Prelude to the Land of the Rising Sun.
So I signed up for this trip on the spur of the moment, when I received an email from NTU's Japanese Appreciation Club informing me about it, like two days before the deadline.And immediately I applied.
I didn't consult anyone, didn't ask my parents if I could go, just checked my schedule, made sure it didn't clash with graduation and just submitted.
The results day came and I received the phone call bearing the good news while I was on the train! Now the next thing that had to be settled was.. how do I tell my parents??
Like most concerned parents, they were worried about the radiation and the possibility of earthquakes happening while I was there. In fact, I was too. But I showed them the website showing monitored radiation levels and hoped they would accept it. After all, it was something I wanted to do, and I wanted their support for it.
When I went to attend the JAC camp (despite my fever urgh), I found a few other companions that were going too! David, Cecilia and Wizard. We hoped that we would be in the same group so that we could stick together. We were all a little afraid going overseas with complete strangers, what if we all couldn't get along? Or if we couldn't make any friends?
The day that we met for the inauguration ceremony, I felt shy and reserved, and found more friends who were also going for this program. Eric, Ruobin, Pong and Tian Hong! But most of us were in different groups. So I only knew Wizard and Eric from my group. Luckily I knew two of the group leaders, (another) Eric and Fay!
Went for the food reception and I spammed sushi even though I still wasn't feeling well. I didn't really mix with the group because I was really shy, and headed off to Clarke Quay with the NTU people for some Marutama.
Great Claire, now because I was so shy, I didn't make friends at all! #welldone
