The woes of it all

I'll be honest, this goal of mine can be mind numbingly stressful.
Finding a place to stay in Japan while I wander about begging for jobs is proving to be the most complicated. I've decided to go with a guest house because its the cheapest of options and not too bad of a stay, but its still Tokyo and rooms don't come cheap. I am trying to gather a cool $5000 in total and can't really afford to pay $500-$600 a month for a home. I'm sure its very possible that I am not the most financially prepared for this trip, but I am trusting God will make a way. Of course I am still human and thus I am stressing.

My closest decision involves a place called the Yostugi Crib in east Tokyo. My Japanese friend who lives near Tokyo has been helping me in my search and this is one of the places she has found. (If only all my friends didn't live with their parents. "sigh") It doesn't seem so bad but I fear with 3.0 Mat size its about the size of a box. Mind you I've slept in a bathroom before, but do I wanna live in a place about the size of one? For $280/month maybe I do.

On the other hand I have found some pretty good deals on flight tickets from St.Louis to Tokyo running about $670. After spotting $1000+ flights for so long this is a pleasant surprise. I wanted to stop by my second home in San Francisco first before heading to Japan but the ticket from SF to Tokyo is more. Normally its actually cheaper to fly from St.Louis to SF, and then from SF to Tokyo then it is to fly from STL to TOKYO so I am a bit confused. Hopefully I'll make it to SF one good time before attempting my great East Asia journey.

By the way www.farecompare.com is a pretty good site.

End of a Chapter

So I graduated from College yesterday. Yay for me! I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and for two years I planned to move to Japan and teach English. Now that my schooling is over I am both excited and sad. It is the end of a huge chapter of my life spanning two cities and some years.

I am currently trying to apply to some teaching jobs from the states (JET failed me) but most of the opportunities in Japan are for those who currently reside there and so it appears I will need to go there first. This is not an easy task. For one thing it takes a lot of money. Right now I am trying to find a pretty cheap place in or near Tokyo. Unfortunately most of my friends there live with there families. So for now I gotta get about $2000 more dollars to survive comfortably. Without a job that is quite a bit harder to achieve. Luckily I have quite a few connections so God willing something big will happen. I also have a decent amount of experience on my resume. For now we wait.