Passports and Visas

Like I said before, after filling out the initial paperwork there is an agonizing period of waiting time.  So I decided to go get my passport.  I went to my local post office which takes pictures for passports and got mine.

Then you fill out the passport forms and mail them out.  Within a couple of weeks you have yourself a sparkly new passport.

So you have yourself a passport, big deal.  Round two is coming up so get ready.  By know it's late June and my university has sent me another packet with even more information.   But the most important thing you will find is the Certificate of Eligibility.

This little slip of paper sort of explains your reason for going to Japan and without it you can't get a visa.

A visa is a stamp they put in your passport and to get it you have to look for your nearest Japanese consulate.  Once you've found it, you can either go there in person or snail mail the necessary forms which is what I did.

If all goes well you should  receive your passport back with a visa on it.

So It Begins

Ok then, let's begin this shall we?  This blog will be used primarily as a learning tool (I sound so teacher-ous) so that I can hopefully help out other students see what it's like to study abroad for a semester.

Here I will write about my daily goings-on and will also post pictures, video, etc.

What's Happened So Far

I had decided to study abroad  back in January or late February, but if I recall the deadline to apply was the second or so week of March.  You can imagine how stressed out I was getting all the necessary paperwork completed on time. LOL

Anyway after the application process is a LOOOOOOOOONG wait in between months until finally there was the study abroad orientation.  In the orientation we learned about insurance, safety, etc. etc.  There were also several students who had studied abroad before and discussed how and what it was like.

Then after this orientation you have even more paperwork to fill out and it's around late April-early May that I also applied to the Japanese University (Nagoya University of Foreign Exchange)

So after you apply to this college you may want to use this time to apply to a lot of scholarships.

I only applied to four and only got one.  That one gave me $2,000 and also the scholarship my school gave me which was $2,200.  This alone was not enough so I got a summer job and should have about $3,000 by the end of the summer.  Plus only a few weeks ago my FAFSA kicked in so a little bit more money and a loan and I'm all set.

(It also helps to have supportive parents who can chip in once in a while ;D)

And then there's the possibility of getting scholarships with the host university.  So it pays to get your money resources in order way before you have to leave.


Next Up, Passports and Visas

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