Today was my last day at my job.

I’ve worked at this company for the past five and a half years and it’s time to close this chapter in my life. I’m thankful for the opportunities gained and the skills earned, but I’m so glad to move on from this place. These past five, almost six, years have been extremely difficult for me. The transportation logistics field is very stressful and draining. Some people love it, but for someone like me (who already knows what they love) it was very tedious and a distraction from what I wanted to do.

This past June I also ended my employment at my part-time job at a domestic violence shelter. I primarily worked with children, which was very rewarding. Aside from the pandemic changing the way we ran our groups, working remotely from home for both of these jobs was very difficult. But I ended employment for both of these jobs in preparation for a new job.

DRUMROLL PLEASE!

I have been accepted into the JET Program to teach English to high school students in Japan!

This week I finally found out which city I will be living in: Ebino in Miyazaki. My departure date is set for January 6th, 2021.

Ebino is the western most city in Miyazaki prefecture, which is located on the southern island of Kyushu.

I’m still in the process of figuring out all of the details and trying to meet all of my paperwork deadlines, but that’s not a problem considering how long I’ve waited for this dream to become my reality.

The application opened last September and closed in November. In January I was selected for an interview which took place in February. I originally applied for Early Departure, which would have left as early as April. On April 1st, I found out I was accepted to the program as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) and the departure was set for September 8th.

I wanted at least one month off before I left so I planned to end my employment at my part-time job in June and then planned to leave my full-time job in July. Well, I ended my employment at the shelter in June and then by the time July came around I found out the JET Program departures were postponed with no date confirmed. All I knew was they would at least give me two month’s notice before departure.

I’ll be honest (this is the part where I practice being vulnerable) I was really having a hard time from July until early November when they announced the new departures. It felt like such a huge drain to put all that time and effort into a dream only to have it taken away so easily.

With that in mind, I am going to remain positive but fully understand the departure could change again. The pandemic is still raging across the country, plus typical Midwest weather could easily delay flights. For now, I will remain optimistic and continue my preparations to leave.

In a normal year, I would have liked to have a big party with friends and family a few days before leaving. Since that’s not an option this year I will have to make time for one-on-one, socially distant meet-ups with loved ones instead. I’ll have to quarantine a few weeks before leaving as well.

*Image source: tripadvisor.com (Shiratori Onsen Ueyu)*

In any case, I’m excited to have the next few weeks to relax and spend time with my family before I leave. Packing will be a challenge, of course, but as most of my close friends know I love packing for a trip so I’m sure this will be just as enjoyable for me.

I’ll also be engaging with the website some more in the coming weeks as I hope to use this platform to post pictures and explain my travels. I also anticipate that I will have more time for creative projects in my future as well.

I’ll try to update again before the holidays, but if I don’t post anything you’ll know it’s because I have my hands full getting ready to leave!

Carley