夜色ブログ

Opening the in-box of my Gmail account, I saw the bold letters of a new e-mail and my heart stopped for a moment as I read the subject line, "What's your recipe for the peanut sauce you made?" Breathing a sigh of disappointment and continued stress, I opened it just like the last few hundred.

. . .

While I've been somewhat interested in Japanese as a language and a little as a culture for a few years, picking up some basics like the kana orthography in that time, I only started studying it in June 2006. At the time I was just studying to pass some of my spare time with something I was interested in and enjoyed, not really considering going to Japan. During this time, my interested in it increased considerably, and I figured that it would probably be best to learn in Japan, but that would be unrealistic for me.

One day in February, or perhaps it was in early March, I was meeting with a friend and one of his business acquaintances to see if I could offer him a variety of technical services as I was tiring of my rather bureaucratic, red-tape laden job. At some point he asked what I would be doing if I could do anything and didn't have to worry about money. I quickly replied, "Studying Japanese in Japan", to which he retorted just as quickly with something along the lines of, "Well then what the hell are you doing here?" My response amounted to, "Umm, . . ." at best.

While I haven't ended up doing business with him, I appreciate our meeting since I realized that it was foolish to want something and not pursue it. It was another one of those beliefs you say that you hold, but don't act on ― I'll write on different types of knowledge and belief at a later date.

Immediately thereafter, I started looking for ways that I could study Japanese in Japan. I checked everything from university exchange programmes to the much maligned teaching English. Well, it's tainted in my mind anyway since I know too many people who taught English overseas and never learned the local language and I have read too many stories of English teachers who generally acted without any consideration for the culture they were living in.

As I filtered though my options, the only one that had been captured and remained was a language school in Okazaki, Aichi called The Yamasa Institute (YAMASA言語文化研究所). It appeared focused on provide a good Japanese language education to a culturally and linguistically diverse student population while targeting those with an academic bent. It's not-for-profit status and my experience with a science camp at a Canadian university, again recommended it. While I have no issues with for-profit educational institutions, I believe they are best reserved for those who know them personally.

I collected as much information on the school as I could find and decided that I wanted to study there and chose to pursue it. For long term (visa) students, entry is only possible in October and April, and the application period for April had already closed and I didn't have enough money to stay for a year, so I decided to apply to start in the October term. That would give me a chance to save some money as well.

Since applying, I've been hoping for an acceptance e-mail and admittedly worrying about receiving one that says, "sorry, the Japanese government has rejected your visa application", or something like that. The October term starts on 3 October, so as August was drawing to an end, I was getting a wee bit stressed.

. . .

After dragging myself out of bed for work this morning (Friday, 31 August 2007), and checking my e-mail, it finally came! Both the school and the government said yes. Okay, okay, so the school said yes back at the end of June, but I was still waiting to hear from the government.

Now I'll have to start concretely planning once I stop bouncing off the walls. I'll be off to Japan within the month!

Now that I'm over the initial excitement of realizing that I've been accepted to the Japanese language school I applied to back in March, I'm collecting my thoughts, which I can scatter about at times, and beginning to make more concrete plans.

Immediately after reading the visa confirmation e-mail from Yamasa on Friday morning, I switched into high-gear and spent much of my lunch (and maybe a bit more >_>) running around, taking care of the immediate necessities: completing the visa confirmation form, wiring tuition and rent payments, faxing both to the school, along with everything I already had scheduled for that day.

More forms

The visa confirmation form was very straightforward. I had to confirm my e-mail address and the address I want my certificate of eligibility sent to. Then I selected the programmes I wanted for the four terms. I had already done this on my initial visa application form in March, so it would appear there is some wiggle room here. The difference is the exact cost is listed on this form, which you then add up to figure out how much tuition you own. Because of the privileges and requirements of the student visa, it's also necessary to pay the first six months of national health insurance at this time. At 8,400円, it's a fair bit cheaper than provincial health insurance is in Alberta. Speaking of which, I wonder if I can stop paying that . . . The cost of renting and buying a futon is outlined. Next, the apartment room that I have been tentatively allocated was indicated along with rent and deposit amounts. At the end, I just totalled tuition, health insurance, futon purchase price, and accommodation fees and signed the form.

There was also an arrival form attached to indicate what flight numbers and pick-up options are, but I've decided to send this later since I want to confirm my attendance as soon as possible and I still have to work out flight details.

Depleting my account

After filling out the form, I ran off to my bank and found it unusually packed. Perhaps it's just due to the long weekend, but I had to wait about 30 minutes to make the transfer. At the same time, I also ordered 100,000円 (about 1000 CAD), which I figure should cover my expenses for the first few weeks. I got a better rate on my transfer (0.009335) than my cash order (0.009451), but I suppose that's to be expected, and both are a fair bit better than in March when I applied, so I won't be complaining. That's reserved for the $50 bank fee for the wire and the $5 fee for the cash order.

Naturally once I returned home, I received a call on my cell from the woman at the bank indicating that she didn't realized she needed to have me sign a form to order the Japanese cash and that I'd have to come back to sign it. Fortunately, I had a meeting with an investment advisor at the same bank later the same day, so I didn't have to make another trip.

Now we can fast-forward a few hours to my meeting with the investment advisor. Be warned! If you have mutual fund or RSP investment plans, do not tell the bank you're moving to Japan. It appears they will immediately freeze your investment accounts due to some odd Canadian legislation. Fortunately, the woman at the bank was nice enough to explain this.

Finding a flight

Booking a flight on short notice is a great short-cut to spending more money than you need to ― well, unless of course, you have to leave on short notice. Fortunately, it appears a month in advance is enough time to get reasonable rates. Since I applied, I've been tracking the prices from Edmonton (YEG) to Tokyo (NRT) and Chubu (NGO). The best rates I saw during that time were around $775 plus tax for a total of around $1025, but that was mostly for short term trips. Also, the internet flight searches seemed nearly useless for this. You search one minute, and it tells you $1025 and you hit refresh and it says $1800+. Perhaps this is just due to my technical ineptitude.

Most of the travel agencies around here aren't much better. Their staff are largely rude, overly curt, and really not interested in finding the best option for you. Fortunately, I stumbled across one that stands out! Nippon Travel Ltd. is an Alberta-based agency that specialises in flights to Japan. (Sorry, this probably won't help those of you on the east coast or other countries much.) The woman I spoke with, Akino, was helpful when I explained what I wanted when most others up to this point had sounded like they wanted hang up. One agency even tried quoting me a price of $4,600! In the end, she found an itinerary to Narita for $1016 which I have on hold until the 10th so I can confirm some details with Yamasa.

I figure I might as well fly into Tokyo and spend a day or two there before taking the train to Okazaki, the city where the school is located. As such, I'm making arrangements to that end. Accommodations in Tokyo are still being sought, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know.

What to do in Tokyo?

I'm sure that I could spend at least a month exploring Tokyo, but since I'll only have a day or two, I picked up a copy of the ninth edition of the Lonely Planet's Japan guidebook. It actually looks fairly disappointing, although it seems more complete than the Frommor's guide, which was next to it in the book store.

This may well be the longest entry you will ever see me write, so if you're bored by now, rejoice, and if you enjoy long texts, weep.

Notes to myself

The following notes are primarily intended for my benefit as I try to organise my entry to Japan. On the other hand, I figure that if it will be useful to me, it may well be useful to you as well, and thus I'm writing here instead of in my notebook. Naturally, the fact that my notebook is halfway across the house and I'm lazy has nothing to do with this decision.

From Japan with Kids:

SEND YOUR SUITCASES AHEAD: Pick up at the airport before checking in! This way it isn't necessary to travel with big luggage on the train or bus. You can also send them home this way when you arrive back in Japan, after clearing customs. Price is around 1800 yen per item though second one might be a bit cheaper. Below are Tokyo telephone numbers for companies that provide this service. They will pick up and deliver suitcase to more distant places such as Nagaoko too, so check them out!

ABC (Air Baggage Service Company Ltd.) - (03) 3545-1131
NTS Sky Porter - (03) 3590-1919
QL Liner - (03) 5994-3332
Yamato Transport Co. - (03) 3541-3411