Icciv's notes in Japan

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

posted by Icciv @ 9:20 pm