4 = The number of divisions Dan managed to chop our Ben & Jerry's
"Phish Food" Pint into, carton and all, with his super-sharp Shun.
3 = The professional theatrical productions seen in a two-week period.
40 = The degree difference between Sunday's high and Monday's low.
14 = The number of minutes it took DW & WR to come up with "The Metrics."
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Welcome back, loyal RowStein readers! A lot has happened this week. A lot. Choices have been made, futures have been decided, workouts have been completed (much to the chagrin of our quads), and new restaurants have been discovered (a topic for next week's blog post).
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| Mmmm... delicious upcoming blog posts.... |
First bit of RowStein news: Dan has signed his papers! After much thinking and talking and debate, he officially committed to the Masters in Speech Language Pathology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. It's a great program, in a great town, and we think it'll be a wonderful next step toward his new career in SLP.
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| An aerial photo of part of the UMN Campus, with Mpls in the background. |
The program itself is two years, plus one year of clinicals or practicum work (I'm not sure what it's actually called, but it's working and studying out in the field... something like a residency). Since Dan's academic background is mostly in Music and Voice, he'll spend one additional year making up the small remainder of his prerequisite courses. So, for him, this decision means four more years of living the Twin Cities. (See the first photo, above, of the tasty, tasty wings.) Hmmm. Darn. ;-)
As for me... well... this brings me to my news, both good and bad.
Whit's Bad News: This application season, I didn't get an MFA offer I was enthused about. It's a shame, really, because I was thinking I was ready for that next step in my academic & writing career. Oh, well. Rejection stings, but the programs I applied to are very hard to get into... and I knew that from the start. Maybe, with a few years more dedicated craft-work, I'll be one of the lucky ones.
Whit's Good News: Now, the good news! I got the job! I've been short-listed (read: accepted) to the JET Program! I'm moving to Japan in late July to start working as an Assistant Language Teacher! Exciting! To see an example of what I'll actually be doing, click on this link and watch the video at the bottom of the screen. I'll be an ALT (versus a CIR or SEA).
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| Next year, I'll be there. Err... Somewhere. |
People have reacted to this news in a variety of ways:
1.) "But Japan is so far away!" Yes, I'm aware. It is far. But with the internet and Skype and the zillions of ways you can stay connected these days, it'll really not be all that different. I already live a long distance from many of my friends and family. We'll be able to make it work. Besides, Japan is only a plane ride away (albeit a long and pretty expensive plane ride) and friends who are brave enough to visit me will have all the comforts my tiny apartment can offer! They can sleep on the tatami with me, get lost in my town with me, and dine on whatever food I've figured out how to make. Sounds like fun, right? Let's call it "adventure."
2.) "You mean, Dan's not coming with you?!" Yep. That's right. Dan's staying here. He's beginning a new phase in his life and career (one he's thrilled about) and I would never dream of asking him to wait. Just as he would never dream of asking me to pass up on this amazing opportunity. I've been talking about wanting to live and work abroad for years. YEARS. It's been a major life goal of mine and... really, there's never going to be a better time than right now. Dan will be here, in a community we both know and love, studying like mad... while I'll be in Japan, working hard, learning a new language and culture, experiencing all sorts of crazy new things. We'll stay in contact. We'll Skype. We'll visit. But, our respective absences will be a constant reminder, like a red-hot-poker to the buttcheek, fueling the other to remain committed and focused to the tasks at hand. Yes, we know it'll suck to be apart. We love each other like crazy and we're the best of friends. We know it will be hard, but we have absolutely no doubt that our relationship will survive the distance.
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| See this? A love that overcomes time-zones. |
3.) "Can I come visit?" Yes, PLEASE! What good is having an apartment halfway around the world if no one will come and take advantage? I don't know where I'll be placed (and I won't know until late May or early June), but I'm hoping for someplace with relative closeness to a nice-sized airport. That's not too hard, in Japan.
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Regardless of your reaction to the news (both Dan's and my own), we sincerely hope that you'll be supportive of our choices. Going in to this major transition, we need all the e-cheers and high-fives we can get. As for our online presence, the RowStein Compendium will continue! We plan to tag-team author the blog over the next year, likely alternating our weeks. (We'll see, though....) What a multi-cultural blog we shall be!
Thanks for reading, folks! Or should I say...ありがとうございます!
WR
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