E-MAIL (メール)

Okay, I admit it. Every time I see an email from Nara in my inbox, I get butterflies in my stomach. Partly because I'm excited that they know I exist, and partly because I realize that the person on the other end expects me to be able to read Japanese-- and that makes me nervous. Luckily, they are gracious enough to put an English translation in case I don't understand something.

On the flipside, I then feel the need to translate my messages into English AND Japanese. This makes writing e-mails difficult. I sit down with my dictionary and Japanese notes and do my best not to butcher the beautiful language that is 日本語. I'm not sure if the messages I have sent are grammatically correct. In fact, I'm quite sure that they weren't, but hopefully the woman I am conversing with knows that I am making my best effort. And in the long run, this will probably help me improve my writing before I go abroad.

All things considered, my excitement still outweighs my nervousness. They know my name, they've talked to me directly! And they already told me who my professor/advisor is. I'm accepted, I'm in-- now all I have to do is wait.

That's difficult! たいへんだね！

Until next time! じゃ！

Corri(nne)

The Deed is DONE

That's right everyone-- all of the paperwork is turned in! I've made my lists, I've checked them twice, and hopefully that will be the last major onslaught of signatures I will have to obtain (at least for a while.)

The last thing I turned in was my transfer credit form. Like I mentioned before, it's difficult to figure out transfer credits when you have no idea of what courses you will be taking. I was able to come up with a general idea though, and all the important people thought it was acceptable so I'm in the clear until I make it to Nara.

Speaking of which, reality finally hit me today. I'm going to Japan between March and August. That's five months that I will be away from home in a foreign country, communicating in a completely foreign language. For the first time, I felt some fear and apprehension. What if people think I am stupid or incompetent? What if I fail my classes? What if I don't master Japanese like I hope? What if I get horribly lost, or lose my money, or get injured or so on and so on...

But I pushed all of those thoughts aside and reminded myself that this is the chance of a lifetime along with something I have dreamed of since I was ten years old.

And there is no way I am backing down now.

Looking towards the future--
じゃ！

Corri(nne)