Tuesdays.

Today was a pretty chill day.  Just went to Nisshin Municipal Office to get our gaijin cards.  It takes about a month for us to actually to get it.

After this Nana and I decided to eat lunch at the university.  She got an omelet rice and I got a tomato pasta.

Then we went to try and withdraw money from our bank accounts.  We were successful when we went to the ATM at the 7/11.

The rest of the day was pretty chill like I said before and I ended up making a budget, taking a nap, and buying some more stuff for the room (something for my clothes and shampoo, conditioner, etc.)

Lot's of Walking and Sushi.

Today started off at 7 AM and around 9 we students gathered in the lobby to be carted off on a tour of the school.  But before we had the tour of the school there were papers to complete.  We were all put in a classroom and had to find our numbers.  Once we found the assigned seating (there was a package with our name and number) it was time to fill out/sign some documents.  Most of the paperwork dealt with gaijin cards, insurance, and filling out the back account stuff.

Afterword the document preparation it was time for lunch.  Down the stairs on the first floor was a convenience store and I bought something that was like kimbap and water.

Then it was time for the tour of the campus.  There were two people who guided us and we went to various places on our map.  At each destination there were two students who would read off cue cards and describe what you could do/the rules for each area.  After they had finished reading they would place a sticker on our map.  So basically we visit all the places on the map and in the end we get a prize (chopsticks LOL).

When the tour was over I then went with Brittany back to Proxy so she could get her money.  On the way back to school so we could pick up Kim we found her walking back (which was kind of convenient).  And then the shopping ensued, because I wanted some freaking shorts.

I found what I wanted at Piago and Brittany kind of overdid at the 100 yen store.  When everyone was done with shopping we realized we had to go back to the Uni and get our passports, turn in some extra paperwork we had forgotten, and receive our money that was left over after the rental payment.

PHEW! That was a lot to do, but the day wasn't over just yet.  Around 5:40PM there was a meeting at Proxy discussing how to separate our garbage and where/when to throw it away. So then after the meeting me and Nana were invited to go eat okonomiyaki but because we were unclear about what the other people were doing we decided to go eat sushi.

(Tamago sushi)

It was a fun experience eating there and afterwords, we went to get photos for the gaijin, Nana bought chicken at the supermarket, went to check out G. U.  and then the drug store.

Fun fun day. :D

Ugh. Tired.

So it's been at least 3 days since my arrival here and let me tell you, I am freaking exhausted.  My sleeping pattern is off and I get very little sleep.  Today for example I only got 4 hours of sleep before waking up at 12PM (night).

Then there's the shopping.  Oh God I have done a crap ton of shopping over here.  Not for clothes or anything like that, but for cooking utensils, cleaning supplies, groceries, etc.  The grocery stores are not too terribly far away, maybe 10-15 minutes.  But if you want to go to the $1 store it'll probably take 20-30 minutes of walking.  Plus I keep forgetting to get stuff too, and it seems like I'm constantly going back and forth and I have to carry everything I buy all
the way back to the room.

                                               Here's an example of stuff I buy.


Oh yeah and then there's the money. BUM BUM BUUUUUUM.  I've only got 15,000 yen left, but I'm only a little worried about this.  I would feel a lot better though if I knew how to get more. OTL

Still I can say I do like the stores around here.  There's this electronic goods store that also has a toy store in it called Neverland and in the toy store is a stationary store. I really like all the clothes here and when I get a chance I should go shopping for more, since I didn't bring that much LOL

Finally Landed

1 Sept 2011

Arriving at the Narita airport was humid as hell.  I ended up standing in the wrong line like an idiot and was told to go follow the yellow signs for domestic flights.  Then I went through customs, got my bag and re-checked it in.  Way to go AA (sarcastic).

Also helped out this one girl, let's called her S.  Saw her having trouble trying to figure out what to do next.  HAHA Just like me (YAAAAAAAY!)  So in the end we checked in with the ticket peoples and coincidentally our gates were right next to each other so we hung out till it was time to board.

The plane ride from Tokyo to Nagoya was a smooth one and the view from the plane was incredible.  I'm sorry that I didn't take a picture.

Upon arrival at the Chubu INT. airport and getting my luggage, someone from the college came and picked me and the other students up.  From here they bought us bus tickets and we rode the bus for about an hour to the next destination.  When the bus dropped us off there were more students and they called  taxis for us.

The taxis took us to our dorm: Proxy Friends Nisshin.  Then we were greeted by more students and they took care to the taxi fare and showed us inside and quickly gave us the rundown.  Where the laundry room was, getting the mail, got room keys, and a bunch of paper describing how the whole recycling thing works over here.

The Airplane Rides

31 Aug 2011

Still haven't crossed the International date line just yet.  Might be another hour or so.....

Synopsis of this morning: Woke up around 5 AM and was ready in about an hour.  We left the house around 8 and go to the airport fairly quickly.

The wait for the first flight wasn't bad at all.  The gate wasn't that crowded, but I got a random pat down.  It only took about 45 minutes to get to Dallas.

Once we landed in Dallas it didn't take long to find my gate and the DLW is too cool.  (It's got a sky rail.)  This gate was pretty crowded so I stood up most of the time (try the entire time).  While waiting I got my money exchanged and called my parents to let them know I was okay.

Still on said plane with about 4 hours to go.  For dinner we got either chicken or beef and I chose beef: mash potatoes, some kind of vege mix, a mushy wedge of cheese, pathetic looking salad, sucky piece of bread, something else I can't remember, and a cookie cereal bar.

I think they just served us lunch, but it was the most sorry excuse for a sandwich I had ever seen.  The bread was soggy, the meat was ham, the cheese was cheddar, there was dijonnase dressing, a plain biscotti, and a mint.  Also at this time I have already eaten all of my snacks.

4 hr 52 min left
11:06 AM Narita Airport
9:06 PM San Antonio

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