Your Timeline
 

I've been on this forum for quite some time yet I don't really know too much about the members here (sometimes I want to PM members but I don't incase I come across as a bit confronting). I was thinking it would be interesting to see timelines showing when (and for how long) members lived in Japan and perhaps some interesting snippet of detail about their experiences during that period of time.

This is what my timeline looks like...

1989 > Born in Yokohama

1993 ~ 1996 > Attended a kindergarten in Yokohama then moved to Aus.

1996 ~ 2001 > Primary school. Skipped the 1st grade and the first half of the 2nd grade.

1998 ~ 2003 > Attended a Japanese supplementary school in Australia; struggled having being forced to skip grade 1 and 2 due to age and was always at the bottom rung.

2001 ~ 2002 > 6 week holiday w/ family in Japan

2002 ~ 2006 > High School in Australia

2005 ~ 2006 > 1 month holiday alone (visiting dad in Japan); snapped me out of the chronic depression brought upon by high school.

2007 > Enrolled at uni but deferred and decided to work for the year; had two jobs - one as a shelf stacker at my local supermarket and the other as a sales assistant at my local service station.

2008 > Enrolled again at the University of Queensland in Australia in a Bachelor of Science degree program, majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

I'd really like to spend a few more years in Japan, maybe after I get my degree (not sure how useful a science degree is in Japan :confused: )

Anyway, take part because I'm interested to know.

EDIT: Added to the timeline. Technically I wasn't born in Ichigao but at a hospital in Yokohama

Hey! Cool idea.

Unfortunately I've never been to Japan but I can timeline my Japanese experience.

Primary school- First experience with Japan was when I was given a research assignment to complete. As Karate kid was cool during that time and had introduced me to Karate I decided to do it on Karate. That was when the country first appeared on my radar.

High school- Did Japanese in my first year of high school. Was fun but my goal at the time was to become a fighter pilot so dropped it for physics (which was interesting however considering I decided the air force wasn't the place for me during my final year of high school it turned out to be a waste of time).

University- After I did quite a bit of travelling after high school (working in the US, living in London, travelling through Europe) I decided that it was time to go to university. My travelling had inspired me to learn another language and considering I wanted to go to Asia next, and I've always had a passing interest in Japan through movies and martial arts etc. since I was a kid I decided on Japanese.

And here I am now... still studying Japanese and hoping to go there on exchange or a working holiday visa next year.

Hope y'all enjoyed my story :vsign:

Stone Age ~ 1986: Nagoya, Japan

1986 ~ Present: Tokyo, Japan

1980 - Born in the US
1994~1996 - Compete and win top prizes in a number of writing competitions.
1996 - Graduate high school, begin university, and decide to go to Japan.
1998 - Make my first trip, homestaying Okazaki while being a weird half student/half teacher at a local high school.
1999 - Head back to Japan, return to the US shortly, then back to Japan again.
2000 - Hop to Korea and back to refresh my visa. Return to the US for the summer, my boyfriend later joins me. After the summer, back to Japan again. Return to the US for the winter holidays and to announce that we`re getting married.
2001 - Back to Japan the second week of January - married the 24th. Week long trip back to the US at the end of the year.
2002 - Move to a much larger apartment. Husband graduates from university, enters a company. (My education is on hold.)
2003 - Buy a new car. Do half a year of university so that credits don`t disappear. Get pregnant in Dec.
2004 - Decide on buying a condo. Are in the process of signing the papers and getting the loan when... Son is born by emergency c-section in extreme distress, 4 months early, weighing less than a pound. (437g - June 8th) We go directly from the hospital to finalize the home loan the day I am released. Move in July.
Son is discharged from the hospital on November 10th, the day after my birthday.
2005 - Travel to the US for the last time in October.
2006 - Son undergoes surgery in January. Back to university again part time.
2007 - Finally get my degree.
2008 - Son starts kindergarten.

Phew.

This should show to be interesting, even though...I can't really say much. I'm not a well-traveled person. ^^

1981: Born in Manhattan, New York to my country mother/city father. Nice description.

1984: Parents moved back to my mother's home state of Virginia.

1985: Lived with my grandmother.

1986: Entered Kindergarten.

1987 or 1988: Was introduced to the musical group Hiroshima and saw the music video One Wish with a fan dancer. Was greatly interested in Asian culture starting from this time.

1994 - 1997: Since Asian languages were a rarity here, took four years of Spanish, with the hopes of someday studying abroad and getting into a good University after high school.

1998: Nothing much happened...took a trip to the Bahamas and loved it.

1999: Graduated high school.

2000: Became interested in JET program.

2001 - 2003: Did odd jobs and attended various schools since I couldn't get into a nice University.

2005 - 2007: Worked with SunTrust Mortgage, but lost the job and went back to finishing up my degree. I also started studying Japanese.

2008: Hanging around here on this site. lol

2009: Will have completed my Bachelor's program (early 2009). Hopefully accepted into the JET programme and have a better grasp of the Japanese language...er, well, to get a better grasp of the Japanese language.

I was just curious. You actually graduated highschool at 16? Did you skip a year or two, or something?

If she was born at the beginning of 80 and finished high school at the end of 96 it all adds up. (I'm not entirely sure though as I'm assuming the US schooling system is one year shorter than over here. I was born in the beginning of 81 but graduated end of 98 whereas many people born in 81 graduated in 99.)

Anyway... some interesting timelines people! :)

Yes, I did.

I went to a private high school and tested out/up. I could have graduated at 15, but you apparently have to be 16 to receive a diploma according to state laws. Now that I think about it, I did graduate at 15 - but had to wait until after my birthday to pick up my diploma... So I didn`t attend the 2 months of that school year - just waited around until my birthday passed in November.
Which means I was wrong about when I started university. It would have been the following spring, so 1997.

Interesting. We are all 18 (unless you skip years) when we graduate "high-school" (equivalent) in Sweden.

1985 - Born in County Kerry, Ireland
1989 - Moved to United States (Wisconsin)
Fast forwarding a bit...
2001 - Began learning Japanese in sophomore year of high school, having no previous knowledge or interest in Japanese/Japan
2002 - Became deeply enamored with learning Japanese and learning about Japan, so I signed up for another two years of learning Japanese (until I graduated high school).
2004 - First trip to Japan; did a homestay in Chiba prefecture for a couple months, attended my host brother's high school.
2004 - Began university, majoring in Communications with a focus on Japanese and East Asian Studies.
2006 - First extended stay in Japan; studied abroad in Nagoya for 1 year, did two internships, one at the Nagoya International Center, one at a law firm.
2007 - Returned home, applied for JET program in the Fall (applied for the CIR position).
2008 - Accepted to JET in May
2008 - Received my placement in Iwate prefecture, leaving for Japan this fall.
Now - currently buying parkas and long underwear... :D