Japan GO!

I pick up this blog, well over a year after the last entry.

I'll say what a difference a day makes, and for a long while, that day will be May 5th, 2006.

My day began at 5:30AM, a legacy of 7-4 deal sign shifts at Canadian Tire. As I rolled out of bed and stumbled into my desk chair, I automatically turned the TV and PC on, by finger and toe, and rested my eyes while my PC came on. My fingers automatically navigating to the Email hotbutton on my keyboard, I watched sleepy-eyed as the spam rolled in and Outlook Express signalled completion with a chime. Nestled amongst the spam was an email from the JET Programme coordinator in Toronto, with the innocuous subject line of "JET Programme Update!" Another email telling me about upcoming meetings, I figured. When I opened the email, I read the following:

Dear Michael

I am writing to let you know that I would like to offer you a position on the final short list of JET Programme participants. Please write or call me back ASAP to let me know if you would like to accept, and/or if you have any initial questions. My direct line is 416-XXX-XXXX.

Congratulations!

I stared dumbly at this email for some 30 seconds before what was written registered in my sleep addled brain. With the sudden intensity of a summer storm, my mind came into full alertness. The blood pounded in my ears and my breath quickened as I read and reread every word, still not believing that I had not made some sort of misinterpretation.

I got up, feeling weak-kneed and more than a little shocked. I called down to my father, awake as ever at 5:34AM, and calmly told him what happened. My mother, also just stirring awake, heard as well. We returned to my computer and reread the email. Beyond all expectation, I had made it to the JET Programme Short List.

I should explain that I had received, exactly 1 month previous (April 5th), I had recieved a letter informing me I had made it to the ALTERNATE JET ALT short-list. In other words, the stand-by list. 24 hours had passed before I could digest that news, and my the end, I had come to the conclusion that I would not be going to Japan through the JET Programme. I was crushed, and over the next month or so, a sort of defiant anger slowly festered in me as I railed against the ridiculousness of a system that made you wait 8-9 months, from sending out your application form to getting your final reply. Nuts to JET, I thought, and after a 2 week funk, I got on with my life.

So you'll understand that when I read that email, which moved me from stand-by to short list, that bit of news didn't sink in for a few hours. When it did, I had a stupid grin on my face the rest of the day. My closest friends recieved a confusing email just before I left for work, so now I'll take a moment to clarify what should in the next little while happen.

I will recieve shortly more information regarding the ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) position, as well as the forms necessary to get the ball rolling on getting a work visa for Japan. Before my information is sent to CLAIR, the Japanese agency that handles the placements in Japan for the JET Programme, I need to complete my medical health certificate and get it to the Japanese Consulate. I had my form initially filled out on Friday, that day of days, got my chest x-ray today, and tomorrow, I go back to my clinic to get the form completed. Then its next-day delivery by mail to the Consulate. Once I get my placement offer, its a mad rush to get my affairs in order before I leave on August 5th.

Yes. August 5th. 12 weeks away.

I should add that at this point, placement is not guaranteed. Much of this is dependent on my medical certificate, which cannot be significantly be different than my medical self-assessment I submitted with my application form. Also, there is of course still a chance that I will not, for some reason or another, be given a placement offer by CLAIR. However, unlike the news I received in early April, I choose this time to revel in the knowledge that in all likelyhood, I will be in Japan this summer.

I can't wait...