obstacles in getting to Australia
two things that are getting in the way of getting ready to go to Australia:
#1 money
the root of all evil that is money is always making things hard for me. :( but i guess that this time it's really my own fault for having not saved a yen before now...
originally it was my intention to apply for a Work and Holiday visa upon returning from my last trip to Australia, but then i realized that part of the application is to have a bank statement stating that you have atleast $5,000 AUD (433,000 yen / $4,666 USD) and enough for a flight out of the country in your bank account AT the time of application.
opps.
so since i've been back i have been living as cheaply as possible. if i spend no more than 5,000yen/week from now till payday on May 14th, i'll hopefully have around 490,000 yen ($5,666 AUD) in my back account once my May paycheck is deposited. then i will haul ass to the bank, get a statement on my balance and then pay my bills etc and not have the needed amount anymore lol. i just need to have enough in my account on my next payday to get the statement, but until then i cant apply for the visa and until i have the visa i can't book my flight!
#2 my supervisor/BOE
my supervisor (T-san) and BOE, as has now become the usual for them, are being ridiculously stupid on the matter of me going to Australia once my contract is up. i want to go to Australia once my contract is up. why is this a problem for them? because the General Information Handbook (GIH, a book of guidelines etc for JETs and their contracting organizations) is apparently the bible and it says:
"...the JET participant is to receive a one-way economy-class ticket from Japan directly to the home country designated airport from which the JET participant departed."
so the BOE is insisting that i go back to Portland, Oregon, USA even though that would cost them THOUSANDS more. you'd think that they'd jump for joy over saving thousands on my return flight, but no.
why don't i just take the free ticket to America, spend some time there and then fly to Australia from there you ask? because that would cost ME around 1,000 US dollars that i could otherwise use to tide me over in between jobs in Australia.
so finally i'm like "ok, i'll pay for my flight myself." you'd think this would make them jump for joy, being able to pocket hundreds of thousands of yen that they'd already budgeted to be spent on my return airfare-- but no!
"errr, are you sure??? ok, but i need to see if that's ok..."
see if that's ok?? why would it not be??! T-san even put off approving my nenkyuu (see below) for THREE WEEKS because it was somehow wrong that i fly myself to Australia without going back to America first.
seriously, T-san, WTF??? how can it NOT be ok for me to fly myself to another foreign country??? hell, plenty of people just stay in Japan after their contracts end and i'm sure that i'm not the first ALT in this BOE that's wanted to not go back to their home country. yes, i know that you're new to your job and so there's a lot that you still don't know about things that pertain to us ALTs and the JET Programme, but i am not new to my job or JET and i know that there shouldn't be a problem with what i'm proposing.
sigh.
anyway, she finally emailed someone at the kencho (city-hall-like place) and was waiting for a response about the matter the last time i talked to her on tuesday.
as for the topic of nenkyuu (paid leave) that i applied for before i even went to Okinawa, i requested nenkyuu from the 23rd of july through to the end of my contract on august 4th so that i could leave Kochi/Japan early. i requested this not just because i'm in a hurry to see figgybee again but also because it is a known fact that as an ALT at the Kochi City BOE you will get kicked out of your apartment a week+ before your contract is up but still be expected to show up for work until your contract is up. and no, the BOE does not provide lodging for you during that time. so rather than be a homeless ALT for the final week+ of my time here in Kochi, i opted to save up nenkyuu and leave early. i was hoping to get the nenkyuu approved ASAP so that i could book my flight to Brisbane ASAP while flights are still cheap. needless to say coming back from Australia to still unapproved nenkyuu and more questions about the okayness of me not going to America was.... yeah....
well, yesterday, 1 1/2 weeks into the school term, i FINALLY got my work schedule for the term (april ~ july) annnnnd my nenkyuu was on it! july 20th ~ july 31st! i had requested july 23rd ~ aug 4th because i only had 8 days of nenkyuu left, but somehow the schedule says i have nenkyuu starting on the 20th! bwaaaahahahahahaaa!!! am i going to tell T-san about the mistake? HELL no. if she notices it and corrects it between now and then then oh well, but i'm not going to correct it for her. 8) and even better, the 19th is a holiday so provided T-san doesnt notice the mistake, my last day of work will be july 16th!!!
*dances*
i wont book my flight to Brisbane before the 23rd just in case T-san does correct the mistake, but having the days off before that would be really nice for cleaning the apartment/packing/shipping etc. :]
also, i still don't know what decision T-san has come to about me flying to Australia... i'll probably find out on monday.
ALSO, i wouldn't put it past the BOE to do something insanely stupid like not granting my nenkyuu for august 1st ~ 4th. maybe i got the extra nenkyuu for that very reason, as compensation for the unapproved august nenkyuu. can't put anything past the capabilities of my BOE...
wont stop me from not being in Kochi/Japan then, though. 8)
#1 money
the root of all evil that is money is always making things hard for me. :( but i guess that this time it's really my own fault for having not saved a yen before now...
originally it was my intention to apply for a Work and Holiday visa upon returning from my last trip to Australia, but then i realized that part of the application is to have a bank statement stating that you have atleast $5,000 AUD (433,000 yen / $4,666 USD) and enough for a flight out of the country in your bank account AT the time of application.
opps.
so since i've been back i have been living as cheaply as possible. if i spend no more than 5,000yen/week from now till payday on May 14th, i'll hopefully have around 490,000 yen ($5,666 AUD) in my back account once my May paycheck is deposited. then i will haul ass to the bank, get a statement on my balance and then pay my bills etc and not have the needed amount anymore lol. i just need to have enough in my account on my next payday to get the statement, but until then i cant apply for the visa and until i have the visa i can't book my flight!
#2 my supervisor/BOE
my supervisor (T-san) and BOE, as has now become the usual for them, are being ridiculously stupid on the matter of me going to Australia once my contract is up. i want to go to Australia once my contract is up. why is this a problem for them? because the General Information Handbook (GIH, a book of guidelines etc for JETs and their contracting organizations) is apparently the bible and it says:
"...the JET participant is to receive a one-way economy-class ticket from Japan directly to the home country designated airport from which the JET participant departed."
so the BOE is insisting that i go back to Portland, Oregon, USA even though that would cost them THOUSANDS more. you'd think that they'd jump for joy over saving thousands on my return flight, but no.
why don't i just take the free ticket to America, spend some time there and then fly to Australia from there you ask? because that would cost ME around 1,000 US dollars that i could otherwise use to tide me over in between jobs in Australia.
so finally i'm like "ok, i'll pay for my flight myself." you'd think this would make them jump for joy, being able to pocket hundreds of thousands of yen that they'd already budgeted to be spent on my return airfare-- but no!
"errr, are you sure??? ok, but i need to see if that's ok..."
see if that's ok?? why would it not be??! T-san even put off approving my nenkyuu (see below) for THREE WEEKS because it was somehow wrong that i fly myself to Australia without going back to America first.
seriously, T-san, WTF??? how can it NOT be ok for me to fly myself to another foreign country??? hell, plenty of people just stay in Japan after their contracts end and i'm sure that i'm not the first ALT in this BOE that's wanted to not go back to their home country. yes, i know that you're new to your job and so there's a lot that you still don't know about things that pertain to us ALTs and the JET Programme, but i am not new to my job or JET and i know that there shouldn't be a problem with what i'm proposing.
sigh.
anyway, she finally emailed someone at the kencho (city-hall-like place) and was waiting for a response about the matter the last time i talked to her on tuesday.
as for the topic of nenkyuu (paid leave) that i applied for before i even went to Okinawa, i requested nenkyuu from the 23rd of july through to the end of my contract on august 4th so that i could leave Kochi/Japan early. i requested this not just because i'm in a hurry to see figgybee again but also because it is a known fact that as an ALT at the Kochi City BOE you will get kicked out of your apartment a week+ before your contract is up but still be expected to show up for work until your contract is up. and no, the BOE does not provide lodging for you during that time. so rather than be a homeless ALT for the final week+ of my time here in Kochi, i opted to save up nenkyuu and leave early. i was hoping to get the nenkyuu approved ASAP so that i could book my flight to Brisbane ASAP while flights are still cheap. needless to say coming back from Australia to still unapproved nenkyuu and more questions about the okayness of me not going to America was.... yeah....
well, yesterday, 1 1/2 weeks into the school term, i FINALLY got my work schedule for the term (april ~ july) annnnnd my nenkyuu was on it! july 20th ~ july 31st! i had requested july 23rd ~ aug 4th because i only had 8 days of nenkyuu left, but somehow the schedule says i have nenkyuu starting on the 20th! bwaaaahahahahahaaa!!! am i going to tell T-san about the mistake? HELL no. if she notices it and corrects it between now and then then oh well, but i'm not going to correct it for her. 8) and even better, the 19th is a holiday so provided T-san doesnt notice the mistake, my last day of work will be july 16th!!!
*dances*
i wont book my flight to Brisbane before the 23rd just in case T-san does correct the mistake, but having the days off before that would be really nice for cleaning the apartment/packing/shipping etc. :]
also, i still don't know what decision T-san has come to about me flying to Australia... i'll probably find out on monday.
ALSO, i wouldn't put it past the BOE to do something insanely stupid like not granting my nenkyuu for august 1st ~ 4th. maybe i got the extra nenkyuu for that very reason, as compensation for the unapproved august nenkyuu. can't put anything past the capabilities of my BOE...
wont stop me from not being in Kochi/Japan then, though. 8)