And I will be heading to...Odate-shi in the Akita prefecture of Japan! For those of you who do not know where that is (I was one of you before I began to frantically Google search Akita) it is in the north-western part of the main island of Japan (see the circled part of the map below). For those of you who know me well, I went through many different decisions and choices before finally settling on the JET Program, but I couldn't be happier. I am currently writing this on the first of June (I leave August 5th) and it has been a long, long process. From the application which was delayed to the interview that I almost couldn't take, and finally to my unofficial acceptance in April and my official acceptance in May, it has been a long year. The next 2 months and 4 days will be ridiculously busy-I am currently finishing up my student teaching year at South High Community School in Worcester for the next three weeks, then I travel to Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the three weeks after that, and finally I have three weeks in Maryland to catch up and say goodbye to everyone before I leave for Japan. I am going to be busy and loving it. As the year goes on, I will update this blog as frequently as I can (and because I will have internet, that should be fairly frequently) and let you all know about my experience as an Assistant Language Teacher in Akita, Japan. Feel free to message me on the blog or email me at careybibb@gmail.com with any specific questions about my experiences.