So, hello again party people. I want to talk to you dudes about what's going on with me right now, standing at the end of the year.

I don't know if I've mentioned this to you guys (especially since I tend to present myself as a pretty fractured personage on the internet, I don't give anybody all the pieces) but I think that this year is going to be the year that I make one of my dreams come true in a big way. I have wanted to visit Japan since I was probably 13 years old and for many years I've kicked around the very lofty dream of teaching English in Japan. I think, I think I'm really going to try to do it. I don't want to look back on my life and regret not trying. I'm either going to go to Japan or Korea. I may go to Korea because their setup is much more friendly to people who don't live in Korea already. They provide housing with other English teachers and some of my bills would be paid, wouldn't have to worry about a Visa, etc.

So, my goal for 2014 is to save up a bunch of money and ship myself off to Korea/Japan right as the school year starts here, so that when I come back I will be able to get a job here. There are a few conventions I want to go to and I really want to buy this big expensive doll I've wanted forever, but other than that I'm going to try to really save all my freaking money. I'm going to have a booth at Animazement with my friend if we can get approved, so I need to get my dead butt in gear and make about a million keychains tomorrow to show off so we can get approved. (Hopefully that'll help fund the convention for me and I can not feel too guilty about it.

I haven't told my parents I'm planning to do this. I don't really know how they would react. My mom was really upset when I mentioned that I might move to Raleigh, (six hours away or so?) so I don't know what she'd do if I told her I might move halfway around the world. I'm a little scared she'd try to emotionally sabotage me, so I don't want to mention it until necessary.

So yeah, you guys probably won't see overmuch of me around here. I really hope to throw myself headlong into this whole earn-as-much-money-as-possible-while-still-seemingly-searching-for-a-domestic-job thing. I'm scared but also pretty excited. I had really hoped I could find a friend to go with me, but I don't think that's going to happen and that's maybe for the best. I've grown so much as a person this year. I had my first serious relationship, I got a degree, and I got a promotion at work that makes me second-in-command of a store. I'm finally becoming a responsible adult-person.

So, things I need to do in order to get my life on track:
1. Get a passport.
2. Decide which country
3. Earn boatloads of money and not spend it.
4. Learn as much as possible of the language in question.
5. Get hired to teach English somewhere.
6. Get a Visa. (If I go to Korea that's taken care of)
7. Survive living here until I can move out without wimping out.
8. Continue to learn teaching techniques and everything I can about teaching English as a Second Language.
9. Find out all I can about daily life in my chosen country.
10. Learn how to cook various basic dishes.
11. Try to figure out if it would be feasible to have a pet when I move out.

TL;DR, I won't be around much due to lofty goals for next year. I'm still taking commissions but the wait times will probably be hella long. Message me if interested and we can work something out.