Current Funds and plans

Through the pell grant from the government (Yes, I am poor) I will be getting about $4000 which will pay for tuition. I can get a stanford loan for up to $6500. If you look at my funds page, you will see that my calculations in order to live comfortably in Japan, I will need about $22,800. So I need about another $12,300. I have done some research and found that I can get a student loan (unsubsidized) for $12,000, hopefully. My oldest sister is going to co-sign for me (She has great credit). Her conditions are this:

1)Facebook.
I hate facebook and the things similar to that. I told her that I started a blog and this will be my daily journal, so I think she will accept this instead of facebook.
2)Buy her a purple kimono.
I am fine with that. I am buying one for myself anyway.

That’s all she really told me so far.

I already filled out the loan on my end. My sister and I will be filling out the rest on Saturday so all is good. I don’t know when we will find out if I got the money, but once I do have it, I will be really happy. I do still have a few worries though.

I have to figure out how the money thing works. How I will get the money from my bank to Japan. I know there are traveler checks but I don’t know anything about them. Lots of research needs to be done. I also have to get my sister signed up under my account so she can cash my checks while I am there. I am also wondering when the money will be awarded to me. If it isn’t until 2 weeks (I think that’s what my school said) before the fall semester starts, then how will I afford a plane ticket? The longer I wait the more expensive it will be. I am hoping to buy them ASAP, but that means I need to borrow money from somebody.

We got a response from the foreign adviser over there. She seems nice, and I sent her an email telling her how excited I was, and thanking her and stuff. Her name is Misako Hashimoto. Hashimoto is her last name right? So I call her Hashimoto-san I guess.

Everything up to now

Original post on my other blog: Animeloli

When I first started thinking about it, it was back in November or so. I really wanted to go, but had my doubts, so I stupidly didn’t get very many papers in. Later on, I thought about it and realized that if I go, I will actually be happy. It is impossible for me to learn Japanese as well as most people in my class. They all have friends of some sort to talk to or study with. I am basically alone since Avalon didn’t get into the class on time (Japanese first semester fills up fast).

I thought, if I go to Japan, I will learn Japanese a lot faster and easier. I will be able to experience a different life, different then this normal, boring, repetitive life I have now. So I really started putting my mind to it. Avalon will be the first to tell you that when I put my mind on something (not just wanting to do it or talking about it), I will go for it without a second thought (Like my tattoos and the anime convention).

So I talked to the guy in charge of getting this going, and he told me that most likely Kansai Gaidai will accept all the students who want to go. He said there is a high chance they would. So I got my hopes really high up, thinking that if I don’t go, I don’t know what I would do. Probably a stupid idea on my part, but I couldn’t help it.

So, on April 3rd, I heard the two girls that I study with more then anyone else, talking. Saying something like “should we tell him?”. I immediately thought, “Japan, but why wouldn’t they want to tell me…unless…”. I pushed the girl I knew would crack, to tell me. She did. The other girl got mad because she didn’t think it was her place to tell me. But I will tell you this: If you think it isn’t your place to tell someone something, but it will effect their lives, then either tell them, or force them to find out them selves. I have had very bad experience with such a thing a couple years back.

She told me this: “Only 3 people are going…and you are the fourth.” I panicked. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t think “Why is this happening to me” or “Why exactly is there only 3, and I am the 4th”. My thought was: “I am not going to Japan! This can’t be happening”. I wasn’t able to concentrate on anything. The girl told me to go to the bathroom and come back when I can. The other girl who told me, told the teacher to talk to me after class.

So I went to the bathroom. Of course I cried a lot, but in about 10 minutes, I was able to at least get that much out of my system. When I went back to the classroom, I felt sick enough to almost throw up. I am hardly that physically sick, let alone emotionally that sick.

After class, the teacher told me that even though they were only accepting 3, that the guy in charge was fighting for the fourth, which was me. I felt a lot better after hearing that, but this was Friday. The weekend felt like the longest weekend I have ever had. Whenever I wasn’t watching anime, I couldn’t keep my mind off of…”Am I going or not?”, “What will I do if I don’t?” and things like that. (I am sorry. I wasn’t able to put much concentration into the private messages for our website, I will try my hardest this weekend).

Finally Monday came. I wasn’t able to sleep much the night before, but I was still awake because I was thinking way too much. I woke up early so I can go talk to the guy to see how the fight went. He wasn’t in his office at that time, so I had to go after my first class.

When I went there, he read to me the email they sent to him saying they will accept a 4th person. At that moment, I almost started crying again, but was able to hold that one back. He told me about what the next plans were, which are basically just figuring what exactly we need to do next, and him sending our 4 names to the person in charge of us in Japan. He also told me about scholarship options and other things.

I don’t think I have ever been so excited in my life! I can’t believe I am going to spend a year in Japan living with a Japanese family. Of course I will take pictures and post them here, as this will be my daily journal.