(I wish I could say I come up with this title. Alas, I stole it.)
Now that I've calmed down from the devastation of losing the only digital copy of my memories (aside from the blog post detailing my adventure), I will finish the story. Not that there's much more to say!
So, yeah. I will continue from the very spot I quit. It is in your hands to connect the two halves. Here goes!
--- my misery! The landscape below me was half visible through the haze of the slowly fading cloud. Then a gust of wind brought the cloud back in full force! Oh no! Misery returned.
Just kidding; I went as fast as I could to get below cloud level permanently. A grin of epic proportions consumed the lower half of my face the first time I saw the full view! It was fucking beautiful. A large and knobby light green shape in the sea of green was next to a slightly smaller blue shape. Off to the left and way off in the distance was cityscape and city skyline, respectively. I knew the blue to be a lake, and I suspected the light green was a rice field. Later, this was confirmed to be true. And I could still see SOME clouds below me. The puffy white kind, not the ugly, sinful gray kind. Exactly the kind of thing I like to see!
If I was the kind of guy who skipped, I would've skipped the rest of the way down the mountain. Instead, I took my sweet time, taking breaks as much as possible, even if I didn't really need to anymore. Seriously, it invigorated me to such an extent that my exhaustion had nearly dissipated entirely! Never have I enjoyed such a wonderful feeling from simply looking at something. It's true that I always, always love looking at landscapes, and nature, and cities (especially from high above), but going from such a low as I had been at the top of the mountain to this high was amazing.
I don't know if I can say I'd do it again (I can only take so much pain), but it was totally worth it, in every way.
And then I reached Kawaguchiko 5th Station once again and took the bus back to Kawaguchiko, where my exhaustion set in once and I started hallucinating. But it was a good kind of delirium, this time.
Happy endings for all!
Except you, SD card. I'd like to break you to tiny, tiny little pieces. Grr. But not until I'm absolutely 100% sure that there's no chance whatsoever of getting my photos back! I've chosen to remain optimistic for now, even though I know logically the chances are pretty low.
So that's my story.
Showing posts with label QQ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label QQ. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
F U, Ji
Saturday morning, I left for Mt. Fuji. It was a grueling and terrible trip, with not one, not two, but six train transfers! But, no, it wasn't really grueling because I decided to start reading Red Mars, finally, and it is awesome.
I thought I was going to be late, because I technically took the wrong train once, and then missed another train and had to wait extra long. I was supposed to at Kawaguchiko by 4pm! Luckily, I was still the second one there, at 4:30pm. Ish. Everyone else took the bus and got stuck in traffic. Har har! (Except the one dude who had arrived the night prior.)
All in all, I am clearly the winner, because arriving the night prior is paramount to cheating.
So after we arrived and caught up on the haps... Everyone was interested in my Korean adventures, of which I sadly had little to say. Such is me! But, yes, after catching up and resting a bit, we went on our merry way to the bus which would take us up to Kawaguchiko 5th Station, which is I guess 2303m above sea level. So, 1476m to hike past that. Doesn't seem like much OR DOES IT.
Upon arriving at the 5th station, we all bought doodads. Some of us bought gloves and walking sticks. Gloves for warmth, and walking sticks to get marks at various stations proving you made it there! I, of course, bought both. 'Cause I rock. We donned our Warmth Suits, got our picture taken, and began the hike.
It was, of course, dark by this time. I can't remember if we left at 7 or 8pm. Probably somewhere in between. We left at this time in order to see the sunset from the top. Honestly, I wasn't keeping track of the time simply because that was not my priority. I was focused entirely on the climb at that point. I knew it was going to be tough for me. I am, after all, pretty out of shape. Rotund?
Well, that focus lasted for all of about five minutes until we first got a good view of the city below from our height. With all the flickering lights and the lake surrounded by flickering lights and oooh it was nice. I got some pictures, but alas, they were rather poor. Again, foiled by low lighting! Stupid grainy pictures grr. One o' dese days...
Nonetheless. Beautiful stuff.
If anything, this view invigorated me. It gave me purpose. I climbed without complaint for a long time. I had my doubts I would be able to make it to the top, but I knew that I wanted to, at the very least, and that was enough to keep me going for the time being.
We climbed, we took breaks, we climbed some more. Eventually we separated, as some wanted to go faster. I was in the slowest group, with Matt and Nisrene. (I created the slowest group!) I was getting tired. My right leg was hurting. Sharp pain in my right thigh and foot with every step. I had to sort of... throw my leg, instead of lift it. I wanted to give up so many times. But they wouldn't let me. Bastards!
I pushed on. At nearly every station, I would say, "I'm not going any further. I'm not going to make it." 'Cause I'm a quitter, I am. But every time, they'd convince me to continue on. Then we made it to a station and decided to get something hot to eat and drink. Lo and behold, the other group was in there! While Nisrene and I waited in line, Matt went and met them. Then abandoned us!! Oh, the humanity! As we sat and ate, he took them and ran off! Later he says, "I thought you guys were giving up!" Oh, sure. Sure. You just got tired of me holding you back.
But anyway, we kept going. Pushing on and on. I surely would've given up had doing so not left Nisrene alone. I would've felt bad. Such is me! We reached the last station before long, waiting in many a slow, slow line. Lines! To climb a mountain! Can you imagine? Let's just say, it was a little crowded, eh?
Protip: Do not climb Mt. Fuji on a holiday weekend. Please! Listen to me!
Finally we reached the last station before the summit! I could feel it; we were getting close. We'd be there soon enough. But then we saw Kira and Tyler sitting inside the station! We said hello and they had informed us that they gave up! I scoffed at the comment: "But we're so close!" Adamant in their decision to remain inside, we went on. I couldn't hold it against them, anyway. I desperately wanted to give up, and I wasn't even the one with altitude sickness! It was merely a weak mind and body responsible for my misgivings. Thanks to my last remaining climbing partner's encouragement, however, I soldiered on.
The line was slow and we'd by this time entered cloud level. And there was a cloud. SO MUCH FOR THAT SUNSET, HUH? It was cold. Soon enough, she started feeling sick and decided to turn back. I didn't want to give up at this point because I thought we were close to the top. So I kept going.
Turns out I was wrong. And the line was slow. And it was cold. And wet. And I was breathing cloud. And it was windy as hell. In short, as time went on, I grew more and more miserable. Every breath, every step, I wanted to turn around. But I kept thinking I was close! Like, within an hour's time, I'd be there!
IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
In an about hour and a half, I saw a tori gate. HELL YES I'M FINALLY THERE. And then I got closer. ALMOST. And then I reached the tori gate. And above, I could see the line going further into the cloud. Shiiiiiit, man. I'm going to die.
Misery. Absolute misery. By this time, I was far, far beyond my physical limits. Have you ever been so physically exhausted that it starts to affect your mind? Neither had I. Pain, moisture, cold, wind, pain. It wouldn't fucking end. I dreaded every step. And what slow steps they were! The goddamn line was so slow. Pain. I was on the verge of tears, crying out for mommy! I wanted nothing more than to give up and just fall asleep. But I couldn't do it. I wouldn't give in.
Why? Fuck if I know. I was getting pretty delirious. I don't even know if I was really conscious of what I was doing after a while.
It was so cold.
At one point some girl passed me by as I was resting and asked if I was okay. "Wh-?" I mumbled. "Oh...mhm yeah." She acknowledged my response and walked on. I sat there wishing I'd had the balls to say no so I could get some help. What kind of help she could have given me, I don't even know.
I got up. Walked on. Walked more. Waiting for the line, walking, waiting, one step at a time, walking. Cold.
If this seems a bit rambly and mad, then I'm getting my point across. If not? Well, I'm trying. Forgive me.
After what seemed like a fucking eternity (such a cliché, but now I know what it really means), I found myself at the final tori gate. I could see the shrine above. Halle-fucking-lujah.
Make no mistake. I wasn't exactly happy. I knew I'd still have to walk back DOWN the mountain. Ffff. I walked around a bit, took some pictures (not even madness can keep me from a good photo!), got my staff stamped, bought a couple souvenirs, sat down, and pondered just what the hell I was going to do. I knew in my heart there was no way I'd be making it down the mountain in my condition. I was past my limit three times over.
I needed warmth. Ordered some hot ramen. It was fucking delicious. Gave me a little pep, but not enough.
Ahhh, fuck. I had to go eventually. Might as well be now, right? I went, down the other path.
Still cold, still wet, still miserable, but I just kept walking. Eventually I put on my iPod. Turns out even music wasn't going to help me this time. Music has never failed me before! Whenever I'm down or angry, I listen to something, anything, and I feel at least a little better!
The only thing music did for me this time was give me a rhythm to hike to. Which was at least a little helpful, I suppose.
The pinnacle of negativity! You have no idea.
I tried as hard as I could to simply focus on the music for as long as I could. It sort of worked except not really at all.
But then, I saw something that blew me away and instantly cured me of ---
well i was going to write about how seeing the view of the city in the daylight instead of at night after i got below the cloud line rejuvenated me instantly but i just went to get some photos off my sd card to show in this blog post and the card got fried somehow
so fuck it
I thought I was going to be late, because I technically took the wrong train once, and then missed another train and had to wait extra long. I was supposed to at Kawaguchiko by 4pm! Luckily, I was still the second one there, at 4:30pm. Ish. Everyone else took the bus and got stuck in traffic. Har har! (Except the one dude who had arrived the night prior.)
All in all, I am clearly the winner, because arriving the night prior is paramount to cheating.
So after we arrived and caught up on the haps... Everyone was interested in my Korean adventures, of which I sadly had little to say. Such is me! But, yes, after catching up and resting a bit, we went on our merry way to the bus which would take us up to Kawaguchiko 5th Station, which is I guess 2303m above sea level. So, 1476m to hike past that. Doesn't seem like much OR DOES IT.
Upon arriving at the 5th station, we all bought doodads. Some of us bought gloves and walking sticks. Gloves for warmth, and walking sticks to get marks at various stations proving you made it there! I, of course, bought both. 'Cause I rock. We donned our Warmth Suits, got our picture taken, and began the hike.
It was, of course, dark by this time. I can't remember if we left at 7 or 8pm. Probably somewhere in between. We left at this time in order to see the sunset from the top. Honestly, I wasn't keeping track of the time simply because that was not my priority. I was focused entirely on the climb at that point. I knew it was going to be tough for me. I am, after all, pretty out of shape. Rotund?
Well, that focus lasted for all of about five minutes until we first got a good view of the city below from our height. With all the flickering lights and the lake surrounded by flickering lights and oooh it was nice. I got some pictures, but alas, they were rather poor. Again, foiled by low lighting! Stupid grainy pictures grr. One o' dese days...
Nonetheless. Beautiful stuff.
If anything, this view invigorated me. It gave me purpose. I climbed without complaint for a long time. I had my doubts I would be able to make it to the top, but I knew that I wanted to, at the very least, and that was enough to keep me going for the time being.
We climbed, we took breaks, we climbed some more. Eventually we separated, as some wanted to go faster. I was in the slowest group, with Matt and Nisrene. (I created the slowest group!) I was getting tired. My right leg was hurting. Sharp pain in my right thigh and foot with every step. I had to sort of... throw my leg, instead of lift it. I wanted to give up so many times. But they wouldn't let me. Bastards!
I pushed on. At nearly every station, I would say, "I'm not going any further. I'm not going to make it." 'Cause I'm a quitter, I am. But every time, they'd convince me to continue on. Then we made it to a station and decided to get something hot to eat and drink. Lo and behold, the other group was in there! While Nisrene and I waited in line, Matt went and met them. Then abandoned us!! Oh, the humanity! As we sat and ate, he took them and ran off! Later he says, "I thought you guys were giving up!" Oh, sure. Sure. You just got tired of me holding you back.
But anyway, we kept going. Pushing on and on. I surely would've given up had doing so not left Nisrene alone. I would've felt bad. Such is me! We reached the last station before long, waiting in many a slow, slow line. Lines! To climb a mountain! Can you imagine? Let's just say, it was a little crowded, eh?
Protip: Do not climb Mt. Fuji on a holiday weekend. Please! Listen to me!
Finally we reached the last station before the summit! I could feel it; we were getting close. We'd be there soon enough. But then we saw Kira and Tyler sitting inside the station! We said hello and they had informed us that they gave up! I scoffed at the comment: "But we're so close!" Adamant in their decision to remain inside, we went on. I couldn't hold it against them, anyway. I desperately wanted to give up, and I wasn't even the one with altitude sickness! It was merely a weak mind and body responsible for my misgivings. Thanks to my last remaining climbing partner's encouragement, however, I soldiered on.
The line was slow and we'd by this time entered cloud level. And there was a cloud. SO MUCH FOR THAT SUNSET, HUH? It was cold. Soon enough, she started feeling sick and decided to turn back. I didn't want to give up at this point because I thought we were close to the top. So I kept going.
Turns out I was wrong. And the line was slow. And it was cold. And wet. And I was breathing cloud. And it was windy as hell. In short, as time went on, I grew more and more miserable. Every breath, every step, I wanted to turn around. But I kept thinking I was close! Like, within an hour's time, I'd be there!
IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
In an about hour and a half, I saw a tori gate. HELL YES I'M FINALLY THERE. And then I got closer. ALMOST. And then I reached the tori gate. And above, I could see the line going further into the cloud. Shiiiiiit, man. I'm going to die.
Misery. Absolute misery. By this time, I was far, far beyond my physical limits. Have you ever been so physically exhausted that it starts to affect your mind? Neither had I. Pain, moisture, cold, wind, pain. It wouldn't fucking end. I dreaded every step. And what slow steps they were! The goddamn line was so slow. Pain. I was on the verge of tears, crying out for mommy! I wanted nothing more than to give up and just fall asleep. But I couldn't do it. I wouldn't give in.
Why? Fuck if I know. I was getting pretty delirious. I don't even know if I was really conscious of what I was doing after a while.
It was so cold.
At one point some girl passed me by as I was resting and asked if I was okay. "Wh-?" I mumbled. "Oh...mhm yeah." She acknowledged my response and walked on. I sat there wishing I'd had the balls to say no so I could get some help. What kind of help she could have given me, I don't even know.
I got up. Walked on. Walked more. Waiting for the line, walking, waiting, one step at a time, walking. Cold.
If this seems a bit rambly and mad, then I'm getting my point across. If not? Well, I'm trying. Forgive me.
After what seemed like a fucking eternity (such a cliché, but now I know what it really means), I found myself at the final tori gate. I could see the shrine above. Halle-fucking-lujah.
Make no mistake. I wasn't exactly happy. I knew I'd still have to walk back DOWN the mountain. Ffff. I walked around a bit, took some pictures (not even madness can keep me from a good photo!), got my staff stamped, bought a couple souvenirs, sat down, and pondered just what the hell I was going to do. I knew in my heart there was no way I'd be making it down the mountain in my condition. I was past my limit three times over.
I needed warmth. Ordered some hot ramen. It was fucking delicious. Gave me a little pep, but not enough.
Ahhh, fuck. I had to go eventually. Might as well be now, right? I went, down the other path.
Still cold, still wet, still miserable, but I just kept walking. Eventually I put on my iPod. Turns out even music wasn't going to help me this time. Music has never failed me before! Whenever I'm down or angry, I listen to something, anything, and I feel at least a little better!
The only thing music did for me this time was give me a rhythm to hike to. Which was at least a little helpful, I suppose.
The pinnacle of negativity! You have no idea.
I tried as hard as I could to simply focus on the music for as long as I could. It sort of worked except not really at all.
But then, I saw something that blew me away and instantly cured me of ---
well i was going to write about how seeing the view of the city in the daylight instead of at night after i got below the cloud line rejuvenated me instantly but i just went to get some photos off my sd card to show in this blog post and the card got fried somehow
so fuck it
Saturday, June 6, 2009
An Untitled Story of Unbridled Rage, Unending Frustration and Unrelenting Uncertainty
In high school, I didn't give two fucks about my grades. I just did what I needed to pass. Minimal effort! I "forgot" to do a lot of homework, and then never made up for it when the teachers offered me a chance. I did not study for any tests. I scraped by with a high C-ish average, if I recall correctly. Nothing special.
I am not alone in this, I know!
So, the time came when I had to apply for college. I was not super-excited to move into higher education, but I was looking forward to it. Still, I doubted I would try any harder than I had in high school.
I applied for the University of Cincinnati and Purdue University and a couple others of which I have long forgotten the names. Both UC and Purdue accepted me. I really wanted to go to Purdue, but out of state tuition is a bitch, so I went with UC. The co-op program sounded cool, too! Paid internships, basically, to train me for the real world with real experience as I am studying? Sign me up.
Even still I had no reason to really try.
Then, I went to the freshman orientation engineer presentations. I learned about International Co-op after freshman year, after a 2.5-ish GPA. Pretty mediocre, maybe even bad.
I learned of the opportunity to go to Japan. I have always been a nerd. I have always been fascinated with Japan because of videogames and anime. I have since matured, ohoho, and am interested in Japan and, indeed, all other cultures for completely different reasons, but at the time I just wanted to visit the land that in a large part contributes to my love of nerdy things.
We were told that a requirement for doing ICP is to have a 3.0 or above GPA. WHOA. Suddenly a reason to try! Okay, let's do this! So I did it.
Ever since I entered into the program, and the preparations began, I and others in said program had been told things like, "You will get a job. There's a 100% guarantee. Nothing has ever gone wrong before!" Then the economy fumbled the ball. Still they told us to remain positive! I believed them.
As the time to leave approached I began to worry. I still did not have a job. I am generally a positive guy (at least, in my own head I am), but things were not happening as they should. Time went on and on, and I started to get pretty stressed out about it. My grades even suffered for it. (Yay, excuses!)
Soon enough it was time to leave for Japan and I still didn't have a job. Hey, though, it's okay! To make up for not having a job, UC offered me a scholarship to pay for an eight-week course to study Japanese while living in Japan. Hell yes thank you!
While in Japan, I was put into contact with a guy who was trying to get a job for me with either his company or his friend's company. I was thankful for this. Hope returned. Then he kind of disappeared off the face of the earth. I assumed that meant he was unsuccessful and wary of telling me for some reason. This was within the first two weeks, so I had plenty of time to get over it and set my mind positively to returning home.
Fast forward about six weeks. I was enjoying my time in Japan immensely and ready to go home in a couple weeks. I had long made peace with the fact that I was not going to stay as long as I had originally believed. I began making plans for once I returned home. I had plans! Glorious plans!
Then I received another email! A possible job offer for an IT position. I was a bit wary, but I didn't let that stop me from jumping at a chance to stay in Japan even longer!
After a week and a half of painful uncertainty, I just wanted everything to be over with. I wanted to be back in America and be done with it. But then! It was confirmed that I got the job! I only had to fly to Seoul and give some papers to the Japanese Embassy. For some reason, Japan requires that you be out of the country to receive a working visa. That's fine, though, as the first month's pay would more than make up for the cost!
That was my logic.
At this point, though, I was still somewhat uncertain as to what exactly I needed to do once I arrive in Korea. Unfortunately, I was being rushed by both sides. Unfortunately, but understandably! The company wants me to start working, and the school wants me to start working. Hell, I want me to start working. So I went out and bought an expensive round-trip ticket to Korea. I could have gotten cheaper (about half the cost!) if I wasn't being rushed, but shit happens.
With the required papers, vague instructions on what to do, and hastily constructed plans, I fly to Korea. Pretty frickin' nervous, as it is the first time I have ever flown on a plane by myself, let alone to another country where I have no inkling of the language.
But it will be fun! I am sure of it.
I landed. I was accosted by taxi drivers and gave in and paid ridiculous money for the ride. Oh well. It was easier than getting lost on the trains on the way to the hotel, right?
Next day! I went to the Japanese Embassy! I only got lost three times on my way there. Walked past it twice. Finally I just started asking random people if they spoke English, and if they said yes, I asked them to point in the right direction. I went inside the building, to the 7th floor, handed the guy behind the desk my papers... pretty satisfied and looking forward to being done with this so I could enjoy my visit to Korea. So looking forward to this.
Alas, it was not meant to be. My company forgot to give me the certificate of eligibility - the most important of papers for getting a working visa! I returned to the hotel, somewhat upset, and contacted the company.
The next day I had a photocopy via email, a fax, and a copy via snail mail in my hands. Pretty fantastic. It is official looking, got stamps and shit on it. Excellent! This time I found the embassy right away. When I gave him this paper, he informed me that... oops it isn't actually the certificate of eligibility.
AGH.
It's Friday! The embassy is closed on weekends! My plane leaves Sunday! Shit. Goddamnit. What the hell am I supposed to do?
I rush back to the hotel, posthaste - well, okay, I stopped to eat - and contacted the company again. I told him all about how I was going to be stuck in Korea and have to buy a new ticket once I could actually leave since I couldn't change my flyback date
So now... My positivity has melted away completely. I know I am screwed. I was told before I came to Korea that if I couldn't get the working visa, I wasn't going to be able to get a tourist's visa to get back into Japan. In other words, there was the possibility of getting stuck in Korea. I was a little scared of that happening, despite the reassurances that it wouldn't. WELL NOW IT HAS. Great.
I am just so tired of this frustrating uncertainty. And after all the hard work I've put into it, since I learned about the program. "Welcome to the real world," my dad told me.
That doesn't help. ;_;
Of course, despite all this shitty shit that has happened to me, my time in Japan has been wonderful. Some other time I will write a more positive post about my overall experience. Probably!
And one day, ONE DAY I will learn to fluently speak the language and be able to roam the streets of Japan without stumbling over every other word. ONE. DAY. (I hope!)
Think positive, think positive! Ugh.
And thus ends my first and hopefully last stupid rant.
Haha, rant. That reminds me, once in my angsty teen years I thought it would be cool to make a website where all I did was write about stupid things that annoyed me. Remember that, L.J.? I bet you do.
Ahh, good times.
I am not alone in this, I know!
So, the time came when I had to apply for college. I was not super-excited to move into higher education, but I was looking forward to it. Still, I doubted I would try any harder than I had in high school.
I applied for the University of Cincinnati and Purdue University and a couple others of which I have long forgotten the names. Both UC and Purdue accepted me. I really wanted to go to Purdue, but out of state tuition is a bitch, so I went with UC. The co-op program sounded cool, too! Paid internships, basically, to train me for the real world with real experience as I am studying? Sign me up.
Even still I had no reason to really try.
Then, I went to the freshman orientation engineer presentations. I learned about International Co-op after freshman year, after a 2.5-ish GPA. Pretty mediocre, maybe even bad.
I learned of the opportunity to go to Japan. I have always been a nerd. I have always been fascinated with Japan because of videogames and anime. I have since matured, ohoho, and am interested in Japan and, indeed, all other cultures for completely different reasons, but at the time I just wanted to visit the land that in a large part contributes to my love of nerdy things.
We were told that a requirement for doing ICP is to have a 3.0 or above GPA. WHOA. Suddenly a reason to try! Okay, let's do this! So I did it.
Ever since I entered into the program, and the preparations began, I and others in said program had been told things like, "You will get a job. There's a 100% guarantee. Nothing has ever gone wrong before!" Then the economy fumbled the ball. Still they told us to remain positive! I believed them.
As the time to leave approached I began to worry. I still did not have a job. I am generally a positive guy (at least, in my own head I am), but things were not happening as they should. Time went on and on, and I started to get pretty stressed out about it. My grades even suffered for it. (Yay, excuses!)
Soon enough it was time to leave for Japan and I still didn't have a job. Hey, though, it's okay! To make up for not having a job, UC offered me a scholarship to pay for an eight-week course to study Japanese while living in Japan. Hell yes thank you!
While in Japan, I was put into contact with a guy who was trying to get a job for me with either his company or his friend's company. I was thankful for this. Hope returned. Then he kind of disappeared off the face of the earth. I assumed that meant he was unsuccessful and wary of telling me for some reason. This was within the first two weeks, so I had plenty of time to get over it and set my mind positively to returning home.
Fast forward about six weeks. I was enjoying my time in Japan immensely and ready to go home in a couple weeks. I had long made peace with the fact that I was not going to stay as long as I had originally believed. I began making plans for once I returned home. I had plans! Glorious plans!
Then I received another email! A possible job offer for an IT position. I was a bit wary, but I didn't let that stop me from jumping at a chance to stay in Japan even longer!
After a week and a half of painful uncertainty, I just wanted everything to be over with. I wanted to be back in America and be done with it. But then! It was confirmed that I got the job! I only had to fly to Seoul and give some papers to the Japanese Embassy. For some reason, Japan requires that you be out of the country to receive a working visa. That's fine, though, as the first month's pay would more than make up for the cost!
That was my logic.
At this point, though, I was still somewhat uncertain as to what exactly I needed to do once I arrive in Korea. Unfortunately, I was being rushed by both sides. Unfortunately, but understandably! The company wants me to start working, and the school wants me to start working. Hell, I want me to start working. So I went out and bought an expensive round-trip ticket to Korea. I could have gotten cheaper (about half the cost!) if I wasn't being rushed, but shit happens.
With the required papers, vague instructions on what to do, and hastily constructed plans, I fly to Korea. Pretty frickin' nervous, as it is the first time I have ever flown on a plane by myself, let alone to another country where I have no inkling of the language.
But it will be fun! I am sure of it.
I landed. I was accosted by taxi drivers and gave in and paid ridiculous money for the ride. Oh well. It was easier than getting lost on the trains on the way to the hotel, right?
Next day! I went to the Japanese Embassy! I only got lost three times on my way there. Walked past it twice. Finally I just started asking random people if they spoke English, and if they said yes, I asked them to point in the right direction. I went inside the building, to the 7th floor, handed the guy behind the desk my papers... pretty satisfied and looking forward to being done with this so I could enjoy my visit to Korea. So looking forward to this.
Alas, it was not meant to be. My company forgot to give me the certificate of eligibility - the most important of papers for getting a working visa! I returned to the hotel, somewhat upset, and contacted the company.
The next day I had a photocopy via email, a fax, and a copy via snail mail in my hands. Pretty fantastic. It is official looking, got stamps and shit on it. Excellent! This time I found the embassy right away. When I gave him this paper, he informed me that... oops it isn't actually the certificate of eligibility.
AGH.
It's Friday! The embassy is closed on weekends! My plane leaves Sunday! Shit. Goddamnit. What the hell am I supposed to do?
I rush back to the hotel, posthaste - well, okay, I stopped to eat - and contacted the company again. I told him all about how I was going to be stuck in Korea and have to buy a new ticket once I could actually leave since I couldn't change my flyback date
So now... My positivity has melted away completely. I know I am screwed. I was told before I came to Korea that if I couldn't get the working visa, I wasn't going to be able to get a tourist's visa to get back into Japan. In other words, there was the possibility of getting stuck in Korea. I was a little scared of that happening, despite the reassurances that it wouldn't. WELL NOW IT HAS. Great.
I am just so tired of this frustrating uncertainty. And after all the hard work I've put into it, since I learned about the program. "Welcome to the real world," my dad told me.
That doesn't help. ;_;
Of course, despite all this shitty shit that has happened to me, my time in Japan has been wonderful. Some other time I will write a more positive post about my overall experience. Probably!
And one day, ONE DAY I will learn to fluently speak the language and be able to roam the streets of Japan without stumbling over every other word. ONE. DAY. (I hope!)
Think positive, think positive! Ugh.
And thus ends my first and hopefully last stupid rant.
Haha, rant. That reminds me, once in my angsty teen years I thought it would be cool to make a website where all I did was write about stupid things that annoyed me. Remember that, L.J.? I bet you do.
Ahh, good times.
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