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Published: September 18th 2008
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Hello again,
So I thought that I'd update my travel blog (even though I'm not travelling yet) and briefly explain the reason for my trip to Japan, how long I'm going to stay, where I'm staying, etc.
First off, last September one of my best friend (Roxy) and I found out about a meeting for a scholarship to Japan that let 3 students from Capilano College (now a Universty/College) go to a sister college in Japan (called Aichi Gakusen, in the city of Okazaki). Of course we were both extremely interested and even more interested when we found out it was a free ride 😊. We both asked teachers, employeers and friends to write up character references, agonized over the perfect wording of our application and then both crossed our figures as we sent off our applications. To both our surprise and joy we were phoned later and asked if we we could come to an interview in mid November. Again, we agonized over the perfect answers and crossed our fingers, and as luck would have it, we were both phoned about a couple weeks later and told that we had been accepted for the scholarship.
Now Roxy and I had promised eachother that no matter who got in we swore that we'd support eachother and be happy for eachother, although secretly I'm sure that we were both prepared to be bummed out that we hadn't gotten in. Our phone conversation after our acceptance was really quite funny. We were both quite hesitant about saying anything straight out, but through much tiptoeing we both figured out we had both been chosen. I created a bit of a spectacle of myself as I was at college and Roxy was at home and we were both screaming. A couple hours later we both found out that Erica, another really great friend, was also going to Japan on the scholarship. It was pretty amazing that 3 really good friends all managed to get the same scholarship.
After that it was only a matter of waiting until September of 2009. In the meantime we read many Japanese books and books on Japan, in addition to handing in monthly reports and/or assignments to the Chair of the Aichi Scholarship. Very painless considering that the college was practically paying for everything and organizing everything. Our job really starts once we're in Japan. Once we're over there and staying with a host family we act as a sort of ambassador for our school. In exchange for the cultural experience we'll be sending back monthly reports on our stay and assisting teachers in teaching English, all the while having the times of our lives.
Our flight to Japan leaves on September the 28th (see the countdown above) and we will be flying to a city called Nagoya which is right between the two major cities of Kyoto and Tokyo (I'll try adding a map later). Then we will catch a train down to the city of Okazaki where we will be staying for four months (from roughly Oct 1 to Feb 1) in addition to going to school. At school we'll be taking Japanese language classes and history classes in addition to taking extra courses like Japanese Tea Ceremony and Ikebana (Japanese Flower arranging), most likely things like that, etc.
After the scholarship ends in February all three girls will be on their own and I believe our plan is to travel Japan excessively and then I suppose we'll all go our separate ways after that. My plan is to eventually head down to Australia to visit family and to possibly work for a bit, although nothing is set in stone. For the moment I'm taking everything as it comes...😊
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Zann
non-member comment
hey hey
Hello there, fellow blogger! III recogniz that profile picture! In fact I may be the one behind the lens (deja-vu if so) :P. I will be checking up on you, yes I will. Can't wait to hear about yourn Japanese exploits!