Preparing for the Move

     Not too much has happened since my last post. I still haven't heard anything from my predecessor yet. There is a pretty good chance I may not have one, because it sounds like nobody in Suzuka has taught at a middle school before and I think that's what I'll be teaching... I have heard from the BoE (board of education), though. It was just a hello and welcome e-mail, so I'm still waiting to hear exactly what schools I'll be teaching at and where my apartment will be.
     I'm also still waiting to hear if my background check has made it through or not. I get my next credit card bill next week, so if the charge from the FBI isn't on there, I'll probably get a little worried. Thankfully, the JET office seems very understanding that things can happen and are willing to work with us to help solve problems that arise. I think the DC office said they would send out e-mails on the 15th to all the people they have yet to recieve the background checks from so that we know to call the FBI to see what's up.
     As far as other preparations go, I've bought a new camera -- Sony Cybershot, 12 MP with HD video capabilities and it can take panoramic photos, which is pretty cool. Also, the battery charger is two-prong and compatible with Japanese frequencies and all that jazz. Then, I bought a Samsonite roller luggage set from ebags.com( http://www.ebags.com/product/samsonite/winfield-2-3-piece-luggage-set/234482?couponid=28766504&sourceID=DEALTIME )  It's a little more money than I wanted to spend on luggage, but this set is perfect for my needs. Also, it fits airport regulations perfectly and they are very lightweight for being so heavy duty. I'm using the smallest of the 3 cases as a carry on. I've heard that if you don't spend a decent amount of money on luggage, it will probably fall apart as much as it can get thrown around by airport security, so I don't regret buying these.
     Today, I'm going to try making some phone calls. I say "try", because I really don't like calling and talking to people I don't know on the phone. I need to call banks and see who can convert my dollars into yen, because my bank won't do it. I've heard that there's no easy/cheap place to convert money in the Mie prefecture, so I'm going to go ahead and convert all my money here. Also, I need to make some doctor's appointments...yuck. Gotta get a new pair of glasses before I leave too...
    
     Safe to say, I have my work cut out for me... but I get to go to Japan and have an awesome job and stuff, so it's all worth it in the end :)