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	<title>Next Stop, Japan!</title>
	<link>http://nextstopjapan.com</link>
	<description>going where billions of people have gone before</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:06:39 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>Time to Think</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m sitting here flipping between the travel channel and the news, Every shot of any even mildly exotic location is framed by my the knowledge that I&#8217;ll soon find myself there, in a place that would normally exist as a pleasant half-hour viewing experience&#8211;not a place where you would actually be living and breathing in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/time-to-think/</link>
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		<title>Snooping</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Visa is in hand. All that&#8217;s left for me is to wait for my flight departure date, which is rapidly approaching on the 25th of September. It cannot come quickly enough. Sure, I enjoy fantastically my work as a shipping processor for a major paint producer and distributor, but surely there must be a more [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/snooping/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>SITREP</title>
		<description><![CDATA[AEON called me recently with the news that my certificate of elibigility was processed successfully in Japan. That&#8217;s a good thing, because if it was denied for any reason it would take another month and a half to try and get the paperwork re-done and sent in to be looked over once more. And by [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/sitrep/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Self Study</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been trying to find as much information on Tsukuba as I could, but unfortunately most youtube searches bring up ridiculous amounts of racing and drifting videos at Tsukuba&#8217;s famous racetrack, the Tsukuba Circuit. There are some great gems out there, including:

TsukuBlog
Tsukuba Wiki
Alien Times

But those websites don&#8217;t encompass the exact area I&#8217;ll be living in, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/self-study/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Information is Power</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve got contracts and policy manuals galore. I&#8217;ve reviewed all the information they&#8217;ve supplied me and I&#8217;m thoroughly satisfied. Almost every question I could&#8217;ve had concerning company procedure, rules, regulations, and guidelines has been answered. They were also kind enough to provide supplemental literature regarding Japanese culture and sightseeing locations. Because of a clause in [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/information-is-power/</link>
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		<title>Engines Go</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve called to confirm and formally accept the position in Tsukuba, and so next week I&#8217;ll receive an information packet and a contract which I&#8217;ll be signing and sending back to them along with my diploma, 6 2&#215;2 passport size photos, a 200 dollar deposit, and copies of my passport.
I&#8217;m all aquiver with excitement! But [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/engines-go/</link>
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		<title>Bridging the Great Divide</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Huzzah! Contact. AEON called today with the good news. A position has been found for me in Tsukuba, which is in Ibaraki prefecture, in the Kanto region. If that&#8217;s jibberish to you, (it was to me) then just know that I&#8217;ll be about an hour north of Japan. Wikipedia describes Tsukuba city as &#8220;one of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/bridging-the-great-divide/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Amidst Graduation Complications</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I received my diploma this week following a massive two-week long tug-of-war with my college&#8217;s graduation coordinator. After arguing about certification dates, what exactly an &#8220;official letter of graduation&#8221; was and who had the authority to produce one for me, she finally just had the registrar&#8217;s office rush my degree certification and diploma, a full [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/amidst-graduation-complications/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Countdown to Launch</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I got into Atlanta on a Friday, scheduling  a two day stay for the interview process.  My friend, who was also applying, secured accomodations with a friend who was living near the Hilton where the interviews were to take place. Seeing as how the drive from Orlando was terribly long we thought it [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/countdown-to-launch/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The First Pre-Japan Stop</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve applied to AEON last week, received an invite for an interview in Atlanta, and reserved a spot at said interview location.
Now I play the waiting game.
It looks like I&#8217;ll have to prepare a thirty minute lesson plan, 5 minutes of which I&#8217;ll preforming for other potential applicants at a group interview. I suppose it&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://nextstopjapan.com/the-first-pre-japan-stop/</link>
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