Yesterday I received an email from an English teacher at the school where I will be going in Japan!!!

I can't believe I was ranting only a few days ago about how much I wanted to know where I was going...and now I know!!!

I'm in for a crazy experience...

Info about where I'll be going in point form

- I'll be going to Kuroishi City in the Aomori Prefecture of Japan (in district 2830)

-It is the Japanese countryside and their 4 seasons are distinct

- There are only about 4 foreigners in my entire city! I will be stared at, pointed at, talked about. People in the city will know everything about me within a month

-I will be going to Kuroishi Senior High. My school actually has a 5 year nursing specialty course, so there are typically more female students than male

- In Aomori, they speak standard Japanese, but they also speak a different dialect of Japanese called Tsugaru-ben. Think of it as country Japanese..maybe..hick Japanese? lol

- Uniform: Brown cardigan with red necktie, white blouse, black skirt, and knee-high socks. No make-up, piercings, or crazy hairstyles allowed

-I will be the only exchange student in my city. My school hasn't had an exchange student in over 5 years

- I'm in for a difficult experience of a lifetime and I am SO EXCITED!

Guess I should study some more before I go eh? It'll be hard enough learning normal Japanese with this dialect floating around.

I don't have info on my host family yet, but the English teacher says that there aren't many english-speakers in rural Japan, so maybe they won't speak english? I might not be in much contact with them until I arrive.

Anyways...I decided to give a brief update...As I am far too excited to stay here typing any longer! Here's a photo of the opening to my High School as compensation for the short post.

Progress/Revelstoke/Naramata

So it's been a while since the first post...and I think I'm ready to do a second.

I'm going to the Aomori Prefecture of Japan. District 2830. Basically what I know is this:

-Aomori is a rural part of Japan
-In Aomori, many of the people speak with an accent and a different dialect of Japanese
- Aomori will be my new home for a whole year
- Aomori will become my heaven

"If it is to be, it is up to me"

This Rotary Youth Exchange motto has served thousands of students on exchange worldwide. So I know that it is the truth. So therefore, I'm going to make Aomori into my heaven. I know that I can. Nothing makes me more happy then the prospect of learning a new language and culture. It means that my glasses will become less tinted to a culture that I have grown up in. I will be able to see the world through a new shade. One that is less restricting.

I will change. I will gain insight. I will open up the communicative doors to speak with and learn from millions of new people.

I'm such a freak about this exchange >_<

And so...my story shifts to...

REVELSTOKE!



Okay! So I went to Revelstoke in February and got to meet my fellow outbound exchange students, the inbound, and the outbound students! I LOVE THEM ALL. Everyone is made out of awesome. Not only that, but Revelstoke was incredible.

THERE WERE NO RULES!

I mean, other then the four D's. In Rotary, the famous exchange rules are the 4 D's.

for Revelstoke, it was something like this

No Drinking, Drugs, Driving, or...Dintercourse?

Okay the last part was the joke they made. (It's usually drinking, drugs, driving, and dating)

Haha, basically no thex with anybody!

Those were the rules...so we partied and learned about how to cope on an exchange and met our fellow RYE students. We stayed up forever (except me who had a dress rehearsal for Chicago the musical the day I got back, which basically created instantaneous stress and paranoia) and we danced and partied, and hot tubbed and....omgoodness.

All while the Rotarians had there own drinking/gambling shindig (those Rotarians haven't forgotten how to party!) haha

Okay, so basically Revelstoke had me RevelSTOKED.



It was in a pass in the snowy white mountains of awesome. So we had an epic toboganning/ snowball battle. There were soldiers stationed on either end of the tobogan track...which meant intense snow in the face for anyone who dared brave the tubular torture. It was so fun...

Basically Revelstoke happened and there was great happiness.

And then there was Chicago the Musical, and I became famous! XD

Annnd during Spring Break I went to California, Disneyland, California Adventure, Magic Mountain etc with my best friend Kyra. Which was sweet!

And last weekend there was...

NARAMATA!

Naramata was amazing. It was a mandatory orientation, so ALL of the outbounds were there. There were also inbounds and rebounds. There was still lots of partying and even more learning. They basically crammed the brains of all of the students and parents with information about visas and such....

Also, more friendships were forged and others were stregthened. And food was consumed:




Okay, I didn't eat that ENTIRE plate of food. It got cold really fast and became gross. Those fries were definitely LIMP.

The point is...Naramata got me so excited for my exchange that I can barely even THINK about school anymore. Plus I miss my new friends so much. I LOVE YOU ALL.




There was the update...and now...I am waiting. Just waiting to hear from a host family...and waiting to go on the BIGGEST ADVENTURE OF MY LIFE.

LOVE,
Jane :)

The First Post

Okay so I haven't left yet...But I thought I'd give this Blogging thing a test run first. My name is Jane, and I am going on a Rotary Exchange to Japan. I don't know where in Japan yet...in fact, there is still a small chance that my forms won't be accepted by the district they were sent to.

However, I know one thing. I'm going on a Rotary Youth Exchange. My dreams are becoming reality. I'm going to learn another language. It's such a crazy thought you know...One day, I was trying to figure out Universities...now, I'm going to Japan for a year. I leave in about 7 months.

So this first post...I thought I would let you know a little about Rotary, and how I came to be accepted by my town's club as a RYE (Rotary Youth Exchange. I'm going to be using this abbreviation in the future) student. One morning I woke up. I think it was a Saturday morning...I woke up and went on my computer. As the obsessive "thinking about the future all the time" freak I am, I started my morning by looking up different Universities and their Engineering programs and all that. And then...I don't know. Those voices rang in my ears. The ones of those friends and teachers that like to be inspirational now and again. They said: "Follow your dream. Do what you've always wanted to do." And maybe I thought of my friend Alex. She's on a RYE in Germany right now. She actually initially wanted Japan, but something went wrong and she didn't get it. Though, she's having the time of her life now. So I found the Rotary International website, and had a revelation. I realized that this was everything I wanted. This is it. In those few minutes...I decided. It didn't take a whole lot of thinking. I called a contact from my local Rotary club and asked about it.

Turns out I was just in time...the first interviews were the following week. It was my first panel interview. Only 3 people...but still, I didn't know what to expect. I went there and they asked me situational questions about being in another country, Canadian government questions, and questions about Rotary. I didn't know as much about Rotary then. I did so much research. I love Rotary. For those of you who don't know what Rotary is...it's an international service club, dedicated to helping people in need. It promotes goodwill, creates peace, saves lives (PolioPlus is an example of this), and it helps people in need. So I made it past my first interview. This year, there were only four of us. Other years, there have been over twenty. Two were chosen from those four. A very awesome guy named Bowen, and myself. We were now "competing" for the spot. I hated it, because he deserved this too.

We both toiled over an 18 page application form (which was a serious pain in my buttocks, not gunna lie), and then, we went to the "big time." That's right...the infamous, District Interviews. Six people on one side of the table...me on the other. Once again I was asked situational questions (close to a trillion of them), a Canadian Government question, and a Rotary question.

Examples of Situational Questions:

If you were sent to South Africa, and your host father was white and also very racist, and he started to beat the black servant boy infront of you and call him a "good for nothing" and "garbage" what would you do?

scary question definitely...but my favorite was:

If you were sent to Finland, where they are really into Saunas, and you got all ready and into your bathing suit, and when you entered the Sauna, your entire host family was naked, what would you do?

Anyways... I made it passed that. I was made to wait two days before I found out. Two days of anxiety and flying hormones. Two days of purgatory. Then...I got the call. I made it. I didn't know where I was going...but I was in. I was going somewhere. To one of these countries:

Japan
France
Argentina
Germany
Brazil
Switzerland

And two weeks later...I received another phone call. I had gotten my very first choice. Japan. My dream is on its way to becoming reality. And now...well now they've shipped off my forms to Japan, and I'm waiting to find out about which host town or city I will be staying in and the host families I will be staying with. I hope everything works out okay. I should know by around February or March. I'll keep you posted.

That was my very long-winded first post. Hope there's more to come.

I'm sure my English will get worse and worse when I'm in another country and you'll be able to laugh at me.