Japan, otherwise known as my nemesis

So, way back in September of 2004, Will asked if I'd want to go to Japan the next year with him. At the time I was in Korea and thought this would be a good idea. We both applied to the JET programme, designed to let foreigners teach English in Japan, and then waited for responses.

In March, they came. For him, acceptance and for me, rejection. I was affronted. How could THEY reject ME? I was a TEACHER gosh darn it! Not to mention I'm just plain GREAT. After much wallowing in self-pity, including many repeated wailings of "Why didn't they want ME?" and putting Will though veritable hell, I finally realized this wasn't a healthy way to be and I'd better find another way to get to this bloody country.

With my spirits about halfway recovered, I applied to another company, similar in its structure to JET. What did I receive? An interview and then another big fat rejection. Now I was starting to wonder what forces were trying to keep me from working in Japan. Did I smell? Did I look amazingly strange to these interviewers? Luckily for me, and Will, I didn't repeat the hysterical drama of the aforementioned JET rejection.

So, I applied to yet ANOTHER school in Japan. This time not related to JET in anyway. I got an interview, went through with it and then waited for a nailbiting week (putting Will, my family and friends through a different yet similar kind of hell of "What if they DON'T want ME?") for, you guessed it! Rejection. At this point I was just plain mad. They didn't realize what they were missing by not hiring a fabulous employee like myself. Didn't they know I was the greatest thing since sliced bread to cross their path? Fools!

After my head size reduced enough to fit in my room, I then applied for a visa at my local consulate that would permit me to work while traveling in Japan. I decided that if they didn't give this to me my name must be on some sort of blacklist. Resulting from some past life where I ravaged the country. I devised evil plans where I would scream and rampage the consulate should I discover my application had been rejected. Fortunately for the consulate, I received the visa and am now ready to be rejected face-to-face in Japan, instead of indirectly through email.