Elle's Adventures

I am finally an official ALT.  I signed my contract yesterday, and everything is going so fast!  It is exactly one month until I leave and I don't know if I'm ready or not. I've been in contact with my supervisor, and found out that there are actually two positions in Kiso-machi; my contract is a newly acquired one.  For a while I was hoping that I would be the 'only foreigner in the village'.  Oh well, it'll be nice to have another native speaker in my vicinity. EDIT: Just found out that the other position is also starting in September.  Well hopefully it will be someone I can talk to, make friends with, a shoulder to lean on, etc.

The last time I went to Japan, I was really home-sick.  Recently I realised that I never really comprehended that I would actually have to leave .  It was quite silly really, now that I think about it.  However it's easy to do. The original plan this time around was for me to get a job, go over, and D would follow in about a month.  Things changed, and now he's decided to go over three months later.  Initally it was no problem, but now that the time for me to depart is getting closer and closer, once again I'm in the same situation.  Only this time, I'm going to be really alone.  No other exchange students who are in the same situation.  Everyday I think about how awesome and hard this is going to be.  But I know I'm going to a really lovely place, I'm going to be making new friends and my Japanese is going to be awesome...eventually! Plus there's Skype.  And until he gets there I'll keep myself busy and in contact, and time will fl...

Yesterday I finally heard back from the company; they've received my COE and will be forwarding it to me so that I can send it to the embassy in Melbourne to get a visa.  What's more exciting is that they are considering sending me to Kiso-mach, Nagano prefecture.  This position will be a mix of JHS and Elementary Schools!  It's a lot more rural than I was hoping for, making job possibilities for D a bit more difficult.  However, I think it will be perfect for my Japanese. There isn't a lot of information on the area itself out there, only the tourist attractions and mountains.  Once I have a definite placement there, I suppose ALTIA will send me some information on it.