Ciee @ MindSay

I leave for Tokyo in three days, and I still can't quite fully believe I'm actually going.  I have dreamed about this trip, (literally, I have had several dreams where I've been walking down actual streets in Tokyo...until a giant squid suddenly appears, offering me a bite of his 24-inch party sub sandwich) for so many months that it's almost too good to be true.  I am so excited that I find myself just blurting out to perfect strangers that I'm going to Tokyo this weekend.  I was at the mall yesterday and every time a clerk asked me how I was doing, I interrupted them, "I'm going to TOKYO!"  This did relieve me from the very persistent salespeople, as they tended to avoid me after that.


The first thing most people want to know is why I would choose to travel to the other side of the world for my first time abroad, instead of somewhere slightly more familiar.  It's true that the most exotic place I have ever been is Toronto, (So very foreign, with those Tim Horton's on every corner). But ever since I was a kid, I've loved learning about other cultures and countries.  I could often be found searching the bookshelves at the library for books about ancient history, myths, and art.  While I fell in love with all of the cultures, from Native American to Greece, the Norse, and the Egyptians...above all I loved Japan.  From the first image of a crazy yokai*, to the scenes of samurai warriors, I was hooked.

*Yokai are the multitude of demons that populate Japanese folklore.  There are hundreds of different yokai, from the demon shaped like a sandal, Bake Zouri to the tragically beautiful Rokuro Kubi.  They are easily my favorite part of Japan's rich and bizarre folklore.


From there it was just a simple progression to a love of everything Japanese.  I have always loved cinema, and I quickly started watching everything I could get my hands on that was from the land of the rising sun.  From Akira Kurosawa to Kiyoshi Kurosawa, from Takashi Miike to Shinya Tsukamoto, I have seen them all.  The anime of Hayao Miazaki and the manga of Junji Ito...the list goes on.  Needless to say, I have grown from a nerdy bookworm into a woman who has the deepest respect for the country and people of Japan.


But beyond that, I feel that it is of the utmost importance in today's world, to really make an effort to travel outside of our country, and experience the globe.  In a world full of the greatest advances in technology that is more and more bringing the world closer together then ever before, it is up to my generation and the ones after it to change the world for the better and open our minds to other cultures and ways of life.  It is a global society we are living in, with the horrors of war on our televisions, radio, and computers every day, it is truly up to us to make the effort to change.  I want to understand why Americans are so disliked, even hated, in most countries...and do whatever I can to change that.  In Japan, I will truly be a representative of my country, my state, and my city, and it is an opportunity for change and growth that will stay with me forever.

Alright, enough with the drama.  Welcome to my blog and my journey...I'll be updating almost daily so keep checking back!  I am so excited!!!

Leah

well i was  excepted in to program number 2 about 2 weeks ago. i didn't  write about it because thats all i really could say. now things are getting ugly. time is ticking i need to get a ticket and a visa and helth insurance.  im not that ups set though because i am going to prague any way and i think the CUNI program may be better and cheeper!   it is all very frustrating because i need to get my visa. if you have ever tryed to do this my heart goes out to you.  you need notorized copies of  like every thing including proof of insurance, and bank statements and letters in czech  saying that you will be supoted wile you are there. it is insane!!!!  that's the good thing about CIEE  it takes care of all of that for you. they send you all the documents you need  and all you have to do is send them to the embasy. but for  something like half the cost i supose i can take care of everything my self.  i just need to desided CIEE or  CUNI  so i can know  who to put on the  visa App. and so i know i f i need to track down all the records and go to school to get classes apoved. its such a mess.  atleast i knwo im going now though.  i was  alot more  worried about it but now i just want to leave. i've read soo much and talked to so many people  i just want to be there.  pluse i kinda feel like  need a break from the boy.  he whent home yesterday and i was relived. he asked me to come to his house  ( 50 miles away)  tonight  and i made up excuses.  i love him but  i don't trust time and part of me wants to just go and find my own way.

it's  so cleche to do it in europe but then i never said I wanst cleiche. any way im really leaning twards teh CUNI program less  suport and  sturcuter but the same basic positives and  threre is this one really cool class that i really want to take hopefully i can get anthro credit for it. i may just pass/fail it and take it for fun. but it is an actual class where they just  take you around the country and teach you about the culture. you go to pubs and museums and you get credit. that sounds amazing to me. im just soo excited to go... only 3 more mounths... but ahhh soo much to do be for i get there!!!!

So i got my new passport this weekend and i am ready to start the grueling visa process. im very nervis about the whole thing. i also have been busy getting classes for CIEE Approved so that i can tell them what classes i want to take. i still have not heard from my other program which worries me. Finals are coming and i have to do well in them to meet the CIEE requirements. It would be nice not to be under so much pressure for finals but i will do what i have to. My Latin final gives me the most willies.  have all sorts of other things that need to get done before i leave. UCONN says they will not even begin to process my paper work and remove me from the college until i  fully commit to CIEE or  the other program which makes it feel less real. i have to go to the Dr on Wednesday to get all my check ups and shots up to date. so many  hoops to jump through i just want to be in and get everything ready and go!

well yesterday i got my acceptance  letter to CIEE in Prague to my amazement i would have done anything to get to go and i was so happy to get it. i wanted to share the experience with everyone. i decided to do this after spending the last hour reading posts by a CIEE student that is in Prague this semester.  it was wonderful to read how he had adjusted and what his experience is going. i my self have a lot of  apprehension now that it is actually going to happen  i am suddenly scared and  excited.  also motivated to make sure they don’t' regret accepting me.  i down loaded all the paper  work and it is daunting all the paper work i still have to get done and finals are coming and i need to get a visa.  tomorrow i will go and tell my international office ( at my school)  that i got in. it's stressful especially because now i will be leaving my boy friend of 2 years which makes it' harder  but  i cant help but read as much as i can about the experience i want it to be amazing no matter what.  ok well back to raising that GPA it's all so scary but so exciting.

till next time

here i come prague!!

julz

Ok so great news , (recap) I wrote to CIEE telling them that I was accepted in to another program. So out of competition or the goodness of their heart they accepted me as well.  So I talked to my parents and we decided to do CIEE. They just take care of so much for you. So the big decision is over!   I have to cover the difference in the cost but I have a savings so I’m sure it will be fine. So I chose CIEE and I got all the documents. There was a drama when I lost the most important document. I found it though. One document that I need for my visa is a Czech translated letter of acceptance form Charles U.  It is notarized by a Czech notary and has the Charles U seal, it is very important and impossible to replace. So in true Jules style I, mistaking it for a document from my other program (all the other program docs have the same University seal) it was mixed with these documents. I was frantic and searched the house. finaly with my tail between my legs I called CIEE and told them I was an idiot and they told me I may be out of luck. Then they said that they would send me a color copy and pray that that is good enough.  Of course as soon as I got off the phone with CIEE and had gotten a description from them what the document looked like I realized what had happened and found it. So my visa application goes over night to NYC to be processed today. UCONN was ecstatic to hear that I finally made a choice.  They were so upset about my indesision because it meant that we could not really do anything until i made up my mind. It also meant that I missed orientation. This is one of the reasons I like CIEE, because though I missed my school's orientation I have no fears because CIEE will orient me  better then UCONN could any day. So Monday I will pop in and fill out all the class dropping and housing dropping paper work then it will be officially official.  I will have my ISIC card and get my discounts on all my stuff and my visa will be on its way.  Prague will be so amazing. I’ve read so much about it and im going to pick up some of the CIEE reading list on Monday as well let the learning commence!  Then it's just the packing and the buying anything else I need and trying to make some money to have wile I’m there. Oh I just can't wait. I doubt there will be any new developments till august so if I don't write again that is why.  Now I'm off to process everything.

warm regards
Julia