Post Interview

Had the interview yesterday. My friend Yessi came over on Friday to help me prepare, which involved buying new shirts and shoes, and practicing my demo lesson and making sure the timing was right. We went to bed early and woke up at 6am. We were going to be gone all day so I had to make sure the kitties were ok, the house was going to stay cool while we were gone, and finish packing our lunch. Oh, and put make up on since I was going to be recorded.

Poor Yessi had to sit by herself in the lobby for about 5 hours while the 9 of us went through the informational seminar and did our demo lessons. During lunch break we walked around the mall across the street, and then I came back for the one-on-one interview. That was done in a half hour, and at 6:30 we started on our way home. So, that was about a 9 hour day. Poor Yessi was coming down with a cold and the GameBoy battery died; I felt so bad. ;A; I figured we'd be done by 4, somehow.

So, I feel that I did the poorest with the demo lesson of the 9 of us, but I also was the only one that picked the Irregular Verb one. Everyone else did the directions or the dialog, and they had lovely props made up for it, too. Me? No props. Just words. And the Hokey Pokey. Jared did Ants Go Marching One by One, which was better than the Hokey Pokey, activity-wise, but required more vocabulary. We gave each other feedback and I felt like I got the most critique, a lot of which was "open your mouth more". In any case I don't think I did badly, I just wasn't the most stellar.

At any rate, I'm the only one that hasn't graduated yet, so while they'll likely hear back from Tokyo come November, I don't even get my packet sent in until January, and I won't hear about the job until February. But it's a load off my mind in any case. Hard part's done, and I feel I did well enough.

Interview.

Soooo... My interview is the day after tomorrow. Yes, I'm nervous. I have a friend coming over to help me practice my demo lesson and introduction, since I get extremely anxious and I speed-talk when I'm flustered. Speed-talking is bad when teaching English.

We'll be doing that, picking out an outfit, and I'll practice applying makeup in a timely fashion, too, since I have to make an hour-long drive and arrive by 8:30 AM. @_@ I just realized that I don't have much to pack a lunch with, either. D: Maybe I'll pick some stuff up tomorrow...

So, first will be about 2 hours of information, learning about the company. Then I'll take a 20 minute grammar test (as long as they don't ask me what the predicate clause is, I'll be good). Then they'll take my picture for the resume, I'll fill out a personality questionnaire, and finally the video. D8

After that I will wait to have my one-on-one interview. I'm actually really nervous about that since I fail at interviews, but I think I'll get a lot of bonus points for my demo lesson. :3

*deep breath* I got this.

Seminar

My seminar is this weekend. Saturday.

Yes, I'm nervous. Time flew and I don't have a lot of time to practice my demo. I have to keep it under 6 minutes. o________o;;;;

But I can do it. I can. And I will.

Semi-unrelated: I'll be living in Japan in time to see the debut of the new Sailor Moon anime :D

Just a small update.

Changed the fish colors to commemorate 9/11's 11th anniversary. I'll probably leave them these colors for a while.

So, I am in the clear for graduating this semester. Provided I pass all of my courses, but at this point I'm not terribly worried about that anymore. I should be, since I have a tendency to slack off too much if I don't worry, but oh, well.

I believe I have all of my documentation ready (that I can have ready at this point) to mail off to Interac. This includes a signed form, a questionnaire, and my resumé. Later I'll need to mail my passport scan, passport photos, and then my transcripts at the end of the year. I'll double check to make sure I have only those 6 items, but I think that's it. o_o; Kinda cooool.

I got a carpool buddy last week so I will be saving almost $300 in gas this semester. You read that right: $300. $4.05 gallons of gas, 10 gallons a week, 15 weeks.  This carpool buddy is almost slashing my gas costs in half. It's delicious.

Finally, my friend Lost Usagi has landed in Japan this week. She starts school in Waseda University in Tokyo this year. I hope to be able to visit her before she goes back home next summer. Ideally I'll visit her with Janine, but we'll see how all that goes. I will make time for visiting no matter what, but where I get located will affect the frequency of visits. :x Also, Bikky, if you're reading this, you're welcome to come stay at my place on your vacations! :3

Alright, time to get ready for school. Later.

Progress!

Had my phone interview with Kellan on Friday morning, and found out that it was actually part 2; the last phone call was part 1, which accounted for why the Friday phone call was so brief. I was asked a few questions about what I expected from being an ALT, how much money I would be able to save up, and if I was worried about culture shock. He also asked about any teaching experience I'd had. I then asked some questions of my own for peace of mind's sake, and he answered them to my satisfaction. :3

Before I knew it he was talking to me about going to the seminar at the end of September and what I'd need to have prepared for it.

I'd been reading/hearing that people would wait as much as 2 weeks to find out about that, and I got an invite right in the middle of my phone call.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

In other news I'm having a slight hiccup with my graduation requirements for this semester; my professor isn't getting back to me on whether or not I can take a particular class to fulfill my elective requirement. She'd said she would approve it but I would like it in writing, yanno? And she did tell me to e-mail her about it.
The reason for the issue is because I'd basically have to wake up at 4:30 AM to get to school in time for a 10:00 AM class 25 miles away, simply because of traffic in my area and the parking problem at school. Absolutely ridiculous. Unfortunately there are only 2 electives offered this semester that I haven't taken yet, and I need 3 total. In theory I can take a class that's not officially a qualifying class, but I need her approval for it. Here's hoping.

That's all for now!

*edit to add* Squee Janine's applying, too X3 Hopefully they call her :D