Update on life

Wow, it's been a while.  I'm not sure why I have so much trouble posting on a regular basis...I mean, it's not like I have a lot going on at any given time lol. 

Well I have stuff on my mind now.  I've made a decision and it's making me very excited and happy and at the same time it's making me sad and kind of depressed. 

I've always known I want to go to grad school and get an M.A. in Interpretation and Translation Studies for Japanese.  For a few years I really wanted to go to the Monteray Institute for International Studies (California, USA). They have a combined masters in Translation and Interpretation and it looks amazing! BUT...it's a 2 year programme and it will cost about $200,000 USD total (tuition, supplies, rent, transportaiton, food, living, ect.) and since I'm not American I would not be able to have a job while being a student (not that I would have time for a job with the work load I would have).

Sounds crazy, right?  Yeah. I was hoping that some company would send me to school and then have me work for them. 

I have been looking for other schools that offer the same type of program hoping to find one that is more affordable.  I found the University of Leeds Centre for Translation Studies.  They offer a 12 month programme in Conference Interpreting and Translation Studies.  The course also includes "study visits" to the EU, European Parliament, UN (Gineva or Vienna), ect. where we get to see first hand what it's like to work as an interpreter and we get to try out the interpreter booths :)  The programme looks amazing, it's only one year instead of two, and it's only going to cost me about $50,000 CAD. 

So, you can see why I'd be happy about this.  It looks amazing! And it's a year of school in ENGLAND! I've looked into accommodations and even picked out which residences I like best and so on. 

Now, the down side to all this... it's $50,000 CAD!!  If I put $600 aside each month, I will have $21,600CAD by the time I leave Japan in 3 years.  I am expecting to get about $10,000 back from money I paid into retirement while in Japan (since I won't be retiring here, I can apply to get it all back).  That will give me $32.000CAD and I can get a student loan from OSAP for about $10,000.  That still leaves me a bit short, but I have a few ideas about borrowing money from family members.  So I should be able to do it w ithout too much hassle.

So where is the down side?   The downside is that in order to pull this off, I can no longer do anymore travelling. I had plans to go to Bali next March, and Thailand and Hawaii before going back to Canada in 2015.  I also had planned to go home for Christmas at least once more before 2015.  Now I can't afford to go anywhere.  I have to be careful with how much I spend every week for the next 3 years.  All the plans I had now have to be put aside.  But, not only that, I have my little buddy, back in Kanata, whom I always look forward to seeing at Christmas. He's 12 now and growing up so fast!  It looks like the next time I'll get to see him he'll be 15!  I don't want him to forget me.

Also, I have to have a certain level of Japanese to get into the programme so that means taking an exam this December for level 2 and then having to pass level 1 no later than August 2014 so that I can apply in November of 2014.  That's a REALLY tight schedule.  I do not want to go home after JET. I won't be going back to my mom's house, and if I have to get my own apartment in Canada then I will have to use the money I've saved for school.  So that isn't an option if I want to have the money to pay for school. So I have to pass these exams ASAP!  That means studying! Studying like there is no tomorrow! And I am so sick of studying lol. 

I've burned myself out and now I'm trying to change things up so that I can get out of this rut.  I've gone back to practicing with the bokken again. I wish Eric was here to practice with me.  Sometimes I practice on the beach, other times I practice in the parking lot infront of my building. I really need to get back into shape. lol  Studying 9 hours a day just destroys the body if you aren't very careful. lol  I'm always tired too. I'm hoping that excercising more will help with that.

So that's where I am right now.  I want to go to grad school and I need to save up and study to get there...but I'm sick of studying and I am dissapointed that I can no longer travel because of it.  Grrrrr.  I guess I just need to remind myself what is at the end of the tunnel. I've always wanted grad school. I want to be a translator/interpreter and this is what I need to do to get there.  I just wish it wasn't so hard.