Myy first few days

I'm at the end of my second full day in Japan, and been reletively busy so far.

My flight was alright all in all.  Having a window seat on the Manchester > Dubai leg was a good decision, as I saw some really nice views; the sun setting over the mountains around Romania/Bulgaria; looking down at the lightning strike in a thunder storm over the black sea; the giant flames buring fuel around the oil fields in iraq; and of course the huge grid work of lights in Dubai at night as we landed.

Also, Emriates called the day before departure to let me know they've made a mistake and overbooked the Dubai > Osaka flight. I had to fly via Shanghai, adding about 3 hours to my journey (nearer 5 with the delay), but I was upgraded to business class for the trouble. Business class was great, the business class lounge in Dubai was even better (the best part was being able to take a shower, oh and the free bar/restaurant/internet wasn't bad either) so I can't say it was a bad deal at all. I arrived at the hotel next to Umeda station (in Osaka) around midnight. I'd travelled door to door for around 29 hours, so slept fairly well to say the least.

Don't seem to have suffered with any jet lag really, fallen quite quickly into the new time zone. Last time it took 4 days to get adjusted.

The next morning I took the train to Kyoto and made for my halls. By bus it is about 45-60 mins from Kyoto station (depending on traffic) and is based in Shugakuin, in the north east of the city. I filled out the terms and conditions, dropped my stuff off in my room and went to orientation - here they gave me some info about local shops, where to get fresh sheets etc. They also gave me the room charges


Room - 11700 Y per month. Electricity is not included but everything else (including broadband) is

Local residents association - 2400 Y for the year (though what this is actually for they can't seem to explain)
Deposit - no deposit required...
Room cleaning fee - 6300 Y. Now, this is a puzzle, as we are supposed to clean our rooms to leave it in the same condition as we fond it. Also, mine is full of dust and cobwebs. Why don't they call it a non-returnable deposit, 'cos it certainly isn't a cleaning fee.
Bin bags - 1000 Y

Today I went to Osaka with Paulina to buy a few things, including an elctronic dictionary. I must thank Paulina, as she gave me advice about which one to buy, and we found it in a shop around den den town on discount. The shop assistant also removed the tax for me, so it worked out at around 7000 Y cheaper! BARGAIN! The weather was petty nice; sunny and warm; so we had Takoyaki and a beer around Namba, and a good walk through the city (and several shops). A really good day I'd say.

I still need to register at the ward office, so I can then apply for a bank account, phone, work permit etc.
Paulina's halls gave them the forms and also took them all to do it. No one has said anything to me about it, so I guess we're on our own up here in Shugakuin :-( Will have to find out what I need soon.

Best start looking at which bank / phone company offer the best deals too.

Any advice anyone?

It was Monday afternoon when I thought to myself for the first time "I'm leaving next week". It hit me like a ton of bricks how close in fact my departure is, and I'm now getting quite excited by it. But with less than a week to go, I really  need to tie up all those loose ends.

Yesterday I got my currency (and left the bank looking shifty with all that cash in my bag), which I intend to use to buy all the necessities once I arrive  - bedding, pots and pans, rice cooker, electronic dictionary, bike, and if there's any spare, a good digital camera.

(If anyone can give me some advice on buying a digital camera or electronic dictionary I would be ever so greatfull)

Haven't quite started packing yet, so at this rate it will be panic job.  I also need to sort out a hotel for my first night, as i arrive too late to move immediately into halls. I am coming round to the idea of staying over night in Osaka rather than Kyoto as it may be cheaper and it will break up the journey by train. the queston is to stay somewhere near Namba or Umeda station (Umeda might be easier for the train the next day?). I stayed one night in a hotel near Umeda last year, which wasn't bad, so I could always go back there.

Oh, I need to come up with a dissertation topic as well. But without a contact at uni to guide me, I have no clue if my ideas are any good... damn the whole 'joint honours students are bottom of the pile' ethos!


Beyond all that, I just need to say my farewells to everyone. Had a bit of a BBQ last weekend so got to see a lot of people there and had a few laughs. This weekend has been put aside for spending time with my family. Depending how organised I am, I may have time to go out for a drink one evening too.

Visa/London

Last week I travelled down to London to apply for my visa.

No problems there really, the embassy wasn't busy and the staff were all very helpful*, I even got into a conversation with one chap about the scholarship (he'd been given JASSO too when he went to Japan).

* Just a quick tip, about something I didn't notice anywhere on the application form. You need to take a photocopy of the certificate of eligibility, even though the take the original from you.
(Yes they have a photocopier in the embassy, but no they won't take a copy for you, you need to go to the newsagent down the street if you don't have one and do it yourself).

I then had nearly 10 hrs in London before my train back to do with whatever I liked. I walked a lot, which was very interesting. Only ever really nagivated London via tube it was a little supprising to see how close everything is to each other.

I spent some time in the British museum. That day they had just opened a new exhibition on 'Dogu'. 'Dogu' are small clay statues only found in Japan. They date from the 'Jomon' period and the oldest were 14 thousand years old. They are peculiar looking representations of people (in their proportions) and their use/importance doesn't seem to be fully understood. One of the most remarkable aspects to me was how many of these resemble modern sculptures, yet they date back to the stone age!
If like me, you have some time to kill in London, go have a look.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/future_exhibitions/the_power_of_dogu.aspx

Book early to avoid disappointment

Well,

There's been a slight htich in my preparations for travelling in terms of timing.
The documents I received from Kyoto stated I am to move in to the halls on either 1st or 2nd October. I booked a flight that gets me into Osaka at 1720 (get into Kyoto a few hours later).

I emailed back with my arrival time, but I was then informed Kyoto close the office for the weekend at 5pm, so I can't move in until the following week and must find my own accomodation until Monday. What the response skipped over however, was that classes start 9am Monday until 5pm... er, so I can't actually get to the office to move in if I need to be in classes!?!
I need to move my flight back a few days, but it costs over £300 to do so! (>__<)

Word of advice: fly to Japan EARLY to start your exchange.

To end this entry on a high however, I had some really good news when the final pack of documents arrived. It appears I have been awarded the JASSO scholarship, amazingly.

BRILLIANT! THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU JASSO!!

Everyone else I know who recieved it were notified weeks/months ago, so I assumed I wasn't one of the lucky ones. This news could not have come at a better time, not only with the above flight problems, but I was worrying about having enough money in Japan until I could get a job.

I'm even more excited to be going now.

Off to the Japanese embassy this week to apply for the visa - still trying to decide how to spend the rest of the day while in London, so much choice.

Hello

This is the start to my blog. The purposes of starting this is that since I am flying off to Japan for a year to study in Kyoto, it is an easy way for my family and friends to see what I've been doing.  I'd also like to throw in any information for future exchange students to look at.  A number of students from the class have already started their blogs, so I imagine a lot of the info will be repeated, but maybe a range of perspectives would give a more rounded picture.

So, at this point, I'm still about a month away from my flight. In the process of working as many hours (from two jobs) as I can get for some last minute cash, slowly making preparations for my departure, and trying not to forget the Japanese I know already.

Searching the net looking for the cheapest deals and (hopefully) a year return ticket, to little avail. Seems all the airlines didn't offer year returns, and the cheapest one way tickets were around £400.  The I found the holy grail of travel agents, Gendai Travel http://www.gendai.co.uk/en/ who found me an open ended year return with Emirates (good airline and 30kg weight allowance) for £471! Flying from Manchester via Dubai on 1^st October.

The 'studying' side of my summer, although not really being as extensive as planned, hasn't been too bad. As I live in Manchester so have access to the John Rylands library, so have been reading a number of books about Japanese linguistics. The two I have on the go right now are about the historical structure of Japanese (not only explaining 'how' it is, but 'why' it is), and one on onomatopoeia (far more to its symbolism than any text or grammar book I've seen so far).

Language-wise I've really been focusing on grammar (the grammar of the day emails help with this while I'm at work too), reading Japanese web pages and watching movies and TV shows. Not really intensive, but it's reminding me how much I enjoy the subject (a few months ago I had become so sick of the Japanese studies dept things and lost motivation).

Got a month left and so much to get done. I will try to see as many people as I can before I go, and have a leaving do of some kind.

If I don't see any of you before I go, you have an open invite to Japan!