I had some really nice plans for Episode IV. I was going to move to Japan to immerse myself in a different culture, eat lots of great food and support myself as an English teacher for 6 months. Then I was going to travel around Asia... or maybe even the world... starting in Korea, then to China, SE Asia and then wherever else I could afford.
So for 6 months I'd been saving, learning Japanese and filling out paperwork (oh, and writing my Master's thesis). Things were going great. Then, the day after I finished writing my thesis, 4 days before my thesis defense, 6 days before I had to move out of my room, and 8 days before my flight to Japan, I got some BAAAAAD news. Due to some accidental inconsistencies in my paperwork, my case needed to be reviewed and reprocessed. A week later, I had to cancel my flight and I didn't know when or if I'd get my VISA. My bags were packed and there was nowhere to go.
I was full of anxiety and a little bit bitter. I didn't take long to decide that I was going to move to Hawaii, find a room, get a part time job, and surf while Japan figured out what it wanted to do with me. Besides, I couldn't waste all of the awesome going-away dinners/parties that were thrown for me (Everyone had a lot of fun at those parties. They must've been really happy to see me go, haha).
Anyway, while not surfing poor+ conditions and Ocean Beach and drinking PBR, I spent last week preparing for Hawaii. Today I (re)packed my bags and tomorrow I'm flying out of Oakland. My priorities this week (in order of importance) are to find a room, a bike, a surfboard, and a job.
2 comments:
I'm just going to combine my two comments in one blog.
We missed you!! And also didn't want you to leave either. :( But I'm glad to hear that you're in Hawaii now and having fun, you lucky butt. I hope you the best in everything. I'm sure you're going to live your life to the fullest where ever you go.
So what happens with the thesis now, do you have to rewrite it or wait until they pass the judgement (that sounded scary)? And you couldn't get your visa either? I thought you were supposed to get it before you go to Japan. Weird..
Anyways, hope you stumble upon more great adventures. Since you're in Hawaii, I can CALL you! :)
Russ! What the heck happened!? I thought something was up when your address on Myspace changed to Hawaii. Once again I'm intensely jealous of your lot. You might not be in Japan, but it sounds like you're going to have one heck of a cool adventure in spite of the situation. Keep the blog posts coming. I enjoy living vicariously through them. Any word on a tutoring gig? Enjoy your travels!!
Post a Comment