Darlo's World

Well … um … hello! Remember me?

Yeah it has been a while hasn’t it, soz about that.

I really wish I could say that I’ve been on fantastic adventures in amazing worlds, but the truth is (as you might have guess from the last journal), I’ve mainly been waiting and working.

So let’s start with my exam results that I took in December. Generally I’m pretty happy. No fails, some good marks, alright marks. If I’ve worked things out rightly, if I get minimal passes this semester (not what I’m aiming for by the way) I’ll finish with a third-class honours degree, and to get a 2:2 all I need is 43s (again, now what I’m aiming for).

Classes this semester have been … actually I’ll talk about that in June once all the exams are done. Dissertation too for that matter.

Next was the result for JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). I took this test the year before and failed miserably, so in taking it this year I thought I had half a chance. Unfortunately I was wrong, and failed by just three marks. Now I’ll be the first to admit I improved in my previous score, but … three marks! Ney Mind.

Which brings us to the final update. The job interview that I went to in January was (from what I can remember, weirdly the second I closed the door on the way out my mind went completely blank) not too bad. But the wait between each recruitment stage is painfully long, not to mention the tight deadlines each stage gives its applicants (which involved me actually getting a coach down to London to hand the forms in personally as I didn’t know if they’d get there on time with the post). The job itself is an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan on a government run scheme called the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) Programme.

Unfortunately due to the recent events that have happened in Japan, the results of the interview had to be pushed back further (they were originally scheduled for early April) until Mid-April. Last week some results had been released in the Caribbean and North America, with members of the JET Forum getting the ball rolling on announcing how they had done. Many Embassies and Consuls announce results to candidates via email, but unfortunately for us the UK still solely uses the postal service. This isn’t necessarily a negative aspect, but because it takes longer to get the results, many applicants were getting somewhat stressed.

Today on the forum, some UK members announced that they got their results. I checked the post upstairs. No result, just an ironically harsh brochure about courses in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. However, back in Telford it was another story. There was a letter from the Japanese Embassy. It was my result.

I’m shortlisted!

Yeah, I probably should explain what that means. There are three possible results from the interview: Shortlisted, Alternative, Better Luck Next Time. People who are shortlisted progress to the next stage, which is where you will be allocated a location (generally speaking everyone who is shortlisted gets the job). If a shortlisted candidate drops out for some reason, they will be replaced by an alternative (though the call happens quite last minute and can (if ever) take up until December to happen). The only real negative side to being shortlisted is that there are MORE forms to get filled out and MORE deadlines to get them done by.

Well folks, here goes!

Oh yeah and I had a tooth wrenched out from my jaw.

Pet Rock by ^kangel on deviantART

So my job interview happened last week and they waiting game has begun. Though I won’t go into details of the interview itself, I hope that I performed well enough to get the job. Unfortunately I won’t be hearing back anything until April, so I have quite a wait.

I’m also still waiting for the results of the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) that I took back in December, but I know it won’t be until March that I hear back.

Added to the list are the results from the Semester 1 exams I took earlier this month.

However, I do still have plenty to get on with while waiting for these results. The Leeds University Japanese Society is running a Tanabata Festival next month which I’m helping out with. With LSTV I’m trying to finish an animation in time for the NaSTA Awards, as well as running a beginners animation workshop. I’m making an effort to get the Lotaku webcomic going again. And let’s not forget about my dissertation and other Uni work, after all this is the final semester.

So as my way of signing off, please enjoy this comic strip by Kelly Angel.

Solution by ^kangel on deviantART