July 8-9, 2010

Mark heading out to sea
Upgrade from Alternate JET Position
When we got back from Patriot’s Point I checked my email. Mark and I had sent out many job applications to companies in Japan and I needed to see if any of them where going to give me a job interview. I hadn’t checked my e-mail in a few days.
When I opened up my hotmail account I saw an email from the Japanese consulate in Guam. They had been trying to reach me all day. If I still wanted the job I had to reply soon or they would give it to someone else. I emailed them back. Just to make sure they didn’t give my job away, I borrowed my mom’s cell phone and called them up too.
Back in February I went to Guam to do a job interview. I wanted to join the JET Programme. I thought the interview went really well. Or, at least I thought so until April when I got an email telling me that I had not been given a position. I was placed on the alternate’s list instead. If someone they had hired backed out or could not fulfill his or her duties, then I might be hired.
I gave up hope and started looking for jobs with other companies in Japan. I thought my chances with JET were next to zero. But, it turns out that many alternates do get hire. (Later, after working with the JET programme for many years, I would meet many alternates.)
Mr. Tenorio at the consulate emailed me a whole bunch of documents that I had to sign, mail out, or send back to Guam. The next day, while everyone else went to the beach, I went to the library to get all my things in order. So I wouldn’t be alone, I talked my mom into giving up a day at the beach to come with me.

The beach is a nice alternative to the library.
Library Folks are Good Folks
When traveling in the US and you need wifi, just about every restaurant and shop has it, and for free. But if you need a computer or to print something there really isn’t anything for you… except for the library. There are very few internet cafes.
Just walk into any public library and ask for a temporary card or day pass. They call it different things at different libraries. Tell them you’re from out of town and you need to use a computer and/or the internet and they’ll help you.

Fun at the beach
Adult Swim
The next day all the kids were too tired to go swimming. I refused to leave South Carolina without swimming in its waters. I talked the adults into taking another trip to the beach. “It’ll be more fun without the kids. No one telling you how hot or hungry they are…” We went to Folly Beach.
There were some kids playing with a skim board. Mark wanted to buy one, but we didn’t think it was worth the price. Then Mark found one that was forgotten by its owner. We waited until most people left the beach, to make sure that it was really left behind. Mark and Malcolm tried it out while Vonia and I laughed and took pictures. We left it at the beach; that devil’s board!
How to get there:
You can enter my country by land, air, or sea. But I think flight would be your transportation method of choice.
I have no clue how to get a visa to the US or who needs one. Just assume that you need one if you are not American or Canadian and check with your local US embassy.
Phone:
- Use 911 for the police, fire department, or to get an ambulance
- Use 411 for information (This might cost money.)
Website:
Downloads:
Videos:
- Crash Course:
- CGP Grey:
- Mental Floss:
Books:
- American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot
- Area 51
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- Dandelion Wine
- Girl in Translation
- The Hemingses of Monticello
- The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
- The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America
- Notes from a Big Country
- One Summer: America, 1927
- Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America’s Hoboes
- Stealing Buddha’s Dinner
- That’s Not In My American History Book
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
- The Water Is Wide
- Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
Notes:
- It’s a big country. You’re going to need a car.
Lake Aire RV Park
- 32°46’39.1″N 80°08’52.4″W
- Directions from the website
Address:
4375 Highway 162
Hollywood, SC 29449
Phone:
- 1-843-571-1271
Download:
Notes:
- There is free wi-fi. Not every camping spot can get wi-fi, but there are many hot spots throughout the camp.
Mt. Pleasant Branch Library
- 32°48’58.2″N 79°51’50.8″W
The library is on Mathis Ferry road.
Address:
1133 Mathis Ferry Road
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina 29464-521
Phone:
- 843-849-6161
Cost:
- Mostly free.
- Printing cost 10 cents a page
Notes:
- There are very few internet cafes in the US. So, while traveling in the states, libraries are a great place to go when you need free wi-fi, free uses of a computer, cheap printing, cheap scanning, general information about the area, and just information in general.
- This one in Mt. Pleasant even had a notary public that notarized papers for free.
- 32°39’17.3″N 79°56’26.0″W
- Directions from the website
Download
Cost:
- Free
Hours:
- Always available
Notes:
- There is a changing area and many shops and restaurants nearby.
Map: