Above pic is Yoyogi park on New Years Day

Ok, so today I promised myself that I would write a new blog entry and actually post it when I get back from school. Will I actually put this online? Only time will tell!

First of all I would like to say a big happy new year to everyone- HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope 2010 is a great one for everybody. I am hoping mine will be pretty decent too... I have handed in my recontracting papers for the JET programme which means I will be working in Japan (same place, same job) for another year. Though I do have the option to pull out if I really want to, if I don't carry on with JET for another year then I wont be able to save for post grad and I don't want to face the idea of having more loans on top of the massive student debt that I already have.

I am not going to lie, the job can be a bore sometimes but it has picked up a bit recently and I don't have quite so much time sat at my desk wasting my life on the internet. Also I start teaching elementary kids in April which I reckon will be very fun, especially as my mental age is on a similar level.

On top of that, Fukushima is a pretty decent place. I wouldn't say it is amazing, but, I am having fun, have met some awesome people and certainly haven't got all I can out of where I live and my experience on the JET programme.

Next year I would like to help out with running FuJet. FuJet runs events in Fukushima prefecture for all the JET's here- it is very similar to societies in uni, particularly Shef's very own Japan society. Some of the stuff they have done is organise welcome parties for new jets, a trip to the snow festival in Sapporo, and canyoning in Gunma prefecture. If I was to help, I would basically be the person that books all the trips, takes money from people and gets everyone from A to B. It is a lot of work and quite stressful since people often tend to be unreliable and not pay on time, pull out of events and act as if they need someone to look after them despite being adults. However, since I am well travelled in Japan, speak the language and have organised many parties in Shef for Jap Soc then I reckon I will be alright at it. Though, being suitable to do it doesn't mean I will actually get to do it- you have to be voted in by all the other Jets and I have a feeling it will be some kind of popularity contest (a la head boy/girl system or Jap soc voting) over anything else which I really really don't like the idea of. But then again, if no one else wants to do it then I don't have to go through any kind of emotional turmoil that everyone hates me! Eep!

So FuJet is one of my goals for this year- try for it even though I might fail. One of my regrets last year was not trying for the speech contest in Japanese because I didn't have enough belief in my Japanese ability... and also not trying for CIR, the position on JET which would actually make use of my language skills. This year I have learnt from my mistakes and will go for it.

I have some other vague goals for this year too-

1. Join the gym and get fit so I look good at Kirsty's wedding and can get down a hill on a snowboard without my thighs burning in pain. I am joining the gym tonight so this one is getting into motion
2. Try for JLPT 2 in the summer. The JLPT is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and although I am fairly confident that I am already level 2 (many of my peers passed it in our last year of uni but I couldn't be bothered to take it) I want to try and get that qualification.
3. Study for JLPT 1. This is the top level of the test and if I pass 2 I want to at least try and do this. I don't reckon I will ever ever be able to pass it but I want to try at the very very least. The taking of the test will likely fall into 2011 though
4. Get better at snowboarding. I have just found my love for snowboarding- will post more about that next time.
5. Remember to blog. Not going to lie, this probably wont happen
6. Save for Post-grad whilst trying to pay off my massive student loan. Seriously, the gov site tells me that if I pay the rate at my current salary by the time I reach 65 they will wipe the left over £9,000. How nice, considering I would have already paid £30,000. What a total rip off!

I guess we will see how all of those pan out... If I actually write this blog in the future!