Get this Party Started

JET placements finally came today--and I'm going back to Shinjo! I kind of had a feeling that I would be going back there, but to know for certain that that's where I'm going is amazing. Truth be told, I was also sort of hoping to be placed somewhere I'd never been before, just for the whole newness of it, but thinking about it, Shinjo really is the best place for me. I already know the town fairly well; I've worked with several of the teachers and so will be able to pull on those experiences (and especially if I go back to Hagino Middle School and teach with Kakizaki-sensei and Kusakiri-sensei again!); I have people like Nishida-mama and Mama-chan and Papa-chan to look after me, which will help when culture shock and homesickness hits (which is will, and hard). And I'll still get to travel all over Japan and southeast Asia, so it's not like I'm missing out on anything.

It's also good I'm going to Shinjo, since all the new clothes I've bought and all the mental preparations I've done has all been with Shinjo as the example--so actually going back there means I won't have to guess on what I'll need to take with me or what my life might be like or anything!

There are two other people from the Denver JET group going to Yamagata as well--Sara, who was one of my sempai at CSU, and Ben, who is the other Shinjo ALT! That's a funny story about how freaking small the world is, actually: he knows Edie, who was coincidentally coming over to hang out for a bit this afternoon and arrived just after I'd gotten word of placements, posted on the board about who else was going to Yamagata, and he replied. Of course, I got curious, so I looked him up on Facebook, and lo and behold, our one mutual friend was Edie! Crazy, right? Then she posted on his wall to make sure it was the right Ben, which it was, and we spent a good chunk of time appreciating life's little (or huge, in this case) coincidences and ironies. Another plus: I'll have an American friend, and not only an American friend, but a Colorado friend, in Shinjo when I start missing familiar faces. Not that Ben and I are even remotely close, but he and Edie are friends, and so I know I'll get along with him fantastically.

It's weird how... real this feels now that I know where I'm going, now that I can really envision what life will be like in Japan for the next couple of years. Before, it was all speculation and daydreams, but now, it's real, tangible images. I'm still a little shaky from the rush of it all; it feels just like it did two months ago when I got the e-mail that I had been short-listed.

There's still so much to do in the next five-and-a-half weeks before I leave though! I need to get winter clothes, since right now all I have are for warm weather; I still need to send  a copy of my transcript to the consulate in Denver (I was waiting for my degree to be conferred, which it finally was a few days ago); I need to buy a couple more luggage locks; I have to send in my yakkan shoumei so I can take all my medications with me through customs... And I need to breathe and enjoy these upcoming weeks in Fort Collins with my friends and family. I'm looking forward so much to starting my life in Japan that I don't want to forget to appreciate where I'm at in my life now.

So I'm gonna go veg and just enjoy enjoying.