Celebrations

My parents, my sister, and I have just returned from my great-aunt and uncle's 40th wedding anniversary celebrations: congratulations Kim & Tony. I mention this for a number of reasons:

The first is that everyone there seemed to have been to Japan, lived in Japan, or had some other connection to Japan. I found this very strange in such a small group of people. Not that it wasn't nice talking to them. I find myself very reassured about their experiences, and it has dulled some of my fears. Though the "racist attitude" of the Japanese seems to be largely true (not that it is bothering me that much). One man I spoke to even said that he was all in favour of it: They have their own island, customs, and traditions. Why should they be accepting of all these white people who want to come and live there?

The second reason is that a few of my relatives there read this blog. Hello Rosie!

Also, hello to Adam, who has the priveledge of being the first (and so far, only) person to leave a comment. And that was to poke fun at my English.

The Return of the Passport

I was standing at the door just now, talking to my friend Adrian, when the postman arrived with my passport back from the embassy. The visa conisists of two parts: the Certificate of Eligibility has been folded in quaters and stapled in, and the visa itself, which is a label that fills one page of the passport. My face has been reproduced in a style of black and white pointillism, so that it is unrecognisable close-up, but discernable from far away. Reminds me of a Father Ted episode my mother is always quoting:

Father Ted: Now concentrate this time, Dougal. These [pointing to plastic cows on table] are very small; those [pointing out of the window] are far away...

Visa Application

My girlfriend Hannah and I went to the Japanese embassy in London today. There was only slight trepidation as the London bombings only happened four days ago, though, given past events, it seems very unlikely that they will strike again within such a short time. We managed to successfully navigate the London Underground, though there was only one possible route to Green Park station, compared to about six that there are normally.

The purpose of this trip was to get my visa. The Embassy is on Picadilly, which is a road name, not the area of London. We had to go through a metal detector, and my bag was x-rayed. We then collected a numbered ticket, like they used to have in the Post Office and such places (how I miss those red devices), though these were thermally printed. The first trip to the counter resulted in being given an "Application for Visa" form. I find that I start to panic when filling in official documents. I'm not sure why, though probably some of it is to do with the importance and that filling it it wrongly will result in delaying the process. On the otherhand, I think I also worry that they'll accuse me of being an international criminal and lock me up. Maybe I just have an overactive imagination.

The second trip completed the application process, though the Japanese man manning (what a strange construction: how about the Japanese woman womanning?) the counter was slightly less helpful. Eventually I'd managed to fill in the form to his satisfaction, handed him my prized Certificate of Eligibility and photocopy, one passport photo, my passport, and £6. I was quietly overjoyed at only having to pay the absolute minimum. How cheap am I? Here I am with a scholarship estimated at £30,000, and I'd feel ripped off if I had to pay £20.

Earlier, we'd picked up a "Special Delivery" envelope from the Post Office (no ticket machines, instead a relatively new invention: the queue). Hopefully, my passport will be returned to me in 3 days, all lovingly stamped and approved. One final oddity: he put my receipt inside the envelope, so I can only prove they have my passport if they send it back to me. Maybe I should have pushed him to actually give it to me... Oh well, I live in hope.

Course Dates and Holidays

I received an email today containing the course and holiday dates. They are as follows:

2 September	Arrive
5 - 9 September	Orientation Week
12 September - 16 December	Lectures Mon-Fri
17 December - 9 January	Winter Vacation
10 January - 17 March	Lectures Mon-Fri
18 March - 5 April	Spring Vacation
6 - 8 April	Kyoto/Nara Trip
10 April - 28 April	Lectures Mon-Fri
29 April - 7 May	Golden Week Vacation
8 May - 12 July	Lectures Mon-Fri
13 July	Closing Ceremony

Also, we are required to do a couple of afternoons teaching at the Linden Hall Elementary School. This is composed of 45 minutes teaching English to the kids, and the rest of the time playing in the gym, or outside with them. I think I'd prefer the teaching, to be honest. This is paid, though, at　￥2500, which is about £12.50.

I'm quite looking forward to the Kyoto trip, just because it's a certainty, and hopefully will require minimal planning. Kyoto was the old Japanese capital (now Tokyo) from 794 until 1868, and is the country's seventh largest city.

All-in-all, I make it 182 days of teaching. Sounds intense, but I'm really looking forward to being able to read, speak, and understand Japanese.