Well, at least I can cross one thing off of my list of things to do. Just called and made an eye appointment for July 10th at 9:15am at Sheie. My usual doctor there is out for the rest of the year, but I'm never picky about who I go to so I'll be going to someone else. I love working for the Health System sometimes. Originally they were trying to tell me they didn't have an appointments available until August... then I explained I was an employee and will be moving to another country at the end of the month.

Glad I remembered to do this as I'm on my last pair of contacts and REALLY needed to get this done before I leave.... It'll be great to go into Japan with a years worth of contact lenses and a new pair of glasses.

Left to do:
* Call either my doctor or my prescription insurance to figure out if I'm able to have multiple refills of my albuterol inhaler filled at the same time. If not, I'll use one of my 6 refills and take that with me... and then figure things out from there
* Wait to hear back from the GYN about my bloodwork. 2 weeks ago, I had my first checkup in probably 5 or 6 years. Slightly TMI, but I used to be on Orthotricyclen to regulate me, but stopped when my insurance ran out when I turned 23 and I was broke. The doctor has me trying Femcon FE and is checking my thyroid/hormone levels/etc to see if something there is causing my problems.


Now I only need to gather up the courage to call the dentist -_- Which I really need to do SOON since I'm betting they're going to have to pull out the wisdom tooth that's hurting and possibly the remains of that tooth I broke a few years ago. How long is too soon before an international flight / relocation to a different country to have major dental work done?

So..... July....

In 25 more days, I'll be somewhere over the skies of Canada at this moment, probably watching a movie and killing time until they bring around our mid-flight snack. I'll either be nervously awaiting whatever lies before me in the year ahead.... or trying to massage out that cramp in my leg because I'll be stuck in the middle of five seats and am too polite to bother my dozing neighbors so I can get up and stretch (Would you believe that my entire flight home from Japan I didn't stand up ONCE? Didn't even use the bathroom or anything)

I really hope I'm not stuck in the middle of the middle aisle. *crosses fingers and prays for a window seat*

Anyways, after receiving a reminder from the NY consulate yesterday saying that they hadn't received my FBI background check yet.... guess what shows up in the mail that very afternoon. We had to forward them on to our consulate unopened, and I did just that yesterday evening. I know that my record is perfectly clean, but it doesn't stop me from being curious about what exactly lies inside that big, orangey-brown envelope. Ah, the mysteries of life. The ominous warning to NOT OPEN THE ENVELOPE and send it on as-is only serves to make me WANT to open the envelope. You know, forbidden fruit and all that.

*sighs* I really should be making a list of things I need to buy and things I need to pack before I go, but I'm just feeling so burnt out... not quite sure why, though. Work, perhaps?

I did have the misfortune of accidentally overdrawing my account twice via paypal the other day -_- Apparently when I'd paid for something, I mistakenly forgot to change my funding source to the account that actually had money in it -_-. That's $72 in overdraft fees that I REALLY can't afford at the moment.

When I get home, I need to put up a whole mess of books on Amazon or Half or wherever. I might as well see if I can get anything for them. I also need to sell my doll violin case, since I sold Arya (my AR Diana Pride) to Val. Oh, and maybe see if I can locate all the pieces to Arya's Doll Heart Berry Blue outfit set so I can sell that. Oni (ie, the evil looking Kabuki doll) is officially the only doll I have left O_O

Probably going to put all of my Takarazuka VHS up for sale on the community. I could really use the startup money and it'll be cheaper for me to just sell them and re-purchase the ones I want to watch than it will be for me to ship dozens of videos to myself. Y!J and Taka-An, you and I are going to be intimate friends from now on, I'm sure.

Yesterday, my boss's boss made the big announcement to all of the groups under Business Development (marketing, web, creative services, physician marketing,and strategic planning departments), as well as PR, that my boss and I are leaving. Well, okay, my boss isn't leaving.... she's stepping down from her position as Web Director at the end of this week and will be working on a part-time, project-basis so that she can spend time with her family.

Most everyone knew already (word spread fast once I found out I made the short list - some had known through part of the application process and had been cheering for me, so to speak, part of the time.) Of course I had the clueless few questioning me about every little thing.

It's frightening to think that it's only a month until I leave. The whole JET application process is just one huge waiting game... and now, before I realize it, it's almost JULY.

Saturday those of us who went through the New York consulate had our pre-departure seminar, run by JETAANY, at The Nippon Club on west 57th St between 6th and 7th Aves. It wasn't mandatory, only "highly encouraged," but it gave me the oppurtunity to hand in my passport and visa application.

( 'This is going to be long' cut )

I keep getting occasional whiffs of my hair, and I love it. When I was in the Lush store last week, they gave me a few samples: Daddyo shampoo, Retread conditioner, and Sweetie Pie shower jelly. (on top of the few things I bought for myself.... I should start reviewing these things, now that I'm addicted!).

What I keep smelling is the shampoo *_* It smells really really harsh and super strong in the container, almost overbearingly so, but once it's in your hair, it mellows out a lot. The warm water seems to make it a bit more muted ... and it smells LOVELY. I washed my hair with it yesterday afternoon and keep getting whiffs of it when I shake my head or take down my hair. (I tend to wear my hair up while I'm working). It's such a unique smell too. Like the candied violets my grammom used to make when I was little! I haven't smelled that scent in YEARS. It makes me want to start running through fields filled with flowers ^^;

The shampoo is a "purple shampoo," typically used to get the brassy yellow color out of blonde hair. Now, I don't have blond hair... It's more of a golden brown color, but I've always had some naturally lighter highlights in my hair (not quite blonde... well when I was younger they were blonder. As I've gotten older , my hair has gotten a bit darker). Anyways, after using it, it seemed that the lighter bits of my hair were a bit brighter. A litte bit really does seem to go a long way. I have a TON of hair and I'll probably be able to get 3 uses out of the little container they gave me. That said, though, it's a shame their shampoo is so expensive ;_; Well, everything of Lush's is expensive, but absolutely wonderful.

The Retread conditioner... I tried... and dear god the smell turned my stomach. I dont even know what it was about it that got to me, but I couldn't bear it. Sure, it made my hair nice and silky (once it dried), but....ugh...the smell. Kinda like... yogurt that's gone horribly sour.

Speaking of my hair... .I think I'm going to cut it. It's down to my lower back again, and I really haven't had my hair "styled" in such a long, long time. (It's pretty much all one length, no bangs or layers or anything, and my hair tends to be thick, frizzes a bit easily and is naturally wavy. I almost wish it was either curly or straight. Wavy = annoyingly middle of the road ). The problem is... I have no clue what to do with it.

I don't like my hair short (I think it makes me look fatter than I already am >_<) but I have no clue what kind of style will look good on me. Plus, most of you know how horribly indecisive I am.

I should post a pic of my hair as it is now and let you guys decide how I should get it styled. I figure it'll be my treat to myself for before I go away.

Random Manda tidbit: I usually hate my hair, but then again, don't most people dislike their own hair? However, the only thing I love about my hair is that I get these cute little iddy biddy spiral ringlets that grow right in that short hair right by the front of my ears, near my temples. When it's really humid, they are so cute and bouncey. The rest of my hair is just wavy though... not curly, not straight... just annoyingly wavy and mousy.

So, I really need to get back into the habit of posting her. I wind up posting over on sumire_no_hana all the time, and sadly neglect this place.

I'm in a bit of a lull right now, Japan-wise. I know where I'm going, but have yet to hear from the person whose apartment I'll be taking over. (I wont have a proper school predecessor as Kobe JETs rotate the schools they go to every term.)

I think it's finally hit me that the time for me to leave is quickly coming. I received Visa application, which I return along with my passport this coming Saturday at the Pre-departure Seminar. A week or so ago, I got flight info. I'll be on one of these two flights:

Departing: New York (John F. Kennedy Airport)

AA 167
Departing JFK July 26, 11:45am
Arriving Narita July 27, 2:30pm
-------------------------------
JAL 007
Departing JFK July 26, 11:00am
Arriving Narita July 27, 1:55pm

I'll find out which at the end of the month, apparently.

I'm going to see Scarlet Pimpernel along with wao_wao (thanks Julie, for picking up those tickets! hope you're enjoying your new internet access!). Sadly, I arrive in Kobe too late to attend Magee-chan's Me and My Girl okeiko.

Speaking of MiiMai I have plans to travel to Fukuoka for the weekend a few weeks after I arrive. (thank you Seishun 18 kippu <3 and Magee fanclub for Hakataza MiiMai tickets <3) I should probably reserve a hostel spot for the night of the 9th (I'm thinking maybe this place. Originally, I was going to be going with muffin_song, but now I'll probably be on my own. I may try to go another time, maybe make a day trip, but I'll see how things are. I can always try to get ticket for that through other means. I don't want to make too many plans when I dont yet know what my schedule will be like.

I think I'm going to go back to work now...

For those who don't know, I was recently accepted into the JET program and will be helping to teach English in schools in Japan..

Up until this point, I didn't know exactly where I would be placed. The majority of JET placements are in the deep inaka, the middle of nowhere. Most people want to be in the cities, but those placements are far more rare. While you can name your preferences as to where you would like to be stationed, ultimately where you are is completely out of our hands. My preferences when I applied were for Kobe-shi, Hyogo-ken and Saitama-ken. (Philly and Kobe are "Friendship and Cooperation" cities, which was why it was my initial choice)

Today I found out officially who my contracting organization would be and where I would be living.

As of July 26th, I'll be headed to Kobe-shi. (Okay, technically I won't be in Kobe until July 30th because of orientation, but same difference XD)

Kobe O_O

Seriously.

*shocked*
How did I wind up with a placement in a city, in such a perfect central location? Easily accessible to all the places I'd like to be

(any bets on when my first pilgrimage to the Mura will be?)

(crossposting this as some people who wanted updates aren't on both of my journals)

I wonder if I just happened to get an unintentional hint of where I may be winding up....O_O

I just got an email in my spam folder about Hyogo AJET library, from a Kobe CIR...

I dont know why or how else they would have wound up with my email address....

*crossposted*

So, yes, I'm back in the US. Yes, I'm alive. No, I haven't forgotten about you all. No, haven't even finished writing up reports. Yes, I'm still fighting jetlag. I promise I'll bring you all up to speed eventually!

東京からこんにちは！

Being a dork and posting from the forth floor of the Apple store in Ginza.

For the record, this Japanese keyboard is driving me insane ^^; I didn:t have a chance to finish up my post before we went out for the day, but Ill post that tonight, followed perhaps by a mini-review of my first Zuka show <3 We aren:t meeting up with muffin_song until 5:45 so there's 3 or so hours until then. We walked through Hibiya a bit, saw the Tokyo Takarazuka Gekijou (love!!!) , chilled in HIbiya Kouen for a bit and watched the cats <3 but more details later. The weather is a bit overcast and it keeps sprinkling off and on, but nothing you can:t escape if you dont wander into a store or under cover somewhere

I just checked in for my flight to Japan via Detroit tomorrow morning.

O_O

I'm really going...

*shock*

Also:

For those who are on both of my friends lists.... do you mind if I crosspost my posts between sumire_no_hana and here? I'm sorry that you'll get bombarded twice, but I dont feel like messing around with filters right now. And I promise to keep things under cuts!

It's hard to believe in less than a week I'll be in Japan O_O Yesterday I went and exchanged a good chunk of cash for yen. I bought a card to go with the gift.

Today the weather is absolutely GORGEOUS. 75 degrees, sunny, barely humid. So I went for a walk over lunch. And somehow wound up wandering into The Black Cat... where I somehow also wound up buying another gift for Magee.

The shop specializes in unique, and often environmentally conscious gifts. Many of the products in the shop are made by local artisans and small-scale companies, sometimes of recycled goods.

I wound up buying this burgundy leather filigree cuff bracelet.... which is actually made out of recycled shoe leather. It's lovely! I'd take a photo for you, but the store owner wrapped it up for me in this cute little brown craft box, with a black cat sticker on it, then tied with this brown paper ribbon printed with black cats and placed in a polka-dotted Black Cat bag.

One day I'll go back and get a pair of earrings made of vintage watch parts for myself ^_^

( cut for trip angsting )

Cross posted to sumire_no_hana

I've been converted...



The first Mac I've ever actually owned (all those that I've used have been at school/work).

Now I need to figure out what to name her... and poke at her until I learn every little thing I can.

April 3, 2008
Dear JET Program Applicant:

Congratulations! It is our great p