Leaving home

Yesterday I left Arcata, not to return until July 2009. It didn't really sink in that it would be such a long time between seeing my friends and family until just a couple days before I left. But I am excited about new challenges and expirences that await me on the other side of the world.

I am currently staying with the Riegelmann's. As I am not taking my XBox to Japan, Mike and I have played a lot of HALO (that is once the kids have gone to bed). They have two of the best kids ever, but trying to get anything done with a toddler and a baby is tough work. Mike and Holly are amazing with their kids, and sometimes I think about my married friends and think that maybe I am behind them in life, but then I realize that I am not at all ready to be married and have a kid. Much less two.

I played my last round of golf Tuesday with my dad and my brother, and my dad was kicking my butt. We were just playing nine holes, and he made birdies on 5 and 6 to go three up. But then I birdied 7, 8 and 9 to close out the round and we finished tied. Everyone ended up happy. It was a good way to go out.

Ooops...

A few nights ago my friend known as "The F.B.I." (for Full Blooded Italian) called me to let me know he was trying to have a poker night at his house on Saturday. As I am a big fan of poker, and winning money in general, I informed The FBI that I was going to be going to another poker game on Saturday at my friend Stoner's house, but it might be possible to combine games. So I talked to a bunch of guys, and they were somewhat reluctant to combine games, but I was excited about it, so they agreed to have a combined game at The FBI's house.

Well, last night I went to the gym to lift with my buddy T.P., who had kind of set up the first game, and he told me that they weren't really going to have a poker game on Saturday. It was supposed to be a surprise party for me. Poker was just going to be the ruse to get me there. So I blew my own surprise party. Now that I know this the combined game is cancelled, and I will be attending my going away party at Stoner's house.

Maybe I can still act surprised.

Packing up the House

My lease is up next Saturday, but I am going to Hawaii (yay!) on Tuesday, which means I need to be out of my house in four days. Here is a list of the things that I have done so far:

1. Cleaned half of the fireplace.

2. Put some shirts in a plastic bag.

Yeah, that's it. Plus I am leaving for Chico to go to my sister Katie's graduation tomorrow, and I won't be back till late Saturday. I am screwed.

But at least the Lakers won last night!




What makes me laugh the most about this picture is that Tony Parker actually looks like he is milking his left nipple.

I now know were I am going, but not really

Just checked my email, and found this letter from The Language School:

From: (name of Language School person)

Hello Josh,

Here's the latest information for you;
1.
We got your tentatie (sp) placement;
The name of the school is called Sendai in Satsuma-Sendai City in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu Region.
Sendai is about 30 minutes away by train from Kagoshima City(Capital City in Kagoshima).
Kagoshima itself fases to the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and is popular among marine sports lovers.
It is also famous for the steam sand baths in Ibusuki. You should try that, it was real good.
Also what makes me jealous is that it is very close to Okinawa(Japan's Hawaii)!!

2.
Here's the possible training/arrival schedule for you;
June 23-26 Training in Vancouver
June 27 Fly out from Vancouver
June 28 Arrive in Fukuoka Airport in Kyushu Region

Once visa is processed, everything will happen all at once.
Please be prepared.


So I guess I will be spending a year in Satsumasendai, although I have never heard anything about it. It is pretty far from my uncle in Himeji, so I don't know if I am really that pleased with this. But I am glad I am not in a giant city like Toyko, and it is located in the south of Japan, so it shouldn't be too cold there. I will just have to do some more research and figure out what Satsumasendai has to offer.

Went to Fed Ex, met Pam Beesly

To complete the hiring process, the language school office in Canada needed a signed copy of my contract, along with some visa documents (the immigration kind, not a credit card) . It was supposed to have arrived today. So of course I haven't even sent them yet.

In addition to the paperwork, they also want me to provide them with some "casual" photos of me in professional attire. Well I don't really have any "casual" photos of me in professional attire. It seems to me that if one wants to be casual, one wouldn't lounge around wearing a dress shirt and slacks. As anyone who has ever been to my house knows, the average temp is about 55 degrees. Indoors. (yes, we are too cheap to turn the heater on.) So in almost every picture taken of just me I am wearing a large, warm, decidedly not professional, hooded sweatshirt.

I managed to find a some pics from my sister's wedding album of me, but not by myself, so I cropped those other less important people out and saved them to my flash drive. I then went to Fed Ex Kinko's to print out the pics and mail away the package. Little did I know, but like the NBA, Amazing was about to happen.

I met Pam Beesly. Only the Arcata version. The soft voice, the bad hair, the knowledge of the ins and outs of her office. Yes, this was the FedEx Pam, and as she charged me $36.38 to mail my package to Canada, she smiled and told me to have a nice day. So I thank you, Fed Ex Pam, for allowing me to experience a litte bit of Scranton here in Arcata.

I'm going to Japan

Hi guys, as you have probably already guessed, I am going to Japan! I will be an English teacher for a language school. As of now the plan is for me to head out in late June, and I will be overseas for one year.

I hope to use this blog to cronicle my time leading up to departure, and to keep folks updated while I am there. I plan on posting often, so when you are bored at work, or tired of myspace, feel free to come over here and see what I am up to.