| This and That |
[16 Oct 2009|11:06pm] |
I realized I needed some sort of personal update, so here I am!
Number one these days is not looking for a job, which, OH MY GOD I have to get done, but applying for grad school. I signed up for the GRE (Dec. 5th at 12:30, over in Peoria), but of course there are a million things left to do. I'm rounding up letters of recommendation, which isn't easy because, well, as some of you might remember, I lived in Japan for the last five years. I'm not saying I can't get recommendations from my former co-workers (in fact, I've asked two of them), but as to my options over here, it's more difficult. I worked at Jewel for nearly four years, but that was five years ago; the then manager has since passed away and I have no idea where my supervisor works now (I can't even remember his last name). I'm plan to go the route Rebecca suggested and contact a former professor and just...try and job their memory, but what would I do if I didn't have this option (I say that because I can only think of two professors I had multiple classes with)? Yikes! To be honest, Jamie has already contacted him and it seems he does indeed remember us...but now I'm faced with the reality that we're going to have to meet up with him, which I'm rather dubious about. By now, I should freakin' fluent in Japanese and while I have great understanding when people speak to me, I'm still not so hot at speaking it. It's my own fault, but it does mean that I'm not going to be comfortable meeting with him at all...and will probably end up letting Jamie do most of the talking (loathe as I am to admit it, she's better). Oh well, I'm a grown-up and you gotta do what you gotta do: suck it up.
Anyway, that's not even my only concern, yay! There's also the writing sample. Unfortunately, I don't have all that many papers left from university and, even if I did, it's five-and-a-half years later....I'm not sure how much my writing style has changed since then. Probably worse, because I didn't do much writing in Japan, save for my Live Journal and my story that I worked on from time to time. That's not to say that I didn't do any sort of writing...I had to prepare for things for our mid-year conferences and I spoke a few times at this English club for adults in my city. But, argh! I suppose I can punch up the papers I do have leftover (or, apparently, two papers are fine so long as the number of pages exceeds their minimum criteria), but I don't know...I'd rather have something that is more representative of whatever sort of writer I am now. ;p Of course, I also don't want to write something entirely new. Fun thing is, both options sort of suck and one of them is the one I have to choose! Rock, me, hard place.
So yeah, lots of fun things to be stressed out about. My non-existent job (and being over qualified for working at a grocery store and under qualified for loads of other things and just generally having trouble finding anything), the GRE with it's math questions (among other things), and the rest of the application process. And even if I do pass the GRE, that's not even any guarantee I'll get in where I apply. Oh well, grad school wise, I think the important thing at all right now is that I'm trying. I might fail the GRE, I might have crappy writing samples, I might not be accepted, and hell, I might not even qualify for enough financial aid even if I do, but it's important that I try. I already know what will happen if I don't, and where's the fun in that? ;p
OH...and I'm not trying to be a downer (really, I'm not! ;p), but I just got another "oh god, I don't need this right now" moment when I realized that in losing my passport, I don't have the stamp in it that shows I left Japan. That page is among the ones you're supposed to copy and send along with your application for the "lump sum withdrawal" of your pension. And while it's not a huge amount of money, it's significant enough that if something happens that screws this up I will be very, very, very unhappy. Still, I e-mailed my former supervisor at the board of education in Marugame and the prefectural advisers (JETs that are CIRs..."coordinators of international relations") in Kagawa for information, so hopefully it'll all get worked out.
Gah, I have other things I could probably complain or lament about (Good to know: knowing that reverse culture shock will hit you doesn't mean that you're less susceptible, it just means you know it's going to happen), but I'm not really in the mood to wallow. Jamie and I just went to see "The Invention of Lying", so it means we've begun a winning streak movie wise, post-Japan! Yay! If you haven't seen it, you should, because it's wonderful! It starts off going with the obvious joke and then....something changes. I'm not going to tell you what it is or what happens, but it becomes a different movie and it's beautiful and lovely and it leaves you with a lot to think about. So please, please, go see it!
Another nice thing about being home: unlimited access to books in English! I've been spending a lot of time reading. Our first trip to the library resulted in nothing but novels, but this time around? All non-fiction. Jamie is currently reading "The Wordy Shipmates" and I'm tackling "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln", after finishing "Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death" (it was pretty good, but I enjoyed "Stiff" more...sliiightly different topic, however)...and there's also "Lies My Teacher Told Me" and "Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago"....and some other book I've currently forgotten the title of. It's wonderful to have such easy access to them and for them to be FREE. FREEEEEEEEEEEEE, for God's sake!
Let's see...what other good things? Is it ok to be happy about television? I'm so far enjoying the new tv season and it's still rather novel to be watching them live, in their real time slots. The only currently running show I'm watching that was on or that I watched before I moved to Japan is "Law & Order"...everything else I'm watching as they air (well, Survivor loses out in favor of Bones, Fringe loses out in favor of The Office and 30 Rock...Thursday is a crazily busy tv night). Yep, the life of a girl without a job! ;p
Oh! Last weekend was our ten year high school reunion. We had an informal dinner with a few people on Friday, which was really really nice. It was exactly like a bunch of JETs having dinner....and by that I mean that the topic of conversation was rather, uhm, blue...only now, everyone can understand what's being said. It was still great to laugh so much and so hard, which I was rather used to in Japan, but haven't really experienced much since coming home. It's not for the lack of friends (of which I have many and I love you all <333), just the lack of friends in the immediate vicinity (one who's over an hour away at school, one who's married...so we can't hang out as easily as I've been used to). Oh well...it'll come. As cliche as it is to say, the one constant in life is change, and things can't stay this way forever. I will get out of the house, make friends, and be able to hang out with people...just have to get past this current "meh" period! :D
Er, anyway, so the reunion itself. On one hand it was nice to see a few people I haven't seen since high school, but for the most part...it went pretty much as I expected. I'm not really sure what I thought it would be like...I just wish it had been a little different than I imagined. I'm just not really great about standing around at a bar and that's pretty much all it was. There had music playing, but no one was dancing, and while the food was all right, there was a limited selection and it was difficult to eat standing up and no nearby trashcans made it a bit awkward. I did have a drink that was....I'm not sure what was in it, to be honest. It was called a "Chocolate Raz" and was akin to a chocolate shake, consistency wise, with raspberry, but alcoholic. It wasn't too bad, but-and I know this is ridiculous-I don't do well with drinks that I can really tell are alcoholic. It's why I like Malibu and Coke....it makes it taste like coconut, but you have to add a LOT before it tastes truly alcoholic. I persevered though, because I refuse to waste a $7 drink. And at the very end of the party we did this thing where were were all supposed to write something significant that had happened to us since high school (my submission? Being on national television in Japan) and everyone had to guess who it was. The "prize" was, of course (even true to JET form!), alcohol, which didn't thrill me at all and, really, this should've been done earlier in the evening, when the douchebags weren't also drunk, people weren't trying to slink out the door, and the venue wasn't finally letting other customers in because our rental time was up.
Not sorry I went, but I hope our 15th or 20th is a little better. ;p
So, yep, that's kind of how things have been going. I have a lot to do in a small amount of time, so my plan to make everyone's Christmas cards this year might not happen (I was hoping to do a kiri-e/paper cut card, but it's time consuming). But you will all get a card, I promise! Sorry for all the whining up top...I know I don't have the rawest deal, but it's all relative, you know? And honestly, the future is terrifying because I want to be at least semi-successful in life and if I don't get into grad school, I'm lost on how to get there. ;p Ugh, so "woe-is-me" tonight!
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