Arriving in Japan
After
many months of preparation I finally made it to Japan. It's been two
weeks since I've arrived and boy a lot has happened during that time.
Living and studying in Japan is definitely a different experience in
comparison to simply visiting the country: one major difference being
the amount of paperwork you have to fill in. There's not only a lot of
paperwork that you have to do before your arrival, but shortly after
your arrival as well. Fortunately Asia Exchange and Otemon Gakuin have
been great about trying to make the process as painless as possible, and
were very good about answering the gazillion questions that I had about
the entire process.
One thing you should definitely do before you fly in is make sure you have all the necessary paperwork readily accessible before you fly out. In other words, all of your paperwork should be neatly organized in some sort of binder or folder of some kind, and preferably put in the order that you will need it. I, for example, had to present the following first when I arrived at the airport:
NOTE: they will make you go through quarantine if you bring in rice with you. I was used to customs inspecting for meat, sausage, live plants, etc. but was a bit surprised about the rice. I had brought some rice in to make karelian pies for my host family and had to fill in yet another form. : P
Once I got through customs, Otemon had arranged a student to be waiting at the airport to help put us on the right bus, which takes about an hour to get to JR Ibaraki station (cost: 2000 yen, you can pay by card or cash). That's where I met my first classmate, Brittany, a student from Australia. She was lots of fun to chat with and we got along right away. I didn't realize this but apparently Japanese is a super popular language to learn in Australia. The Australian government is interested in doing lots of business with Japan, and offers lots of incentives for students to go.
After I arrived at JR Ibaraki station I met my host mother, a staff member from Homestay in Japan (Ishizaki Miki-san), and a staff member from Otemon Gakuin (Obayashi Yumi-san). They then gave me copies of the itinerary once again and helped put me on the right bus to get home, as well as instructions for where to meet tomorrow. Everyone, from the staff to my host family, were so extremely helpful those first couple of days. My host Mom even drove me to Expo City (a Mega Mall in Japan) to help me find a suitable cable for my laptop when I accidentally brought the wrong one to Japan. Yumi-san and some student volunteers would spend the next two days helping us with everything from opening bank accounts and registering ourselves at city hall, paying for insurance, etc. And thank goodness they did, very few bureaucrats spoke English, and all of the forms where written only in Japanese. Even the more advanced Japanese students in our group would have struggled to get through the process. When I went to study in the Netherlands, they didn't give me nearly this amount of assistance (then again, everyone in the Netherlands also speaks English, so that makes it a whole lot easier : P)
Despite all of the boring paperwork we had to do in those first two days, I had a lot of fun meeting my new classmates. There weren't a lot of us, but we hit it off right away and have been hanging out ever since. I'm looking forward to all of the fun adventures we're going to have together.
One thing you should definitely do before you fly in is make sure you have all the necessary paperwork readily accessible before you fly out. In other words, all of your paperwork should be neatly organized in some sort of binder or folder of some kind, and preferably put in the order that you will need it. I, for example, had to present the following first when I arrived at the airport:
- My disembarkation card for foreigner (usually given to you during your flight)
- Passport, visa, and certificate of eligibility
- My request/permission to work while on a student visa. (If you fail you present this form at the airport, you will have to fill out a longer and more detailed form at a later date, and visit Osaka city hall twice. So even if you don't think you will work at Otemon University, I strongly recommend you fill out the form, send it to Otemon in advance and also present it at the airport to save yourself a lot of extra grief).
NOTE: they will make you go through quarantine if you bring in rice with you. I was used to customs inspecting for meat, sausage, live plants, etc. but was a bit surprised about the rice. I had brought some rice in to make karelian pies for my host family and had to fill in yet another form. : P
Once I got through customs, Otemon had arranged a student to be waiting at the airport to help put us on the right bus, which takes about an hour to get to JR Ibaraki station (cost: 2000 yen, you can pay by card or cash). That's where I met my first classmate, Brittany, a student from Australia. She was lots of fun to chat with and we got along right away. I didn't realize this but apparently Japanese is a super popular language to learn in Australia. The Australian government is interested in doing lots of business with Japan, and offers lots of incentives for students to go.
Arrival at JR Ibaraki Station to meet the staff and our host moms!
After I arrived at JR Ibaraki station I met my host mother, a staff member from Homestay in Japan (Ishizaki Miki-san), and a staff member from Otemon Gakuin (Obayashi Yumi-san). They then gave me copies of the itinerary once again and helped put me on the right bus to get home, as well as instructions for where to meet tomorrow. Everyone, from the staff to my host family, were so extremely helpful those first couple of days. My host Mom even drove me to Expo City (a Mega Mall in Japan) to help me find a suitable cable for my laptop when I accidentally brought the wrong one to Japan. Yumi-san and some student volunteers would spend the next two days helping us with everything from opening bank accounts and registering ourselves at city hall, paying for insurance, etc. And thank goodness they did, very few bureaucrats spoke English, and all of the forms where written only in Japanese. Even the more advanced Japanese students in our group would have struggled to get through the process. When I went to study in the Netherlands, they didn't give me nearly this amount of assistance (then again, everyone in the Netherlands also speaks English, so that makes it a whole lot easier : P)
The Fall 2017 Japan Program students along with our volunteer helpers (Thanks guys!)
Despite all of the boring paperwork we had to do in those first two days, I had a lot of fun meeting my new classmates. There weren't a lot of us, but we hit it off right away and have been hanging out ever since. I'm looking forward to all of the fun adventures we're going to have together.
Orientation Lunch, Day 1: Authentic Japanese Pizza from Pizza Hut : P
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