Japan I

Greetings and salutations! Welcome to my blog. Here marks the first post of my 'Japan Blog.' As of today, I leave for Japan in 1 month and 2 days. I am currently seated on my parent's porch listening to Star Slinger and hoping to get this all typed out before the temperature becomes unbearable. Here are some FAQs![Where will Julie be?]
First, I am leaving from Columbus Airport to Seattle, Washington. In Seattle I will be visiting a friend and resting up before I cross the Pacific ocean. I will be flying to Kansai International Airport. From Kansai, I will be staying at the Kansai Washington Hotel for one night, then heading back to Kansai to be picked up by a representative from Kake Institues along with my fellow intern. I will then be escorted to an apartment in Okayama, Japan.

I will be living here for about 4 months. I will be back home on December 23rd, 2012.
[What will Julie be doing?]
 I will be a teaching intern at Kake Institutes. What Ia m teaching is the actual language of English. As far as I know now, I will be teaching several classes to a wide variety of age groups. Like an actual teaching position, I will be working at the schools everyday and have weekends off. I also hope to do some traveling on the weekends which will include Tokyo and South Korea hopefully.


[How frequently will Julie be posting here?]
I hope to post at least once a week but no more than twice a week on this blog. With the creation of this blog, I hope to keep family members updated on what exactly I am doing as well as keep in touch with friends, colleagues and my significant other. I will have a more private photo blog located at: http://www.dailybooth.com/surfinsunshinekat This account is private and in order to see it, you must make an account on Dailybooth (you don't need to necessarily update your account there) and request to follow me. Once I approve your request, you will be able to view this account. If you don't wish to go to all that trouble, remember that I will still post photos here, just not as many as one might see on my Dailybooth account.


[How can I keep in touch with Julie while she is gone?]

•  While I hope this blog and other blogs will help people stay connected with me while I am gone, here are other ways to contact me: 
•  email---> julie.tomlin12@gmail.com 
• skype---> julie.tomlin12 
• Facebook---> Julie Tomlin 
•  Outside of a very few close friends, my significant other and immediate family, I will give my mailing address in Japan only to those who ask for it. 

 So how I am feeling now? Well, I do feel a little nervous. It's not going overseas or being in a foreign country that intimidates me, but rather settling into teaching my classes. For those of you that don't know, I have my TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and my undergraduate degree is in English/TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language). I also nearly have a minor in Japanese (6 classes in Japanese Language). I'm pretty much ready to go, I have my passport, my place tickets, my luggage, my hotel reservation, my common sense...I just have a few little things left to buy (ie. a watch, a heating pad, a better web cam). I've also read plenty of books about Japanese society to hopefully eliminate as much culture shock as possible, though, of course, culture shock will inevitably happen.

 Until I post again, -Julie