I went to 5 restaurants today, which may not seem like much, but it's tiresome work, applying for jobs is. 3 just took my application, one said he'd call me tomorrow. The owner of this one French restaurant may have hired me, but I couldn't get a straight answer out of him. He said, "I like you, you come in, try it out, bum, bum, bum. Tomorrow at four. But tonight we have a new girl coming in, so I will let you know. I'll call you tomorrow. Or tonight. Very simple, bum, bum, bum.

My uncle uses this room I am staying in during the day, so I spend usually about an hour or two everyday at the library, sending out resumes, checking email, re-checking email, etc. I either go to the big one downtown or another rather large one closer to where I am staying. Chicago has a pretty good system of libraries, I have to say.

I think I told too many people about this test, I'm starting to feel a little pressure. On the other hand, I finished studying the kanji I need to know, so I downloaded the vocabulary. I whittled it down by more than half to about 2300 words I need to review, so I will use flashcardexchange.com to cram them into my peanut brain. It may seem like a pretty massive undertaking, but if I cover about 200 words a day, I should be okay for the test. Even with only a day or so of reviewing, I am doing better on the reading quizzes.

I went on the strangest job interview. I had to take 2 tests on MS Office, write a business letter, take a math test, and weirdest of all, I had to do a role-play where I was to find a specific kind of pencil for the interviewer. I was made to tell him how I would do it, all the while he would respond with, "okay, you call the company, that takes 10 minutes, they tell you they don't sell them, now what do you do?". Afterwards he adds up all the time, and asks me how I think I did, tells me I have terrible time management skills, and that I have probably never managed people before.

So much is going on.

I am preparing for the 2kyuu of the JLPT, which is less than one month away. I am nervous about it, my reading still leaves much to be desired. I finished cramming all the 1000 kanji, now I am focusing on the vocab and reading and grammar. My school didn't focus on JLPT prep, so there are lots of holes in my vocabulary.

I'm working my part time job, getting ready for school, and studying lots of Japanese. That's about all I have time for. I haven't been too social, meeting friends for an hour or so here and there. My sleep schedule is still a little screwy, but I get up at about 6:30 so I can be ready to skype with my girlfriend at seven-thirty.

I have visited friends, started enrolling in class, walked around a lot, caught a cold. I went to North Carolina to visit family and meet my brother's new wife's family. Today I start work. I called a cell phone shop in Mitsuwa, the Japanese market outside of Chicago, and they said they can sell me a phone that has Japanese text ability. If it's not too expensive I want that, so I can tell my girlfriend, 愛してるよ。

If you walk around Chicago for a day, you will have 2 pleasant experiences with strangers and 2 unpleasant experiences. Homeless people (who seem friendly at first, but really just want your money) are neutral, they don't count for either. You will have 5 experiences like this per day.

My last days in Japan were busy ones. I flew home the day after graduation, so I spent a few hours eating and saying goodbye to classmates, then went home to pack. Saying goodbye to my girl was hard, but Skype makes parting a lot less sorrowful. Other final memories include:

I will be back. I will study my ass off, and be fluent in Japanese, and pass the 1kyuu, and move back.

The future is so much more interesting when I think a few days ahead, rather than years ahead. The future seems like a big swirling mass of randomness. Like the ocean. When I was a kid I loved getting in the middle of a wave and letting it carry me. I can point myself in a direction and hope for the best, but I am at it's mercy.