#anyway I'm Super excited I got what is basically an ideal apartment | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

just-anka · 3 years

Text

So now that I've caught up on the holiday waffle, here's a little general life update

🌌 we bought a van yesterday! This concludes a 2-month epic of searching, going to see vans, calling sales people, making decisions. URGH. I'm SO relieved to be done!! And this one fits ALL of our criteria and more, so even though it was a tiny bit above budget we feel really good about it. After selling our car this summer (he was falling apart lol poor old deric) we were initially going to buy a car again, but at some point realised that with what we do with it - largely driving reasonably short distances to the mountains and sleeping in the car - a van makes a lot more sense. So here's to this baby making our next ski season a looot easier than the last :D picking him

🌌 also got a lovely cycle in to get there - took the train there and then cycled back after we finished, the weather was perfect and the route we plotted in 5 mins before leaving was actually amazing

🌌 celebrated with a bbq on our balcony and (non-alcoholic, see below haha) cocktails and it was perfect

🌌 went on a retreat with my institute last week, which marked the end of a lot of stressful work things - it's great doing different things like conferences, teaching, some taught courses etc and I like having the variety, but they also make keeping up with the "actual" work aka lab work and data analysis and stuff more stressful, and after months of a lot of different things I'm quite ready to just spend some time putting my head down and working. The retreat itself was stressful because I have social anxiety and these things always are for me but it was also pretty fun. Had more alcohol in two days than I normally do in two months though haha hence the non-alcoholic cocktails, I need a break I'm too old for this 🤣

🌌 (I'm not sure the emoji fits here but) I broke my foot last week... getting out of the shower. Whyyyyy. I walked into the bathroom cupboard corner, basically, and broke my foot where the little toe attaches. It didn't hurt that much in the moment so I thought I'd just stubbed it but 15 mins later it was swollen, bruised and hurt so much I literally could not focus on anything else o.o

🌌 we had plans to go outdoor climbing the next day and I'd been looking forward to it sooo much so we went anyway - at that point I thought I'd broken the toe, which I've done before, so I took some painkillers, taped the toe to the one next to it and stuffed it into my least aggressive climbing shoes. Still hurt quite a lot but I actually had a really good time climbing with two leads and some seconds :) and we went to a new place which was the best place we've found here yet! And it's super easy to get to so I'm really excited to go back there.

🌌 the next day I found out I'd not broken the toe but the base of my foot but it doesn't really change anything - nothing to be done about it but rest it as much as possible. The retreat wasn't ideal for that obv but I've been trying. Cycling is fine although I can't wear cleats yet, climbing is a no-go for a while 😔 sad times but it could've been worse. It's already improving, the first few days walking was so fucking painful haha. You never notice how much you use something until it breaks 🤣

🌌 today was spent doing absolutely nothing in an attempt to recover from... all of the above, really, and it was glorious. Grey and rainy out so the perfect day for it as well

I think that's it for now? It sure is long enough lol

19 notes · View notes

lorata · 3 years

Note

You mentioned you taught in Japan for five years, what made you decide to do that? Was it through a program or did you just up and move? I'm at a similar point in my life (recent college grad) and feeling a bit aimless.

I COMPLETELY MISSED THIS I'M SORRY

so I went through the JET Programme which brings in young grads from all over to "teach English" to kids in Japan, but really it's more about introducing them to foreigners and new ideas. you don't need to be certified to teach ESL (though you can!), the most important thing is that in many of these rural communities, the ALTs there may be the only non-Japanese person living in the area.

for the details: you apply in november, find out about interviews around january, interview in february, final notice in march, get your placement in summer, orientation in July, fly out July/August. the program pays for your flight there and back (assuming you don't break contract), finds you an apartment and covers a large portion of it (completely random -- I paid around $200 per month in rent, my wife paid $67, others paid more or less). you have national health insurance, they set up your bank account for you, you have a go-between at work who will help you with internet, phone, etc.

what kind of teaching you do is a complete crapshoot -- I was at a super-English high school and ran my own program, teaching language, global studies, debate, model UN, etc. meanwhile other people were basically living tape recorders: standing at the front of the room, reading from a textbook while the kids took down dictation or fill in the blank. some people like that (not having to plan anything), some people want more of a challenge. I was happy with what I got so I'm biased, but if you go in without expectations I think that helps.

you don't need to speak Japanese, but if you don't, it's strongly encouraged that you learn. it's a foreign exchange program -- you teach the kids and people around you, and you also learn about Japan and bring it back.

honestly I do recommend it. there are other teaching programs that my friends have gone through and they've all folded, JET is still going strong, and while they are pros and cons to everything, the program does actually try to do what it says on the tin re: intercultural exchange.

re: placement -- you can request a prefecture, but placement is mostly random, and honestly? anywhere you get will be amazing. note that you'll probably get more rural than not, and that's okay! the only time people are disappointed is when they request, like, Tokyo (there are no placements in Tokyo or Osaka or inside any major cities as far as I know, if you get the prefecture itself it'll be in the sticks somewhere) or decide they want to live in this specific place and nowhere else.

people come back having lived in prefectures they never heard of and they wind up being the biggest advocates for them and that's the IDEAL. I never shut up about Hyogo, it's the best prefecture FIGHT ME, and my Japanese accent is so region-specific that staff in a sushi restaurant here once picked out the specific town I lived in by the grammar I use

anyway. if you aren't sure what you want to do, you want to meet new people, travel for a bit, save up and pay down any student loans, and teach kids who are genuinely excited to meet someone from another country, the JET Programme is great. like I said, were there problems? obviously. but I'm glad I did it, and I'd be happy to chat about it off anon if you want <3

#lorata answers #anonymous

12 notes · View notes