Anxious !

Hey guys!

I've been super anxious about going to Japan. Time before I leave is flying by, seriously! I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. xD
It's already the end of November, and Christmas is just around the corner. One month until Christmas, two months until exams, three months until I leave. It's all going by so quickly!
I only have one payment left to send to ASSE, and I already have it all in the bank. Just need to go there... sometime.. and get a money order. :P I recieved a message about sending a pdf file of my passport and birth certificate, so I did, but also apparently they never recieved my immunization records, so I need to get that and send it soon. Then I think the only thing left is the visa! ^^;

On another note, I'm having another fundraiser! ♥
It'll be a cookie sale! I made a cute poster and I'm going to have them put up all around the school tomorrow. I'll be baking for a good, long time, so it's a horrible time to get distracted (which I often do >.< ). I'm doing the fundraiser from December 13th until the 15th, three days this time instead of two. I was thinking of having a Japanese cuisine sale, since it kind of fits where I'm going. I need to ask Aya how they did it last year ! ^^

I've started to make a packing list but I have nooo idea on what I want to pack... You know, there's clothes, gifts, laptop, DS, a travel journal, camera, and maybe a photobook of Canada.(Thanks to Anja for the ideas!)

Preparation

Hey guys!

With only four months left before I leave, I'm starting to get very anxious. Time is going by so fast, I can't believe it's already the end of October. Four more months before I leave.

Oh yeah, my passport came in today~!♥
I'm so happy! Next step is getting my visa application ready... after I get my host family and know more information. I'm also starting to get more ideas for fundraisers and raising money! ^-^

I can't wait until I leave, but I'm also kind of scared. The reality of everything didn't exactly dawn on me until lately.
I'm leaving everything. I know I want to clean out my room before I leave so it won't represent the me that I used to be(well, still am now. xD). I'll have to miss my graduation, and my 18th birthday.

If you want to go on an exchange, be sure you're mentally prepared. You're leaving your parents, family, friends, boyfriends, girlfriends, pets, you're leaving your life. Stepping out of an old you, and into a new.
You don't know what's going to be here when you get back, and what, or who, will be missing.

Fundraising! ♥

Hey guys!

So for the last little while, I've been working on getting permission from my principal to do a fundraiser within the school. I was given permission just last week, and quickly put together a bake sale for Tuesday, Oct 25th and Wednesday, Oct 26th. I got my friends involved and we had a really fun time!

This is me, Paige, Nikki and Carmen at the bake sale!

At the end of the day, we made around $273. It was great! Complete success! I want to plan more fundraisers throughout the remainder of the semester. Maybe next time I'll have a pizza sale...? Haha ;3 We sold cookies, cupcakes, brownies, muffins, nanaimo bars, and monster cookies!

So I was told earlier that the due date for my fees were due on November 1st, which had me a little freaked out, because it was very soon, however I received an e-mail today letting me know that there was a mistake and it's not due until January(although I'll have it paid way before then.)

I can't believe I only have about four months left before I leave... time is going by really fast! From time to time, I get knots in my stomach, but most of the time it hasn't really... sunk in yet. I'm not sure if it will until I get my host family/am all packed/ maybe not even until I'm sitting on the plane from LA to Japan... Who knows! It's exciting ;3

I'm kind of all over the place right now.. It's like, one in the morning. xD
Oh yeah! I also started a Japanese blog to help with my practice.... yaay

Thanks for reading! Good night!

So The Cramming Begins...

If you live in a country, no matter for how long, you're going to want to know the language, at least a bit.

I'm not sure how much of culturally diverse communities all of you are in, but where I am, there are a lot of foreign immigrants. They're really cool, and good friends, people from everywhere! Korea, China, Mexico, El Salvador (sadly the only Japanese I see are exchange students D:)
There's only one common problem... the language barrier!!

I have a few Korean friends that it's difficult to really communicate and be good friends with them because they don't speak English very well, so I always think to myself.... I wonder if I'll be like that in Japan? But I talk to my friends fine.. most of the time.

The only thing I can do in this next six months is study, study, study, so that's what I have begun to do(even more so). Anyone can study. Anytime. It just takes willpower and patience. And there's no such thing as 'I don't have time'.

I have a few Japanese books, but they're a little too easy for me. One of the bigger aspects of Japanese I'm focusing on right now is kanji. Learn kanji, you could learn words, but it opens up so much more, literacy-wise. I can read many kanji, but I can't write them very well off memory. I've started writing daily in a journal, but that doesn't mean I know all of the reading. I was looking at kanji lists for grade 1~6, and then junior high... it gets a little overwhelming, but I'm sure I can do it. I want to at least MASTER up to grade three level kanji.
I made this folder thing, and for Japanese, I have three sections. Kanji, Vocabulary, and Grammar. There's also a part for things for my exchange program.  It helps me to write everything down, I retain more information.
Now, when I want to study, I can take this out and start studying wherever I want. In class at school, on break at work, waiting for a bus... it doesn't matter where.

The only real thing for studying I have in it right now is the Grade 1 Kanji. I put the kanji at the top along with the meaning, the on'yomi, the kun'yomi, and the radical. The site that I got all the information on will be on the 'Useful Japanese Resources' page.





With ASSE, I've been receiving information letters and been communicating with them for the past little while. I have up to their information letter #4, out of 10. They're handy little letters, with information about what to expect, host families, packing, a look into school life... I also got a country fact sheet. I'm always excited to read more information letters! I can't believe there's only six months left until my exchange...
School here has started, it's about two weeks in already! Time goes by so fast. >.<

Thanks for reading~!

Ashley.

An Exchange Student in Japan: Blog.

Hi there.

I'm Ashley, and as of March 2012, I'll be an exchange student in Japan. This blog is for my family, friends, co-workers, teachers, managers, whatever, to read while I'm gone to Japan, and also for anyone searching for everything they can on Japan and exchange students(because I know there's a lot of you.)

I'm going with a program called ASSE. It's been a bumpy road along the way. To summarize, I applied with an initial application in late December, and in January I received my full application in the mail. After about a month or so of running around getting letters, signatures, pictures, making a collage, writing a letter to my host family, and getting a physical, I was finally able to send the full application to ASSE in February. (I want to say around the 16th.)

In March, I was afraid that I wouldn't be accepted to go to Japan, because of everything that was going on there. My worst nightmare came. I called ASSE around... April when I hadn't heard from them for a while, with some questions I had been wondering, when Grace, the girl at the head office, said they were not running their Japan program any longer. I was completely devastated, and quickly started searching for another program that still had Japan.

I found one, and just as I did, I received and e-mail from ASSE saying their Japan program in March of 2012 is still going. I was ecstatic!
In June, my acceptance letter came in the mail, and it was set in stone that I was headed for the land of the rising sun in March of 2012.

Since then, not much with the exchange has happened. Last week or so I received some information letters about the exchange, an information letter guide and a country fact sheet about Japan.

And here I am, with only six months left to go until I leave. I'm super excited, super nervous, super everything you can think of.


Well, thanks for reading!!

-ashley.