Well, I've finally got a departure date: September 12. Orientation starts on September 14, so I'll have a little longer than 12 hours of being in Japan before I have to get dressed up and listen to people talk about The Great Opportunities Ahead of Me.
I'll be living in an international dorm...but despite being told I would get information on it more than a week ago, I haven't gotten anything. Oh well. What I have gotten is a list of the other Fulbright fellow grantees. There are nine of us total, 3 in sciences and the rest in humanities and social sciences. It looks as though there are 7 girls and 2 boys. The closest fellows to me will be in Kyoto, which isn't particularly close. Tokyo is the farthest north any of us has been placed.
I also have an advisor, who I've emailed already. He emailed me back a bunch of shrines I can check out in the Nagoya area. I also found out that Tagata Jinja is not far from Nagoya. If you don't know about Tagata Jinja, type it into Google images. But only if there aren't any small children around. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh.
I just received my affiliation letter, so I need to apply for a student visa. The info they sent me on the visa says it can take several months, which has me slightly worried. But if worst comes to worst, I can enter Japan for 90 days on a tourist visa.
ALSO, because sometimes I just space out, I forgot to mention in my last post:
ALL OPINIONS IN THIS BLOG ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE AND ARE NOT ENDORSED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT OR THE FULBRIGHT PROGRAM IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM.
Also, if I post "inappropriate or offensive material on the internet," they can take away my Fulbright.
I doubt this will actually be a problem, given that I don't really have a propensity for posting inappropriate or offensive material on the internet.
Yay, boring paperwork recap done with!
I'm gonna go do something interesting right now, like beat everyone and his brother at Catan.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Hello!
Greetings!
If you're reading this, you probably already know me. If you don't know me, I have to wonder how you found this blog, but no matter.
I'm setting up this blog, because I'll be in Japan on a Fulbright next year. People keep telling me, "You should get a Facebook so we can stay in touch!" so I've decided to start this blog instead. BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING.*
A bit about me:
I've been studying** Japanese for four and a half years now, first at Foothill College and then at Brown University. My Japanese is pretty okay, although it has kind of been slipping recently because I haven't been having to read as many sketchy Japanese websites for my thesis. Deep down, I am a giant nerd, and not so deep down I'm still a giant nerd. Also, I tend to type blogs in the same way that I speak, which is to say with a lot of digressions and randomness and italics and RANDOM CAPITAL LETTERS.
Also, my nickname is "Calamari," but I'll respond to "Cal," "Squid," or any variation thereof. Thus the title of my blog.***
Also, normally I will be all anonymous on the internet and only write under a pseudonym, but given that with an only mildly competent search engine and 30 seconds of your time you could figure out my full name, my previous school(s), where I'll be doing my Fulbright, and what my field of study is, I feel like the secrecy is a bit silly this time. So, HELLO, INTERNETS. If you feel like figuring out everything Google can tell you about me, you're going to find some really interesting stuff. Including a physics site in Russian. I don't know.
A bit about my Fulbright:
I'm basically extending research on my thesis, which was about Shinto, how it's adapted to modernization, and whether we can even call it a religion. I've just found out that I'll be studying at Nanzan University in Nagoya. I would write more here, but you'll hear/read so much about this project over the next year that you'll get sick of it eventually.
What I am doing at the moment:
Waiting to find out when I'm leaving for Japan.
Waiting to find out who my advisor is.
Waiting to find out whether I need to send Fulbright these ten forms electronically or print them out, fill them out, and then scan them in.
Listening to 「昼の星」over and over and over again because apparently hearing it in every episode of Fractale wasn't enough.
That's all for this time, I guess. Dunno when I'll post next, but my posts will probably be incredibly sporadic until I reach Japan.
じゃ、ね！
*If you know me well, you saw that coming and didn't ask me to set up a Facebook. You also know that I have an affinity for footnotes.
**OH GODS, THERE'S A BABY SCORPION IN MY LIMEADE. Oh, wait, no, it's dryer lint. Still, I have to wonder how that got in my limeade. And why I thought it was a baby scorpion, since we don't have scorpions here. Sorry, that was kind of random.
***If you can't read Japanese, the title is "Fulbright ika." Ika (pronounced as it's spelled if you speak Spanish or as "eek-uh" if you speak American) means "squid" or "cuttlefish."
If you're reading this, you probably already know me. If you don't know me, I have to wonder how you found this blog, but no matter.
I'm setting up this blog, because I'll be in Japan on a Fulbright next year. People keep telling me, "You should get a Facebook so we can stay in touch!" so I've decided to start this blog instead. BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING.*
A bit about me:
I've been studying** Japanese for four and a half years now, first at Foothill College and then at Brown University. My Japanese is pretty okay, although it has kind of been slipping recently because I haven't been having to read as many sketchy Japanese websites for my thesis. Deep down, I am a giant nerd, and not so deep down I'm still a giant nerd. Also, I tend to type blogs in the same way that I speak, which is to say with a lot of digressions and randomness and italics and RANDOM CAPITAL LETTERS.
Also, my nickname is "Calamari," but I'll respond to "Cal," "Squid," or any variation thereof. Thus the title of my blog.***
Also, normally I will be all anonymous on the internet and only write under a pseudonym, but given that with an only mildly competent search engine and 30 seconds of your time you could figure out my full name, my previous school(s), where I'll be doing my Fulbright, and what my field of study is, I feel like the secrecy is a bit silly this time. So, HELLO, INTERNETS. If you feel like figuring out everything Google can tell you about me, you're going to find some really interesting stuff. Including a physics site in Russian. I don't know.
A bit about my Fulbright:
I'm basically extending research on my thesis, which was about Shinto, how it's adapted to modernization, and whether we can even call it a religion. I've just found out that I'll be studying at Nanzan University in Nagoya. I would write more here, but you'll hear/read so much about this project over the next year that you'll get sick of it eventually.
What I am doing at the moment:
Waiting to find out when I'm leaving for Japan.
Waiting to find out who my advisor is.
Waiting to find out whether I need to send Fulbright these ten forms electronically or print them out, fill them out, and then scan them in.
Listening to 「昼の星」over and over and over again because apparently hearing it in every episode of Fractale wasn't enough.
That's all for this time, I guess. Dunno when I'll post next, but my posts will probably be incredibly sporadic until I reach Japan.
じゃ、ね！
*If you know me well, you saw that coming and didn't ask me to set up a Facebook. You also know that I have an affinity for footnotes.
**OH GODS, THERE'S A BABY SCORPION IN MY LIMEADE. Oh, wait, no, it's dryer lint. Still, I have to wonder how that got in my limeade. And why I thought it was a baby scorpion, since we don't have scorpions here. Sorry, that was kind of random.
***If you can't read Japanese, the title is "Fulbright ika." Ika (pronounced as it's spelled if you speak Spanish or as "eek-uh" if you speak American) means "squid" or "cuttlefish."
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