Bloom In Japan

So hopefully 1 week from now I will be sleeping in my new Japan apartment, beginning a new chapter in my life. I now have my 1-year Visa stamp in my passport courtesy of the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago, as well as my plane ticket to Tokyo. To say I was excited would be an understatement, but I also have a million other emotions running through my head. My mother had her CT this past Tuesday, and she is still awaiting the results from that. She will be having her biopsy a week from tomorrow, which will obviously be very telling. I myself had to go into the doctor yesterday, and it turns out I have a ganglion cyst on my left middle finger, which is basically making it have a funny-bone sensation at all times. Hopefully that will clear up in a few weeks, otherwise I will need to have it removed. As for the company, well the stock is taking a beating, but that really shouldn’t affect the current situation unless a bulk of the shares were being moved internally. Basically things overall are still rather tense, and it remains to be seen whether the waters will calm over the next few weeks. As of right now however, I am planning on staying the course, and doing the best with what is handed to me.

First the good/normal. My COE arrived this week and I quickly shipped off my Visa application to the Japanese Consulate for processing, which they received yesterday. If all goes well I will have my shiny new working-Visa on Monday. I’ve also been doing some more research on my future living area, and it is looking more and more ideal, which is very exciting.

Now the not so good. The company that hired me has been going through some troubles in the past months, and it only seems to be intensifying at this point. My plan all along has been to stick it out with them and hope that they could improve their situation, but I have been fully prepared to find a different job once in the country if need be. I should have enough cash to support myself in the event they fold before paying me my first paycheck, but obviously it would be a lot easier if they somehow recovered and provided a bit more job security. Next week should be a rather pivotal point for them, and will have definite repercussions for me as it will be the final week before departure.

Annnnd the possibly really bad. My mother may be sick again. They have found some cysts and growths on her thyroid and liver, and while they normally would not be too worried, her previous history and the radiation treatments she received make them a bit nervous. Long story short, she will be having a biopsy and CT next week, so I may not even know what is going on before I’m set to leave. I really hope that for her sake this all turns out to be nothing, as that woman has already been through far more than her fair share of medical anomalies.

What does this all mean? It means I’m stressed the hell out. I don’t think I have ever been this excited for anything in my life, and it seems like it’s all starting to crumble before it even starts. Worst case scenario, my mother has cancer and I am already in Japan when I find out. Unless it is something very easily treatable and the outlook is great, then that pretty much ends everything as I would obviously rush home to be at her side. Another scenario, I get to Japan and my company folds before I receive my first paycheck. I basically end up trying to survive on the funds I have and find another job and apartment. Other possible scenario, shit hits the fan on multiple fronts and since I have already payed for my plane ticket I end up taking a short vacation in Japan. Then again if I don’t have the funds to do this, I may just end up eating the ticket and staying home completely.

So yea, this sucks. In a perfect world I get my Visa on Monday, I find out my mother is OK later in the week, I fly out to Japan on the following Tuesday, and start work shortly thereafter with a company that will remain afloat and provide me the steady income I have been promised. I guess I can only hope for the best, see what fate hands down, and proceed appropriately.

So in a little less than 17 days, I will be on a plane on my way to Japan. I am set to leave General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee on September 4th, and via Detroit, I will spend 12+ hours in the air before arriving at Narita International Airport (around 4:25 PM local time on September 5th). After meeting up with a representative from my employer, I will take a bus 50-some miles into Kawagoe. Finally I will take a train a short distance to Tsuruse Station, and proceed on foot to my new apartment in Miyoshi Town.

While I don’t know the exact location of my apartment, I have been able to find the local area within Miyoshimachi, which is called Fujikubo. You can see it here. I will have 2 flatmates, one guy from Australia who has been in Japan for over a year, and an American guy who just arrived this past week. Looking at the floorplan, it looks as though I will be getting the tiny room, which is only 4 tatami mats in size. A tatami mat is a unit of measurement in Japan, and is approximately 6′x3′, so I have about 72 square feet to look forward to. My room right now isn’t much larger actually, so I don’t think I will be that bothered by the size. After doing some Google Earth exploring, I was able to find a couple driving ranges within 2 miles of my area, so I should not have too much golf withdrawal while I’m there. I will give a much clearer description of the area once I’m there, as I don’t want to spoil myself with details yet.

At any rate, I am very pleased with my placement. If I were placed in Hokkaido or somewhere else I would have made the best of it, but being so close to downtown Tokyo is going to be quite the experience. I can’t wait to join 35 million close friends in the largest metropolitan area on the planet.

Now is as good a time as any to get this thing rolling. So without further ado, here’s my story…

My name is Scott, I am 26, and I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I’ve recently graduated from college, and to reward myself for finally earning that elusive piece of paper, I have decided to embark on a little adventure. So in a little less than 3 weeks I will be flying into the country of Japan, to work as an English instructor, and live as a foreigner in a strange and intriguing land. My Japanese ability is very limited, I have never taught before, and I have never set foot on any other continent beyond North America; so this should indeed be quite the adventure. I hope that this blog will serve a few purposes. For one, I obviously would like a medium to document this life-changing experience, and a weblog should allow me to easily corral all the randomness that is about to present itself. Two, I would like to share my stories with family and friends. Three, I hope that the content provided by this site will be inspiring and/or useful to others who are thinking about doing something similar. That being said, I don’t expect this blog to be anything special when compared to the countless other domains out there in cyberspace. I only hope that it becomes something I can be proud of years down the line, as I look back on a unique point in my life.