Ofunato, Iwate

I just received a call from an Interac (the company that hired me) employee. He was giving me more specific information as to who/what/when/where's of my placement and position.

The title basically says it: Ofunato, Iwate (Iwate is the prefecture... which, you can think of as the equivalent of our US States. Of course, I immediately Wikipedia-ed Ofunato as soon as I got off the phone and discovered that it is a coastal city (well, the dude did tell me too, but whatever... heh heh). Anyway, I think that will actually help with my transitioning to a new location. Yeah I'll be in a different country... but, at least I guess I can feel at home moving from a coastal city to another coastal city. Wikipedia also directed me to this website:

http://www.city.ofunato.iwate.jp/cgi-bin/odb-get.exe?WIT_template=AM040000

... now, before you start being overwhelmed (which I, myself had to stop myself from getting as well)... just look at the diagrams and pictures for some ideas. Mostly... just look at as many pictures as possible... heh heh. All I could really make out was the katakana telling me access this... home page this... ::laughs nervously::

At the very least... I get an idea of the kind of environment I will be living in.

Now, returning to the dude... he was pretty cool and from New Zealand. He had an awesome accent. I wonder if he thought the same about me? Anyway... I'm wandering from the information... he answered some of the questions I had... which, are actually the questions that my mom had been asking that I had no answers to. Needless to say, her stressing was stressing me--moms... gotta love them.

So, with these answers... I hope to relieve her stress and pressuring me... which I know it really won't do. I'm pretty sure they'll only lead to more questions which I also don't have answers to. But, yeah... I'm wandering again since this post isn't about my mom... heh heh.

He told me a general itinerary (that doesn't look like it's spelled right... hmmm...) and that I'll be working with elementary and junior high schools. I liked hearing that since I was previously told I'd be with high school students. Overall I wouldn't mind the age level I work with... since I'm basically thrilled about this opportunity... but, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to it worrying me a bit. I mean... I have experience working with younger kids... and, I'll admit I'm not exactly confident in my Japanese skills and figured working with kids will be easier since they won't be using as complex a vocabulary. Funny thing is that I mentioned this to the dude... and he agreed, stating that the younger students tend to want to make sure you understand while the older students tend to purposely use specific dialects/localized terms to make sure you don't understand. We had a good chuckle about that... but, I'm pretty sure my chuckle was a nervous one.

Anyway... I think I presented myself well during our conversation... I managed to get him to laugh a couple of times... so, it's always nice to know that I have a sense of humor. I mean... I know I'm funny... c'mon... it's me after all. But, it never hurts to be reaffirmed by complete strangers... let alone strangers who aren't watching my zany and out-of-control crazy gesticulations and expressions.

All in all... the dude mostly got me excited. In fact, I mentioned this without really realizing it.

Dude- "Any other questions you have?"
Me- "No... I'm just really excited about this opportunity and about starting a new life on my own in a new place..."
My thoughts- "Whoa... did I really just say that... what a loser..."
Dude- "That's great to hear!"

^That conversation didn't really go like that... but, it was the gist of it.

Anyway... the closer the 16th of August gets... the stronger my emotions get. Dude... I'm like in a state of anxiety, excitedness, nervousness, happiness, and much much more emotions that I don't even realize I'm experiencing... all at the same time. The problem though... is that I'm also getting a bit of an emotion overload and seem to be getting emotionally fatigued. I mean... I just keep thinking about stuff... constantly. Basically picture like a bunch of highways all intertwined over and over again with a constant flow of like... thought cars? Dude... I don't even know... I can't ever express it. All I know is that I'm constantly distracted and my friends seem to ask me if I'm okay. Believe me... I am... heh heh...

Well... I've blabbed enough... おやすみ！(oyasumi!) <---Japanese for goodnight