... eventually. But so far, I'm still stateside. The semester in Japan with Sophia University doesn't begin until early April. In fact I don't even board that ubiquitous jet plane until March 31. In the interim, I'm at home in Northern Virginia, which is kind of tough. Two reasons: 1) Most everyone I've spent an obscene amount of time with in the past three years is in Charlottesville; 2) Being at home is nice at first, but then you get cabin fever. Going to work every now and then helps with that, however. Plus work is giving me some much-needed cash that I can spend in Japan.
I did go to Charlottesville this past week. While there I was met with lots of "Aren't you supposed to be in Japan"s and "You're probably really excited"s. My responses to both the first was "Yes" and the second, "Not really." My semester abroad seems so far off to me. But even as I type that I know that the next two months will go by very quickly as I brush up on my Japanese, watch a lot of NHK (in translation: Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and trundle off to work from time to time.
I'm not sure when others began or will begin their study abroad experiences in Asia or elsewhere, but if you have a lot of time before it begins here are some tips to keep from going insane.
1. Reconnect with old friends: I don't get to see mine as much as I'd like to as I'm in Charlottesville for most of the year and when I'm not I'm working the old retail skit or have a 9-5 like internship. So I'm taking this time to catch up with my old pals and people who have graduated but live in or around Northern Virginia.
2. Buff up those language skills: Being at home, it's hard to put myself in "work" mode and pull out that Japanese language text book. But since I don't want to be completely lost in translation when I step off the plane, I've found the time to brush up on some old grammar materials and read about some new ones. If you don't already know, vocabulary and character flash cards are a must.
3. Catch up: In between working and studying and reconnecting (jeez, I seem busy), I try to catch up on the things I don't have time for during the school year. Like sleep. And the gym. And TV. True, you can't really catch up on sleep; once you've missed it, you've missed it. But sleeping 10 hours every night, sure makes me feel like I'm making up for sleep time lost.
