~Skammie~

A little bit of change for the Christmas season! =)

As I have mentioned in my previous entry, my 日本に行くぞ～ series has sadly been discontinued.

Those of you who have followed along my “journey” to go to Japan know that I have been planning this for quite a long time.  But in the end, it had to come to a close. 😦 Let me explain.

From where I left off last time, I had given up hope on JET and instead was looking forward towards OMF. Some preliminary steps have been taken, and my interests were stirred.  So I went on and discussed more with the head quaters about my Christian walk and other issues to help me find a suitable placement in Japan.  All things seemed to be in motion, especially when I heard that they were holding meetings in Japan to find a supporting church for me.

A few weeks passed and it’s already well into September.  No news.  I emailed them back and inquired about the progress and when I may be able to leave for Japan.  This was their reply:

“As regards timing goes, I think I mentioned that time is needed to develop a prayer and financial support team and this often takes a year.”

One Whole Year. Are you kidding me?!?! I had expected to leave before December, because when I met with Phoebe and Pat back in July, they mentioned that it would be ideal for me to be sent over in time to help out with the Christmas rush.  I guess that would work…if I were to help out with Christmas 2009.  *sigh*

So one big miscommunication and my dreams were crushed, once again.  They did suggest alternatives, like doing short-term missions instead of a year long one.  I also considered joining the English conversational schools, and even expressed my interest in becoming a GABA English instructor by submitting a preliminary form (GABA has shorter contract terms than the other schools, which has a 1 year contract).  But all this searching-around-and-hoping-that-something-would-work-out-but-not-really-getting-anywhere was really draining me out.  In the end, I decided to take a step back from it all and did not pursue further with any options.  Perhaps all these doors that keep slamming shut in my face is a sign from God that I shouldn’t be doing this…at least not now.

But I do not and will not give up so easily on Japan! *Fingers crossed* that I can somehow fulfill my new dream of a month (or more! 🙂 ) of traveling all around Japan in the future.  Hm…I wonder how that may work out with school/a job?

I had thought that this next post of the 日本に行くぞ～ series would announce my acceptance into JET. But nope, I have given up hope. 😦

Let’s backtrack. A month and a bit ago, I received a letter from the Consulate General of Japan. Mom told me about it on the phone while I was at work, so I was super excited, expecting to be THE letter. I rushed home to open it…the first words that met my eyes: “Invitation to the JET Preparation Seminar”. I scanned through the first page, and the next, and the next, hoping for the good news to pop up any time.

It never came.

The whole letter package was just to inform me of this seminar, a reception , and to promote those courses to help you learn Japanese and how to teach English. The reception was to “celebrate you participation in the JET programme”. OK, that obviously excludes me. And I don’t have much interest in those courses. The Preparation Seminar though, seemed useful. The topics were as follow:

• Now to Tokyo – What to prepare
• Your First Month In Japan – What to expect
• Money and Taxes – self explanatory
• Culture Shock – How to deal with it
• Living in Japan Workshop
• Working in Japan Workshop
• General Q&A

After checking that Alternate JETs can participate in this, I registered. I figured, even if JET doesn’t accept me, this should still be helpful when I go to Japan. Because i will go, one way or another. 😀

So then a month ago, I went to this Preparation Seminar. It was quite a formal work conference with everyone dressed in very proper business attire. The agenda for the day (9:40-5:00) was laid out for us; it was a rigorous schedule with set break times in between.

After hearing a speech, we played a BINGO ice-breaker game. It was there that I found out there were other Alternate JETS there! In fact, there were about 5 of us out of ~35 people there. I was encouraged when some ex- and current JETs told me that I’ll probably get in. “Just keep waiting! Even start packing your bags!” I was hopeful! …but not quite to the point of actually packing my bags already.

The seminars were more well done than I had expected! The speakers were all animated people, very funny and created a relaxing mood while being informative at the same time. For example, I learned that maple cookies and ketchup chips make good omiyage to bring there. I also learned that instead of signatures, the Japanese people use a stamp, called “inkan”, for everything. And also of course, important things like getting a “gaijin” card (foreigner’s card) and how to obtain an International Drivers Permit.

The 2 workshops were a little different. Instead of speakers presenting to us, we were split up into groups of ~10 to discuss possible sticky situations that may arise. These situations were the worse case scenarios, which hopefully doesn’t happen too often, but I did manage to learn from them. The main message was to make sure things are communicated properly to avoid misunderstandings, and one way to do that was to get everything confirmed in writing. Yep, definitely a good lesson for me.

So if you ever get a chance to attend a JET Preparation Seminar, I strongly suggest that you do! It was beneficial, no doubt!~

————————————–

Alternate JETs usually get bumped up to short-listed JETs by mid July via a phone call. It’s now 1 week passed that, and I have already given up hoping to be contacted by JET. 😦

Therefore, I have moved onto my 2nd option from long ago: Missions with OMF.

A week ago, I submitted my preliminary form, and have already been contacted by them. In fact, just yesterday, I met up with the Pacific Region Coordinator, Phoebe, and Pat, a missionary who has served in Japan for many years. It was a causal chat, discussing some of my interests in ministry, some of the needs of Japan, and some things I will need to consider and pray hard about. Although I don’ t know what the next step is, or if they will even take me, God is definitely in control and leading me somewhere. Where He shuts one door, He will open another. I’m excited to see what He has planned for me; it probably will be so much better than I can ever imagine! 😀

“Dear Sarah,
This letter is to inform you that you have been selected as an ALTERNATE ALT candidate for the 2008 JET Programme. Alternates may be informed of an available position at any time up to the second week of December, 2008…“

Are you SERIOUS?!?! No, I’m not mad that I didn’t quite make the cut (I know it’s subjective anyway), but that I may have to wait until DECEMBER to know if I will finally get bumped up or not?! That’s just ridiculous!! It’s like they think people have no life but to wait around for them or something. Now what am I supposed to do?! 😦

I wonder if I would have felt any better if they had told me right away that they had rejected me. And stupid big fat envelope got my hopes up too when I saw it…

I guess I have no choices left now but to:

• Confirm that “yes, I accept the alternate candidacy and will wait for any availabilities, although it’s plain stupid that I may have to wait THAT long ><“
• Start applying for my 2nd choice: OMF
• (And depending on how OMF responds, start seriously looking into possible 3rd choices)

Ah, and it’s finals season again! I’m in no mood to get going on those tasks. But if I can squeeze out a bit of time from my studies, I really should get cracking on planning the next stage of my life. *sigh* I absolutely HATE how things are up in the air like this, but I guess it really forces me to trust God through it all.

Anyway, good luck to all my fellow test-takers! Ganbatte!~