HOW TO GET FROM NARITA AIRPORT TO ICU
I'm really quite behind on my blog whoops
In any case, I was really quite worried about getting from Narita Airport to Musashisakai, so I looked up everything in advance. I preferred the train route as I don't like buses very much (although if you're a friend of mine reading this blog you will already know my hatred of buses). At Narita airport terminal 2, I went downstairs to the JR East Ticket Office (I think it's called) and asked for a N'ex and Suica package from Narita airport to Musashisakai station. By the way, they speak English at this ticket office. The N'ex ticket is a ticket that will last you from Narita Airport to a lot of stations in Tokyo, and they also include the Suica card which is a card that lets you pay for trains by swiping it as you enter a ticket gate and swiping it when you leave at your destination. I haven't actually used it yet as it was not necessary for the trip to Musashisakai. After buying this package I then went downstairs to where I would catch the Narita Express. Me and Fiona were pretty worried because the map on the wall seemed to indicate that the train went to two separate places so we were like WHAT IF WE GET THE WRONG TRAIN. However, there was no need to worry as what happens is that the train splits in two at around Tokyo station and half the train goes to one place whilst the other goes somewhere else. As all seats are reserved, the ticket office will give you the right ticket to be in the right carriage to go to the right place. After being on the train for about an hour and a half, we got off at Shinjuku station to transfer to the Chou line for Takao (I think, it's the Chuo line that isn't for Tokyo anyway). Shinjuku is a big station, but there is a map online if you google shinjuku station map. The map isn't very helpful except that it tells you which trains leave from which platforms - the one I had to get left from platforms 11 & 12 (I think. I know it left from 11, anyway). To get to Musashisakai I had to get on the rapid train, but not the special rapid as this does not stop at Musashisakai. It wasn't too hard to figure out as I knew the kanji for Musashisakai (武蔵境!) so I was able to figure out which train it was. And even if you do miss a train the next one comes in another 5 minutes anyway.
After arriving at Musashisakai station (it took about 20 minutes) we left and found the hotel relatively easily. It was past 3pm at this point so we were able to check in. Yay hotels.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Hotel Love Songs
Since I'm really behind on blog posts this is going to be a short one about my first two days in Japan saying in the Radisson Hotel Narita.
So we got to the hotel and our suitcases were immediately taken away from us, when we were then told check in was at 3. I mean, I knew that already but I had some sort of hope they would let us check in early......alas, we had to sit in the lounge on couches for about 3 hours. Whilst I was really really tired. We did look at the one gift shop they had, and I managed to have a half hour nap lying on my bag (whilst Fiona was looking after it anyway lol). Then we finally got to go upstairs to our room. After asking if the tap water was drinkable (the woman said it wasn't but I don't believe her now) I think I might have gone downstairs and bought water...I can't remember if I was too shy or not. I then got changed into my pjs and sat and watched tv for a while despite being really sleepy. Then I slept for a few hours, got up and.....watched tv? I don't really remember much. Over the two days in the hotel we went for lunch at the restaurant, I slept, I watched tv (NHK have some weird English show with some woman singing a song called Blow Your Horn...) we bought things from the gift shop to eat...I ordered room service and some guy from Nepal came up and I spoke awkwardly to him in Japanese because I thought he was Japanese...we then sent our luggage on to our next hotel, Hotel Mets Musashisakai, by Kuroneko Yamato/taq bin. This was really helpful as it meant we could then go to the airport the next day to catch the train to Musashisakai without 2 giant suitcases each.
Next entry is about how to get from Narita Airport to Musashisakai. It's not that hard so long as you look things up before hand and don't go without knowing anything :)
So we got to the hotel and our suitcases were immediately taken away from us, when we were then told check in was at 3. I mean, I knew that already but I had some sort of hope they would let us check in early......alas, we had to sit in the lounge on couches for about 3 hours. Whilst I was really really tired. We did look at the one gift shop they had, and I managed to have a half hour nap lying on my bag (whilst Fiona was looking after it anyway lol). Then we finally got to go upstairs to our room. After asking if the tap water was drinkable (the woman said it wasn't but I don't believe her now) I think I might have gone downstairs and bought water...I can't remember if I was too shy or not. I then got changed into my pjs and sat and watched tv for a while despite being really sleepy. Then I slept for a few hours, got up and.....watched tv? I don't really remember much. Over the two days in the hotel we went for lunch at the restaurant, I slept, I watched tv (NHK have some weird English show with some woman singing a song called Blow Your Horn...) we bought things from the gift shop to eat...I ordered room service and some guy from Nepal came up and I spoke awkwardly to him in Japanese because I thought he was Japanese...we then sent our luggage on to our next hotel, Hotel Mets Musashisakai, by Kuroneko Yamato/taq bin. This was really helpful as it meant we could then go to the airport the next day to catch the train to Musashisakai without 2 giant suitcases each.
Next entry is about how to get from Narita Airport to Musashisakai. It's not that hard so long as you look things up before hand and don't go without knowing anything :)
Friday, 31 August 2012
Fly High
Edinburgh-Heathrow
I didn't want to have many transfers because of anxiety so I decided to go with BA, flying from Edinburgh to London and then London to Japan. It was about £500 return (but that was for premium economy, it's about £100 cheaper for just economy) I had to wait for a long time to book the return date I wanted because they only let you book for up to something like 350 days in advance but I think you can change it for free, anyway.
In the morning I got to the airport to discover the flight had been delayed and I wouldn't get to London until about 12, which was really worrying because my flight to Japan was scheduled to take off at 1:30 and I was already anxious about transferring at Heathrow despite it only being one transfer...However, a quick check on my phone app for BA showed the Japan flight was also delayed until 3pm so I felt better. I checked in online (do this by the way you can pick a seat for free 24 hours before the flight leaves, and print your boarding passes for both flights) but I had to wait for about an hour and a half at Edinburgh airport because there were 3 flights checking in at the one time (and there was no separate area for people just dropping off their suitcases) so yeah the BA website kind of lied when it said it would be quick lol. We were told to move into another queue but then the queue we were in had people served more quickly than us and mum was less than pleased to say the least. Anyhow, we finally managed to chuck our luggage in and then go upstairs to security where I had to say goodbye to my dad :( (I flew to London with my mum&bro&fiona because I wanted some company and mum&bro were going to London on a trip). Went through security in about 2 seconds flat then headed on to departures where it turned out we were sitting right in front of our departure gate which was pretty nice. On the plane on the way over we were served breakfast which was egg, bacon, mushroom and tomato. It was okay I guess but the bacon wasn't very nice...To be honest I was pretty upset on the plane because I realised it was really happening and I had to say goodbye for a year (plus yeah anxious about airports) so I started to cry (though not noticeably to everyone on the plane lol) . A nice flight attendant thought I was a nervous flyer and was really understanding when we explained I was worried about transferring at Heathrow and explained it to me so I felt a bit better. After leaving the plane and saying goodbye (:( ) Fiona and I went through to connecting flights and read the screen to see our gate would be up at about 13:55. To be honest, in the end it wasn't that difficult to transfer from Edinburgh to Heathrow, we were leaving from the same terminal we arrived in and it was easy enough to find a BA help desk with a really nice attendant who told us that it probably left from terminal building 5C and it would come up soon. Which it did, saying Gate C66. To get there, we had t get on a transit train that was really easy to find. As was the gate, but the Japanese people heading there might have helped a little.
Heathrow to Japan
So boarding time arrived and the woman mentioned something about a seat change. I was okay with this because I figured I'd just be moved forward a bit or something but when she gave me my new boarding pass she just so happened to mention the words "Enjoy, it's an upgrade to business class".
Yup. An upgrade to business class. Something I thought only happened in the movies. Business class was therefore pretty nice. They offered us a drink (including champagne) as soon as we got on the flight, and handed us a hot towel. The seats could recline in several different ways including turning into an actual bed. There was a foot rest, a pretty big table, and the entertainment system could be easily out away (although maybe that isn't very cool...)We got an actual menu to choose a 3 course meal from for dinner and breakfast. For dinner I had some sort of walnut rice salad, then beef with mashed potato and green beans, then for dessert I had chocolate pudding. They gave us fancy rolls, too. After dinner the lights were put out so we could try to sleep, but I still couldn't even though it turned into a bed~ For breakfast, we were given a Japanese style breakfast consisting of some sort of weird thing that looked like porridge but tasted bad, fruit, croissants/pastries. We were then offered a hot breakfast. Yeah, apparently business class people need 2 breakfasts. I didn't eat it though because I was stuffed by then.
With all that food the flight didn't seem to last very long and I didn't get to use the entertainment system as much as I wanted. I really wanted to watch tangled, and the avengers, and the lorax, and the hunger games etc but the only thing I would up doing was listening to 90s Music Collection (the Spice Girls) and.....One Direction. Don't judge me (although I think I should give up by now since everyone knows I like SMAP)
NARITA AIRPORT
We got off the plane (IT WAS HOT) to find some guy standing there who said one of Fiona's suitcases was arriving on the flight the next day because of some odd reason (Oh BA) so we were to meet him after we went through immigration to sort it out. Oh, Immigration. I like how the consulate was all YOU NEED EVERYTHING YOU OWN. There's a big queue for foreigners that you have to stand in for like 30-45 minutes before you finally go up to some guy behind a desk who doesn't seem to know much English. He looks at your passport and disembarking-tion card (which I totally did not think I had filled in properly) and then makes you give him your fingerprints and takes a photo of you. He then issues you with your new residence card, which uses YOUR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY PHOTO. I guess mine isn't too bad but like I still look rather distressed and like a deer in headlights. After going through immigration random Japanese man was waiting for us who then took us downstairs to get our cases (or in Fiona's case her one case www nice pun there lauren) and they actually lifted them up onto a trolley which was really nice of them but this whole Japanese over politeness thing feels sort of strange to someone from Scotland who is used to having to do these sorts of things alone (although let's be fair he might have just helped because we had to go see about fiona's other case). After I gave random Japanese man the 3 addresses we would be staying at within the next week, we headed to customs. Who are not nearly as scary and wanting to steal my harddrive as I thought, the guy just stared at my Yakkan Shoumei (medical certificate for bringing in medicine for more than one month) and my medication and was like 'Aye okay on you go sayonara'. Reminds me, when getting a Yakkan Shoumei if you can't buy Jp stamps or international response coupons you should write them a note like 'lol guys I'll send you 110 yen/3 Japanese stamps when I get to Japan promise'. Although to be honest 110 yen is like £1 so I don't really know if I'm going to actually do that because if they're going to chase me up for it that is quite stingy.
After customs, we headed outside to check when the bus would arrive to take us to our first hotel - Radisson Hotel Narita, but it wouldn't arrive for another half hour so we went to sit inside in the nice cold air conditioned airport arrivals section. We then went outside and got on the shuttle bus with some Japanese folk. The Radisson said it'd take about 15 minutes from the airport but it took twice that time. However, when we got there....
TO BE CONTINUED
I didn't want to have many transfers because of anxiety so I decided to go with BA, flying from Edinburgh to London and then London to Japan. It was about £500 return (but that was for premium economy, it's about £100 cheaper for just economy) I had to wait for a long time to book the return date I wanted because they only let you book for up to something like 350 days in advance but I think you can change it for free, anyway.
In the morning I got to the airport to discover the flight had been delayed and I wouldn't get to London until about 12, which was really worrying because my flight to Japan was scheduled to take off at 1:30 and I was already anxious about transferring at Heathrow despite it only being one transfer...However, a quick check on my phone app for BA showed the Japan flight was also delayed until 3pm so I felt better. I checked in online (do this by the way you can pick a seat for free 24 hours before the flight leaves, and print your boarding passes for both flights) but I had to wait for about an hour and a half at Edinburgh airport because there were 3 flights checking in at the one time (and there was no separate area for people just dropping off their suitcases) so yeah the BA website kind of lied when it said it would be quick lol. We were told to move into another queue but then the queue we were in had people served more quickly than us and mum was less than pleased to say the least. Anyhow, we finally managed to chuck our luggage in and then go upstairs to security where I had to say goodbye to my dad :( (I flew to London with my mum&bro&fiona because I wanted some company and mum&bro were going to London on a trip). Went through security in about 2 seconds flat then headed on to departures where it turned out we were sitting right in front of our departure gate which was pretty nice. On the plane on the way over we were served breakfast which was egg, bacon, mushroom and tomato. It was okay I guess but the bacon wasn't very nice...To be honest I was pretty upset on the plane because I realised it was really happening and I had to say goodbye for a year (plus yeah anxious about airports) so I started to cry (though not noticeably to everyone on the plane lol) . A nice flight attendant thought I was a nervous flyer and was really understanding when we explained I was worried about transferring at Heathrow and explained it to me so I felt a bit better. After leaving the plane and saying goodbye (:( ) Fiona and I went through to connecting flights and read the screen to see our gate would be up at about 13:55. To be honest, in the end it wasn't that difficult to transfer from Edinburgh to Heathrow, we were leaving from the same terminal we arrived in and it was easy enough to find a BA help desk with a really nice attendant who told us that it probably left from terminal building 5C and it would come up soon. Which it did, saying Gate C66. To get there, we had t get on a transit train that was really easy to find. As was the gate, but the Japanese people heading there might have helped a little.
Heathrow to Japan
So boarding time arrived and the woman mentioned something about a seat change. I was okay with this because I figured I'd just be moved forward a bit or something but when she gave me my new boarding pass she just so happened to mention the words "Enjoy, it's an upgrade to business class".
Yup. An upgrade to business class. Something I thought only happened in the movies. Business class was therefore pretty nice. They offered us a drink (including champagne) as soon as we got on the flight, and handed us a hot towel. The seats could recline in several different ways including turning into an actual bed. There was a foot rest, a pretty big table, and the entertainment system could be easily out away (although maybe that isn't very cool...)We got an actual menu to choose a 3 course meal from for dinner and breakfast. For dinner I had some sort of walnut rice salad, then beef with mashed potato and green beans, then for dessert I had chocolate pudding. They gave us fancy rolls, too. After dinner the lights were put out so we could try to sleep, but I still couldn't even though it turned into a bed~ For breakfast, we were given a Japanese style breakfast consisting of some sort of weird thing that looked like porridge but tasted bad, fruit, croissants/pastries. We were then offered a hot breakfast. Yeah, apparently business class people need 2 breakfasts. I didn't eat it though because I was stuffed by then.
With all that food the flight didn't seem to last very long and I didn't get to use the entertainment system as much as I wanted. I really wanted to watch tangled, and the avengers, and the lorax, and the hunger games etc but the only thing I would up doing was listening to 90s Music Collection (the Spice Girls) and.....One Direction. Don't judge me (although I think I should give up by now since everyone knows I like SMAP)
NARITA AIRPORT
We got off the plane (IT WAS HOT) to find some guy standing there who said one of Fiona's suitcases was arriving on the flight the next day because of some odd reason (Oh BA) so we were to meet him after we went through immigration to sort it out. Oh, Immigration. I like how the consulate was all YOU NEED EVERYTHING YOU OWN. There's a big queue for foreigners that you have to stand in for like 30-45 minutes before you finally go up to some guy behind a desk who doesn't seem to know much English. He looks at your passport and disembarking-tion card (which I totally did not think I had filled in properly) and then makes you give him your fingerprints and takes a photo of you. He then issues you with your new residence card, which uses YOUR CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY PHOTO. I guess mine isn't too bad but like I still look rather distressed and like a deer in headlights. After going through immigration random Japanese man was waiting for us who then took us downstairs to get our cases (or in Fiona's case her one case www nice pun there lauren) and they actually lifted them up onto a trolley which was really nice of them but this whole Japanese over politeness thing feels sort of strange to someone from Scotland who is used to having to do these sorts of things alone (although let's be fair he might have just helped because we had to go see about fiona's other case). After I gave random Japanese man the 3 addresses we would be staying at within the next week, we headed to customs. Who are not nearly as scary and wanting to steal my harddrive as I thought, the guy just stared at my Yakkan Shoumei (medical certificate for bringing in medicine for more than one month) and my medication and was like 'Aye okay on you go sayonara'. Reminds me, when getting a Yakkan Shoumei if you can't buy Jp stamps or international response coupons you should write them a note like 'lol guys I'll send you 110 yen/3 Japanese stamps when I get to Japan promise'. Although to be honest 110 yen is like £1 so I don't really know if I'm going to actually do that because if they're going to chase me up for it that is quite stingy.
After customs, we headed outside to check when the bus would arrive to take us to our first hotel - Radisson Hotel Narita, but it wouldn't arrive for another half hour so we went to sit inside in the nice cold air conditioned airport arrivals section. We then went outside and got on the shuttle bus with some Japanese folk. The Radisson said it'd take about 15 minutes from the airport but it took twice that time. However, when we got there....
TO BE CONTINUED
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Last Links
Hello~ I'm in Japan now, so expect a few posts soon. This post is about saying goodbye~
Last Links:
The last week before I left was basically a week of goodbye meetings x3: Goodbye to TomDev, Josh, and Saybry at Yo! Sushi, goodbye to Heatherence, Seemai, Sindy, Double Dawn, and Spickering at Chiquito (who gave me some lovely gifts along with Emma who was on holiday sadly and couldn't make it) and then saying goodbye to Jade, Demi, William and JOSH AGAIN because Josh has to be in my life all the time at EK. EK is very exciting okay. After going to EK, Demi and I ate dinner at McDonalds in Hamilton because we live the high life.
After saying goodbye to Demi it sort of hit me that I was going away for 10 months. I was upset before anyway, but I didn't cry in public because I was having fun at the time and not really thinking about going abroad. The next day was the day before I was to leave so I spent it being rather sad and panicked because I thought I wouldn't be able to play my Nintendo DS since the adapter I have doesn't work with the voltage and I couldn't find a voltage converter. It might seem silly to get upset over a DS, but playing video games is a hobby of mine and the only thing I could take was my DS so it was really upsetting to think about losing my hobby~ Edinburgh Uni provide you with a DSi to use but I still feel more comfortable with my own DS since it's...y'know, mine, and I don't have to worry about breaking it and having the wrath of Edinburgh Uni on me everytime I use it. However, I worked out I can charge it using the miraculous thing called a Power Monkey which charges your things using solar power, lol. Hopefully that will do because I didn't bring my DS plug with me...
I was also pretty sad because Satino. The day before I left when I was feeding him he kept giving me really cute looks and I felt really sad because I had to leave him soon and he wouldn't know (I know it sounds pretty sad since he's just a cat but I wonder if he'll miss me at all haha) I was crying as I let him out at night because I didn't want to say goodbye and didn't know if he'd be back in the morning...Okay so it probably sounds terrible that I cried saying goodbye to my cat but not when saying goodbye to my friends, but in my defence I was having a good time with them so I wasn't in the mood for crying and it hadn't sunk in I was leaving yet. I live with Satino and let him take up half my bed when I'm in it and got up at 3am once to let him in after a cat fight, I am clearly a really dedicated cat lady lol. However....he came back the next morning and promptly went to sleep in my bed. I was still reluctant to leave him, though.
Next blog shall be about the flight
Lauren Bell
Last Links:
The last week before I left was basically a week of goodbye meetings x3: Goodbye to TomDev, Josh, and Saybry at Yo! Sushi, goodbye to Heatherence, Seemai, Sindy, Double Dawn, and Spickering at Chiquito (who gave me some lovely gifts along with Emma who was on holiday sadly and couldn't make it) and then saying goodbye to Jade, Demi, William and JOSH AGAIN because Josh has to be in my life all the time at EK. EK is very exciting okay. After going to EK, Demi and I ate dinner at McDonalds in Hamilton because we live the high life.
After saying goodbye to Demi it sort of hit me that I was going away for 10 months. I was upset before anyway, but I didn't cry in public because I was having fun at the time and not really thinking about going abroad. The next day was the day before I was to leave so I spent it being rather sad and panicked because I thought I wouldn't be able to play my Nintendo DS since the adapter I have doesn't work with the voltage and I couldn't find a voltage converter. It might seem silly to get upset over a DS, but playing video games is a hobby of mine and the only thing I could take was my DS so it was really upsetting to think about losing my hobby~ Edinburgh Uni provide you with a DSi to use but I still feel more comfortable with my own DS since it's...y'know, mine, and I don't have to worry about breaking it and having the wrath of Edinburgh Uni on me everytime I use it. However, I worked out I can charge it using the miraculous thing called a Power Monkey which charges your things using solar power, lol. Hopefully that will do because I didn't bring my DS plug with me...
I was also pretty sad because Satino. The day before I left when I was feeding him he kept giving me really cute looks and I felt really sad because I had to leave him soon and he wouldn't know (I know it sounds pretty sad since he's just a cat but I wonder if he'll miss me at all haha) I was crying as I let him out at night because I didn't want to say goodbye and didn't know if he'd be back in the morning...Okay so it probably sounds terrible that I cried saying goodbye to my cat but not when saying goodbye to my friends, but in my defence I was having a good time with them so I wasn't in the mood for crying and it hadn't sunk in I was leaving yet. I live with Satino and let him take up half my bed when I'm in it and got up at 3am once to let him in after a cat fight, I am clearly a really dedicated cat lady lol. However....he came back the next morning and promptly went to sleep in my bed. I was still reluctant to leave him, though.
Next blog shall be about the flight
Lauren Bell
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
JEWEL: Getting Money for Japan
HOW TO GET MONEY
So I hope you've realised by now you probably will need some cash when you get to Japan. In my case, I have two credit cards to use, and my debit card which I'm unsure will work. I've also got some Japanese yen and some traveller's cheques. "But how do I get those?" I hear you ask. It's actually not that hard, so don't worry! I think you can probably get them at a travel agency, but to be honest it's probably easiest to just order from the post office. You can even order online, here: https://postoffice2.travelmoneyonline.co.uk/wizard/POLHD/STANDARD/
ICU suggested we take about £500 in cash and £2,500 in traveller's cheques to last for the first month or so (remember you need to pay things like health insurance fee, buy a bike, accommodation fee etc, which is why the figure might seem a bit high). Pro tip: if you're an ICU student at least, you can pay your first accommodation fee (3 months rent + admin fee) in traveller's cheques. Obviously get everything in yen though. Please don't just show up with £500. Also remember you have to sign the traveller's cheques (AS DO I, CRAP).
As for Japanese banking/getting money after that stuff runs out I don't have a clue. I think you have to set up a bank account, but I don't know how to so I really hope someone helps me. Also, I don't know where to convert traveller's cheques to yen...
That concludes my short instructions on how to get money.
Until next time,
Lauren
So I hope you've realised by now you probably will need some cash when you get to Japan. In my case, I have two credit cards to use, and my debit card which I'm unsure will work. I've also got some Japanese yen and some traveller's cheques. "But how do I get those?" I hear you ask. It's actually not that hard, so don't worry! I think you can probably get them at a travel agency, but to be honest it's probably easiest to just order from the post office. You can even order online, here: https://postoffice2.travelmoneyonline.co.uk/wizard/POLHD/STANDARD/
ICU suggested we take about £500 in cash and £2,500 in traveller's cheques to last for the first month or so (remember you need to pay things like health insurance fee, buy a bike, accommodation fee etc, which is why the figure might seem a bit high). Pro tip: if you're an ICU student at least, you can pay your first accommodation fee (3 months rent + admin fee) in traveller's cheques. Obviously get everything in yen though. Please don't just show up with £500. Also remember you have to sign the traveller's cheques (AS DO I, CRAP).
As for Japanese banking/getting money after that stuff runs out I don't have a clue. I think you have to set up a bank account, but I don't know how to so I really hope someone helps me. Also, I don't know where to convert traveller's cheques to yen...
That concludes my short instructions on how to get money.
Until next time,
Lauren
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Progress
HOW TO GET A VISA
So, the other week I went to apply for my visa at the Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh. http://www.edinburgh.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/visa.htm
^^ Ta-da~ before you go, you should bring the visa form on that website. Things that might be helpful to know about that form: There's no need to adhere to the photo dimensions, just use a passport sized photo. Your guarantor is usually your Japanese university, as is your inviter. Your job address should be Edinburgh University (or whichever uni you go to~) You probably don't need to fill in the ID number part (at least I didn't). For names and addresses of hotels, you need only put in your accommodation address, regardless if you're staying in a hotel or with Kimura Takuya when you get to Japan. Intended length of stay doesn't have to be exact.
The consulate is located somewhere off of Princes's Street (perhaps one day I'll add a map, but I can't be bothered right now) and was relatively easy to find, even if you did what me and Fiona did and take the bus past your actual destination and have to find your way using gps. I'd therefore recommend you walk it. So once you get there, you have to give them your form, your passport, your certificate of eligibility and a passport sized photo to the woman behind the counter (there might be more you have to give but it's not coming to mind right now). She'll then check over your form and point out anything you've missed. The visa itself isn't a separate card or anything (which I thought it would be...) but rather it's a page printed in your passport. Therefore you obviously need to get your passport back at some point. It usually takes 5-7 days to get this done. I asked to pick it up, so I didn't actually have to pay the fee (£23 for single entry visa) right then, but when I came back the following week. You can ask to have it delivered in which case you probably DO have to pay that £23 upfront.
When you get your visa back you get several sheets of paper with it about how when you move to Japan you should aim to get a house within 1 month. Which begs the question 'where do you stay during that month...'. Also, your certificate of eligibility will be stapled onto your visa and you're not allowed to remove it otherwise the Japanese gods will smite you.
Until next time,
Lauren
So, the other week I went to apply for my visa at the Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh. http://www.edinburgh.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/visa.htm
^^ Ta-da~ before you go, you should bring the visa form on that website. Things that might be helpful to know about that form: There's no need to adhere to the photo dimensions, just use a passport sized photo. Your guarantor is usually your Japanese university, as is your inviter. Your job address should be Edinburgh University (or whichever uni you go to~) You probably don't need to fill in the ID number part (at least I didn't). For names and addresses of hotels, you need only put in your accommodation address, regardless if you're staying in a hotel or with Kimura Takuya when you get to Japan. Intended length of stay doesn't have to be exact.
The consulate is located somewhere off of Princes's Street (perhaps one day I'll add a map, but I can't be bothered right now) and was relatively easy to find, even if you did what me and Fiona did and take the bus past your actual destination and have to find your way using gps. I'd therefore recommend you walk it. So once you get there, you have to give them your form, your passport, your certificate of eligibility and a passport sized photo to the woman behind the counter (there might be more you have to give but it's not coming to mind right now). She'll then check over your form and point out anything you've missed. The visa itself isn't a separate card or anything (which I thought it would be...) but rather it's a page printed in your passport. Therefore you obviously need to get your passport back at some point. It usually takes 5-7 days to get this done. I asked to pick it up, so I didn't actually have to pay the fee (£23 for single entry visa) right then, but when I came back the following week. You can ask to have it delivered in which case you probably DO have to pay that £23 upfront.
When you get your visa back you get several sheets of paper with it about how when you move to Japan you should aim to get a house within 1 month. Which begs the question 'where do you stay during that month...'. Also, your certificate of eligibility will be stapled onto your visa and you're not allowed to remove it otherwise the Japanese gods will smite you.
Until next time,
Lauren
Monday, 13 August 2012
Introduction
こんにちは！
Welcome to the blog of Lauren, a 20 year old Scottish girl about to embark on the scariest trip she's ever undertaken in her life. A year abroad in Tokyo, Japan, to study at International Christian University. Not only is this trip essential to my degree, but it may also be essential to my very existence. You see, if I'm being perfectly frank, I suffer from chronic anxiety disorder (doesn't it sound scary when you put it like that?!) and I have pretty low, low self confidence. As a result, I find that I get worked up by a lot of things and spend a lot of time being worried by what other people think. I try to change myself in order to appease others, feel embarrassed by things that actually make me happy from fear of being judged by others, worry about how I look in the eyes of other people. I don't particularly find myself interesting or attractive. There are a lot of times when I feel at a loss because I become worried that I'm bothering everyone by being anxious or by having low self confidence. I compare myself far too much against others and always worry about being the least popular.
Why did I turn out that way? It might seem silly to hang on to things said and done to you years ago, but I was always shy to begin with. Being called ugly, laughed at for daring to actually fancy someone, picked on for having different interests, being generally left out of things...all of these things and more culminated in my self confidence hitting a very low point. I'm not saying absolutely all of this was intentionally done to hurt me, and perhaps I should have had more of a backbone. Perhaps it's partly my fault for taking negative things people say to heart, and being unable to move on. In any case, I feel some of that treatment was unjust and has left me in a position where I can't quite believe it when people like me. I don't think I can ever fully forgive those who did and said things like that.
That being said, I'm not completely miserable 100% of the time. I have a lot of friends who I enjoy spending time with and who invite me to go places. I've been told by some that I deal with my anxiety better than I did before hand, and sometimes I have days when I feel really happy and more confident in myself and I'm able to actually do things. I can't be that bad if people still like to talk to me.
Now, the actual point of this blog, Japan. Honestly, when I chose to do Japanese in around 2009, I knew I was suffering from some sort of mental health problem because I was kind of miserable for the most of my last year of high school. I knew I'd have to go on a year abroad in 3rd year, but I genuinely believed that by the time that 3rd year came around, I would feel more confident, confident to the extent where I could actually have no qualms about going. But that hasn't been the case. As Japan drew nearer to actually becoming a reality, I found myself becoming more and more panicked. "People like me aren't supposed to go on years abroad" and "I can't do this, I don't know what I'm doing" are phrases that pass my mind a lot. However, I'm still trying my best to go through the things I have to do, so I guess I should give myself some credit for that. Choosing ICU to go to was also a point of contention. I really, really wanted to go to Kyoto, but due to my anxiety, I had to look at universities more carefully in order to determine which one I felt I would be most comfortable with. In the end, I came out with ICU. Even now, I can't fully get excited about my year abroad. I'm worried of what people at ICU might think of me once they realise how anxious I really am. I'm worried about actually having to speak Japanese, since I tend to freeze up and become unable to do so due to fear of being judged for making mistakes. I haven't actually studied much at all this summer because I'm anxious about my Japanese skills being poor.
So, on my year abroad, whilst I am obviously expected to improve immensely in Japanese, I also have to consider how to build my self confidence up and live as an individual who can believe the fact people like her without having to double check. It's true what they say about mental health issues carrying a huge stigma. Even by publishing this entry, I'm worried over the reaction I might receive from people I know, or those who found my blog through google. I'd please ask you, however, not to judge me purely on the fact that there are times when I become unsure of myself, and obviously not to judge me on this one blog entry detailing my honest feelings. Day to day, I'm usually willing to converse with people, go places, try new things, and have fun, even if it takes me a bit longer than others to become accustomed to things. I'm a huge lover of J-pop, K-pop, cats, J-dramas, karaoke/pretending I can sing, TV, cute things, video games, etc. With some feminism/equal rights thrown in. So don't expect my blog to be completely depressing - I have good days, too! But do expect a little bit of good natured fangirling. Sorry, guys.
On a lighter note, the next blog entry is going to be about how you get a visa. Because god knows I asked so many questions about how to get that visa I should work at the consulate. Also here's a shout out to Richard who kept pestering me to start the blog. Thanks, Richard.
To finish, have this video of a Japanese man yodelling.
Welcome to the blog of Lauren, a 20 year old Scottish girl about to embark on the scariest trip she's ever undertaken in her life. A year abroad in Tokyo, Japan, to study at International Christian University. Not only is this trip essential to my degree, but it may also be essential to my very existence. You see, if I'm being perfectly frank, I suffer from chronic anxiety disorder (doesn't it sound scary when you put it like that?!) and I have pretty low, low self confidence. As a result, I find that I get worked up by a lot of things and spend a lot of time being worried by what other people think. I try to change myself in order to appease others, feel embarrassed by things that actually make me happy from fear of being judged by others, worry about how I look in the eyes of other people. I don't particularly find myself interesting or attractive. There are a lot of times when I feel at a loss because I become worried that I'm bothering everyone by being anxious or by having low self confidence. I compare myself far too much against others and always worry about being the least popular.
Why did I turn out that way? It might seem silly to hang on to things said and done to you years ago, but I was always shy to begin with. Being called ugly, laughed at for daring to actually fancy someone, picked on for having different interests, being generally left out of things...all of these things and more culminated in my self confidence hitting a very low point. I'm not saying absolutely all of this was intentionally done to hurt me, and perhaps I should have had more of a backbone. Perhaps it's partly my fault for taking negative things people say to heart, and being unable to move on. In any case, I feel some of that treatment was unjust and has left me in a position where I can't quite believe it when people like me. I don't think I can ever fully forgive those who did and said things like that.
That being said, I'm not completely miserable 100% of the time. I have a lot of friends who I enjoy spending time with and who invite me to go places. I've been told by some that I deal with my anxiety better than I did before hand, and sometimes I have days when I feel really happy and more confident in myself and I'm able to actually do things. I can't be that bad if people still like to talk to me.
Now, the actual point of this blog, Japan. Honestly, when I chose to do Japanese in around 2009, I knew I was suffering from some sort of mental health problem because I was kind of miserable for the most of my last year of high school. I knew I'd have to go on a year abroad in 3rd year, but I genuinely believed that by the time that 3rd year came around, I would feel more confident, confident to the extent where I could actually have no qualms about going. But that hasn't been the case. As Japan drew nearer to actually becoming a reality, I found myself becoming more and more panicked. "People like me aren't supposed to go on years abroad" and "I can't do this, I don't know what I'm doing" are phrases that pass my mind a lot. However, I'm still trying my best to go through the things I have to do, so I guess I should give myself some credit for that. Choosing ICU to go to was also a point of contention. I really, really wanted to go to Kyoto, but due to my anxiety, I had to look at universities more carefully in order to determine which one I felt I would be most comfortable with. In the end, I came out with ICU. Even now, I can't fully get excited about my year abroad. I'm worried of what people at ICU might think of me once they realise how anxious I really am. I'm worried about actually having to speak Japanese, since I tend to freeze up and become unable to do so due to fear of being judged for making mistakes. I haven't actually studied much at all this summer because I'm anxious about my Japanese skills being poor.
So, on my year abroad, whilst I am obviously expected to improve immensely in Japanese, I also have to consider how to build my self confidence up and live as an individual who can believe the fact people like her without having to double check. It's true what they say about mental health issues carrying a huge stigma. Even by publishing this entry, I'm worried over the reaction I might receive from people I know, or those who found my blog through google. I'd please ask you, however, not to judge me purely on the fact that there are times when I become unsure of myself, and obviously not to judge me on this one blog entry detailing my honest feelings. Day to day, I'm usually willing to converse with people, go places, try new things, and have fun, even if it takes me a bit longer than others to become accustomed to things. I'm a huge lover of J-pop, K-pop, cats, J-dramas, karaoke/pretending I can sing, TV, cute things, video games, etc. With some feminism/equal rights thrown in. So don't expect my blog to be completely depressing - I have good days, too! But do expect a little bit of good natured fangirling. Sorry, guys.
On a lighter note, the next blog entry is going to be about how you get a visa. Because god knows I asked so many questions about how to get that visa I should work at the consulate. Also here's a shout out to Richard who kept pestering me to start the blog. Thanks, Richard.
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