Nearly the end of the semester!

Couple more random updates!
Last night, I booked my one-way flight for Japan! Though it probably would had been cheaper to book round-trip, I have no idea if/when I'm coming back to America from study abroad sooo maybe I'll just really stay there a year with no breaks. I also decided to not go visit family beforehand..since there is a chance that my visa paperwork will come in late and I need to be in America for that. So I'll be going straight to Narita to meet up with the EAP group to go to ILP. I suppose I'll be able to go visit domestically over one of the few breaks we have..we even have one right after ILP and by then, my Japanese should be better too. :] The flight was slightly more expensive than I wanted it to be, but oh well. At least it counts towards our mileage (since it's JAL).

In other news, I finished more paperwork that's due tomorrow including the academic planning form and a few other documents. I had to get my adviser to sign off my academic planning form and my intent to declare my major petition, soo that's done with. It might be that I have to take summer classes after my fourth year is over to take care of my requirements but that's not TOO bad. Hopefully something I take over there will count towards one of my major electives so I don't have to take that summer to cover the 9th class. (since taking 5 upper div's in one semester would be nuts.)

What else? Oh, I started planning a dinner party...somewhat like a going-away party but it's pretty lame that I have to throw myself one. But it's during finals and no one really has time to plan it, so my plan to meet up with everyone for an end of semester dinner eventually turned into a goodbye party. i think we're all just going to get together for dinner and maybe hang out afterwards but we'll see.

I've also been talking to a few people who are going through EAP and I'm really happy with how nice everyone is. A few people I know I will get along with really well, some go to other schools though, so that's a bummer. At least we'll have ILP together! Also, I've been trying to find a way to get A-nation tickets since the concert is during August and I'll totally be able to go. But tickets go on sale at Family Marts in Japan and I have no idea how to really get them if I'm here. Ordering online would require you to still pick them up in person :/

Other than that, another week or so of school left, finals and I'm outta here! Not to Japan just yet, but back home for two months of summer. YES.

Orientation and BIG NEWS!

Last night was the orientation for all the students who are going to Japan on the year program and I finally got to meet the other 16 people I will be traveling/studying with. (not including all the other EAP students outside of our campus though). Keio had the most student, 6 of us, and most of the other universities had 1-3 students attending. We got to meet with past Japan study abroad students who had gone to our respective universities and talk with them about all the ins and outs of their experiences. So cool! It made me even more excited (and nervous) to talk with them and see how it has changed them for the better. I can't wait to improve my language skills, be immersed in the city culture, and really feel what it is like to be Japanese (since I am). I also got to meet the other students who are going to Keio; Danica, Brian, Cambria, Elaine, and Sadie. Also got to meet Lukas in person (facebook friend) but we only barely waved across the room. :( The orientation lasted about an hour and a half (we ran over time because we were so busy talking), and was overall really helpful for my mental preparation. I do somewhat feel intimidated though...all the students besides me have taken at least two years of Japanese and while I am rather advanced vocabulary wise for someone in the 1 series, there are people who have taken beyond the 100 series. Holy cow. Hopefully i can hold my own.

In other news...I GOT THE SCHOLARSHIP I APPLIED FOR! I'm SO excited. I was nervous about it the entirety of the last few weeks, since I heard I got into the top 8 chosen by EAP but knew there would only be 5 chosen in the end. We weren't supposed to hear about it until tomorrow, but my adviser emailed me today telling me that I got it! I immediately emailed my mom and Mrs. A to tell them the news. This makes life SO much easier. I'm still waiting on the other scholarship, but really, this makes a huge impact. Hurrah!

1 Month Later

I just realized I haven't updated this blog in over a month. There hasn't been anything that interesting to talk about, so really, no one has missed much. But the last month has gone by really fast, so fast, in fact, that there is barely even a month of class left in this semester! In three short months I will be headed to Japan to finally start this adventure. As for now, I'm left with about 5 weeks of school left, consisting of papers, work hours, projects and tests.

As a minor update on the goings on regarding study abroad (though they are somewhat insignificant), I guess I can mention random tidbits that have gone on recently. For one, the payment coupons for EAP came out a few weeks ago, revealing the amounts due in the coming year or so that go to the UC system. My downpayment was due on friday, and I had to pay $450 out of my own savings to pay for it. My parents didn't have the money and thought it was my responsibility because I have a savings account for my Japan fund. Gradually, I'll pay myself back for that huge chunk that was taken out, but as of now, I'm still short funded and have a lot less in my savings than I would had hoped.

I also received an email from someone at the Tokyo Center branch of EAP, who informed me that I filled out something on the Certificate of Eligibility incorrectly, but they fixed it for me. Yay! And in two days, there is a mandatory orientation for everyone that is going to Japan through EAP, which means I finally get to meet all the other people from my school who are going. Oh! and i just remembered a slight hiccup that happened over spring break. It happened to be a mistake on EAP's end but I had emailed asking about whether or not they had received my additional passport-ish photos for the app and they told me they hadn't. So I was freaked out thinking I'd have to spend another $8 on pictures until they finally emailed me back, correcting themselves. <.<

The schedule for the study abroad program also finally came out last week, with all the starting, ending and holiday dates. The official start date of ILP is the 28th of July, and apparently you can meet and be picked up in a group at the airport on that day. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do yet because of traveling prior to that, but I think meeting up with them would be the easiest thing to do instead of finding my own way. Hopefully I don't have to travel to Tokyo alone, lugging god knows how much stuff with me. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

No word yet on class schedules or housing and I'm still waiting on the results of the scholarships I've applied to. So far, I know I've gotten past the preliminary round for the Duttenhaver scholarship, being in the top 8 of my school. But the donor chooses 5 out of those 8, so there is still nearly a 50% chance I won't get it. Just hoping for the best right now, since with that huge amount I could pay for nearly the whole first payment due to EAP in July ($5,500!) >< I was also contacted by the Bridging studies abroad scholarship, just to let me know they received my application and would be announcing the recipients in late May. I just hope I can get at least one of them, since money is so tough right now and I don't want to take out another loan.

Other than that, not much else new...I'm close to declaring my major but have been putting it off just because of lack of time. Classes have been alright (could be better) and I've consistantly been busy the last few weeks. Spring break was also a load of fun, so I know summer will just be a blast.