Pre-Departure Orientation!

Posted by irene , 5.23.2010 12:38 PM


(another post coming soon... once I finish writing it. and pictures! I'll edit this post to include them later. :D enjoy!)

I had my orientation yesterday! This was a regional orientation for future exchangers in the area, so it wasn't limited to country :) I thought it was cool, seeing the differences between European and Asian behaviors (generalizations, of course). Most of the exchangers were going to Germany for a year (especially on the Congress-Bundeschag scholarship; If you're considering going to Germany, make sure to look intothat on YFU's scholarship page :D links on the right -->), but there were five of us--me, Grace, Ben, Stefan, and Abby-- heading to JP for a summer, and one runner-up (Hi Katherine!).

I met the other two JBSD scholarship winners, Grace and Ben :D who are from the same school! It's kind of funny how that worked out. It was nice knowing that I'd be seeing them again in two weeks! (more about this later*)


Yaaaay, JBSD kids! :D

Twas an exciting, yet tiring (as most exciting things tend to be) day, filled with discussions about personal space, culture, family, and roleplays of foreign creepers! (yay!) The presenters also cleared up a lot of confusion about the communication structure of YFU and what to pack (though I still have to decide about many of the things I want to bring).
There was also an alumni panel of current and previous foreign exchangers, which responded to our questions, trivial or not :D

All of us hadn't gotten anything from our host families yet, but hopefully that will change soon.

*
In two weeks, I'm going to a luncheon with the other JBSD scholarship winners, REACH (college exchange program) winners, and the higher-ups of JBSD itself! o___o
I asked one of the orientation presenters about the luncheon, and she said that the president of YFU is most likely flying in from DC to attend!

......!!!!!!!

Nervous now O___O I think we each have to give a 1-2 minute speech, preferably with some Japanese... self-studying mode activate!
(doesn't help that it's the day before my SAT IIs... blech!)

---

Just on a sidenote:
going to the orientation reminded me of how much I need to step up on studying .___.
I'm at a disadvantage, not being able to study JP in school every day. Found some good resources (tofugu.com, Tae Kim's guide.... I'll write these out in a separate post) but just finding stuff won't cut it-- I have to WORK!
Go go! >:D

*sings the Mulan song to herself*

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