Thursday 1 November 2012

The Road To Japan: Application time!



*RIP Past Blogs*
Hi. Well this is interesting. I’m writing a blog. I’ve never really bothered with blogs very much. Honestly, I’ve tried starting them but they have always died after about two weeks of me beginning one because something else comes along to distract me. I’m probably the easiest person to distract at times. I love writing and yet I always find tons of excuses to do anything but write. So yes. I decided that I would sit myself down once in a while to keep this going and see what happens….  

*she says* 

Ok, so yeah. JET. It’s that time of year where everyone goes crazy in trying to get together all the material for the JET application. I’ve been pretty lucky in the sense that I actually began gathering the material I needed for the application months in advance. Working at a college means that I get quite a considerable time off in the summer, so this year I spent it writing my personal statement and even filling in the details of last year’s application form so I had the info ready. (Probably had something to do with the fact that I had too much time on my hands.)

Its funny how fast time flies. It was about March time that I decided I was definitely going to apply for JET this year. And now we’re here, November. Everyone I have spoken to online became so eager and frustrated when October hit and the application hadn’t been released. But it actually felt quite surreal when we discovered that the UK application had gone live. All those months of building up to it and now it was here. A week later I am sat at my desk writing this. Being prepared over the summer has meant that I haven’t really had a huge amount to do. My personal statement is done, the application form filled in, I have my references and photocopies of my documents, my transcript and my medical history. All that’s left for me to do now is to print the application and get a doctor’s signature and I can post it off! 

*Online application form. (Medical history section)*
Filling it in online has been so much easier than I thought it would be. I can honestly say to anyone applying next year, as long as you have everything prepared you’ll be fine. It’s mostly time consuming trying to figure out dates of things you did and word everything in a way that sounds professional. I’ve rewritten things so many times. So be prepared and do it before hand! But don’t worry if you don’t, there’s a whole month to fill it in and get it back to the embassy. 
The actual thought of going to Japan is a massive one. I’ve never really had many opportunities to travel so far other than the Czech Republic. I realised that unless I start doing things now, I probably never will. Japan has always been a big dream of mine and somewhere I’ve wanted to go for so long. But I also realised that unless I started making this happen and apply for JET now, I probably would never go and do it. My job is great and I like doing what I do, but financially it’s not ever going to fund a trip to Japan or any of the other places in the world I want to see. Also, I think I’ve kind of reached a point now where I really need a new start and a new direction. I think you can become comfortable in your life and just plod along not really paying attention to the world around you. Sometimes you need to wake up and realise that there is soooo much more out there to see and do. I really need to take my career to the next level. I love working with students and being in the education system and I know that working in Japan will give me so many experiences that will be valuable for my future. So it’s a win/win situation really, I get to see Japan, embrace its culture, and enhance my career too! 

This year has been quite a challenging one for me, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs and for a while I actually sunk quite low. But that made me more determined to pick myself up. Sometimes you need to cut out certain aspects of your life, heal and then move on to the next thing ahead of you. Life is about living and experiencing. There’s no point in being unhappy or not knowing what you want. If you don’t know then you just have to get out there and find what it is you do want. Time passes so fast and we need to enjoy each moment we have. You just have to close your eyes and take a leap, even if it is scary or uncertain. You might find something amazing. :)

*Nice Tidy Room!! Why you no stay like that!?*
So many things have begun to open up for me and happen here in the last couple of months. I’m not entirely sure if those things were already there and I just couldn’t see them or whether its fate working –who knows? But it definitely feels great and lots of opportunities have fallen my way. It’s helped me to realise where I want to go in the future too. I love working in the community and being involved in projects so this is definitely something I want to expand upon in the upcoming months. …Well, I guess we’ll see what happens. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much. There’s the interview ahead and it’s never certain how far you will make it through the process. All I can do is keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. If I make it to the interviews I’ll write another blog about JET then. I think I’ve rambled enough now; I’m actually trying to avoid cleaning my room haha! Better go and tidy some of this crap…..I really don’t know how it gets so messy in here.

Until next time............