to loose weight, and have sucessfully lost half a stone, yet buying a new dress is still a tad worrying. I hate how in one shop I fit a size 12 and in another I've grown to a size 16 in the space of 10 minutes. I'm sure Topshop has something against me.
Along with all this weight concern I was reading how western women who are size ten have to find seperate shops for their figures while living in Japan, so life for me will be quite hard I think. Japanese women are very thin and my frame will look quite abnormal.
Anyway, back to dress shopping, I really can't be bothered. I know that I'll probably have to persuade my good friends Cristin and Suzanne to come with me, and after hours of deliberation I will probably choose a dress I still feel uncomfortable with. Life was so much easier when I was thin! It all fell apart when I was writing my dissertation, I felt obliged to eat everything I saw.
It is strange how shopping can be either the most stressful or most relaxing experiance in the world. For example, clothes shopping is currently quite a traumatic experiance, and I usually leave feeling like a giant whale surrounded by super human thin pretty women, who always do their hair and make-up before they leave the house. Christmas shopping, however, I will always leave until the last minute, just to enjoy the buzz and stress of the other late shoppers who have no idea what to buy.
Anyway, I now have a week and £100 to find a dress, wish me luck!
First Time
This is my first attempt at writing a blog, and I'm beginning because the idea of e-mailing individuals weekly from Japan seems like a tedious task. I'm currently still in Britain, but I fly out on the 23rd of July, and I'm incredibly scared! I know Japan is going to be an amazing country to live in, but being far away from home for a year does seem a little daunting. I haven't even begun to consider what I'm taking in my suitcase and I really have to practice my Japanese. With the results of my degree being published in two weeks, my dads wedding next weekend and moving back to Wales from Lancaster, Japan seems to something I can't begin planning for yet. I can't focus on it anyway. Well, I've started now, this is just the beginning.
