can't touch this...

i'm having a much better week this week. it must be all the chicken. i had KFC for the first time in three years so i'm feeling a bit better about the whole animal rotting in my stomach thing. but the reason for my vastly improved week probably has more to do with my having been accepted in to the JET programme! so i'll be leaving for Japan in july! this is massively exciting, and nerveracking. now i really have to focus on earning (and saving!) some money for the first month. also i'll be trying to get as many contacts in japan as possible, so that i have someone there who is a friendly presence.

i have come up with a checklist (see below) of things i need to get done over the next few weeks and months, and i'll be adding to it as i go, and chcking thigs off as i complete them. this blog will, for the next few months, be chronicling my preparations, farewells and emotions. and then off to japan! i still can't believe it.

so angela at the embassy has said that she'll be sending me some forms and an information pack to get through, so that't the next step in theprocess. i like angela. i've never met her but she was so nice to me when she phoned and told me that i was in. she seemed really happy to be passing on good news, and i was so excited i wanted to cry or vomit or explode. but in a happy, healthy way. the news has helped me prioritise though, so i can no longer stay at san marco. especially as they have decided (without consulting us) to pay us on a monthly basis. so i am now training at five flies, which is silver service and very busy, and i have only two more training shifts to go! but in the end i can relax, knowing that in about 4 months i'[ll never have to waitress again. adult life has begun.

i also finished painting my room, so it's a calmer, moretranquil place at the moment. all i need now are curtains, as i keep being awoken by sunshine, which at this time of year is the visual equivalent of a drill sergeant screaming obscenities in my ear. can someone please explain to me why autumn sun is so harsh?

to do:
* passport!!!!!!!!!!
* new underwear (i am not starting a new life in the underwear i have now!)
* learn japanese including katakana
* research japan! (history and modern society)
* decide what to pack
* large CD wallet
* get everyone's email addresses
* travel guide (lonely planet or let's go)