23 posts tagged “preparation”

The flight to Japan was my second flight out of the country, only this time, I was alone. It crushed four of the preconceptions I had about flights that long:

1. Getting around would be hard because of the language barrier. When there was something that I needed to know to not miss a flight or not get lost, there were written translations, and English speakers. At Tokyo Narita International Airport, every PA announcement was bilingual: they would say the Japanese, sound a tone, and say the English version. I could have gotten around without any Japanese.
2. I would lose my bags. I didn't lose my bags. I almost lost my bags when I didn't know to transfer the bags from my international flight to my regional flight. However, one of the staff members called me on the PA, walked me back to the baggage carousel, and walked me back to the check-in counter. That was my first encounter with Japanese-style customer service.
   
3. I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone in English. There were several Americans on my flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. They were headed to the US military base in Sasebo, I believe.
4. I would die of boredom before arrival. There were video displays with movies playing constantly for the international portion of the flight. The buttons on mine were broken, but I listened to music endlessly, played Game Boy, and fit a nap or two in  there somewhere. I felt like dying every time I saw the airplane icon as it slowly made its way from Chicago to Tokyo, but when I ignored that (and took off my watch), the trip became much more bearable.

A few days ago I sat on my glasses. With the frames I have been purchasing for several years now, this was not a problem. That frame bends in order to accommodate these accidents. For the new frame that I got on my last pair of lenses, this is not the case. The right arm nearly came off, and I could tell the screw was damaged. Luckily, I brought three pairs of glasses with me on this trip (do it!), so I put on lucky pair number two.

Thankfully, the dorm is across the road from an AEON, a mega-shop with groceries, a toy store, restaurants, clothing stores, a food court, and various other shops, all under one roof. (To those I left behind: think of our mall, only not as winding, and with shops pouring into the hallway instead of sitting behind small entryways.) One of the stores is an eyeglass shoppe, so I took my pair there.

As I walked in, people started yelling いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase - welcome!) at me, and of course no one knew English. I nodded and grunted and pointed at my glasses until they noticed what was wrong themselves. They sat me down at a table and I didn't see anyone for 15 minutes, when the guy came back to say that something was 「悪い」 (warui - bad) and that it would take longer. About 10 minutes later they brought back the glasses, presumably told me that there was no charge, then replied that there was no charge when I asked how much it was.

Then, of course, every person in the store yelled greetings at me as I walked out, as they do in this crazy part of the world. I swear one day I'll get used to it.

Items you can be sure I'll have on me when I travel:

• Debit card
• Credit card (VISA)
• Alternative ID (in my case, student ID)
• International SOS card -- emergency insurance
• Health insurance card
• Passport with visa

I have a record of numbers and phone numbers on everything above, one copy with my stuff and another copy at home with my parents.

By the way, I've finished all the todo items from my previous post "Visa Arrived!", but instead of canceling NetFlix, I just created an extra queue for someone else and allocated all my DVDs to them. This is because they only keep account information for three months after you cancel, which isn't long enough. They also don't allow you to "pause" your account.

I get lost ridiculously easily, so a compass has been on my list of items to have on this trip for a long time. I couldn't think of where to actually buy one for a while, though. I finally found a compass at Dick's Sporting Goods in the camping department. It also has a whistle and flashlight (among other things), which will probably be nice to have.

I found luggage tags and a travel pouch while I was looking for outlet adapters at Radio Shack. The Radio Shack Man told me that for the devices I had questions about---my laptop and cell phone charger---I probably don't need any adapter. The outlets are the same, even if the frequency and voltage are slightly lower. Checking the tolerances on my stuff tells me Japan's 50Hz/100V outlets should work just fine.

Faced with the choices available to me for being able to talk with family while abroad, I settled on buying a SkypeIn number for $12 (which I'll have to renew in three months for another $12). It gives me a US phone number that's cheap for my family to call, and voicemail for when I'm not at my computer.

My other options were voice chat over Google Talk, taking a Vonage box with me, renting a cell phone in Japan, and using my room phone. Google Talk would require everyone to use their computer to talk with me, which is a pain to set up, multiplied by the number of people that would have to do it. A second Vonage line seems to be a lot more expensive for me ($100 for four months vs. $24 for Skype), though it would also give me a US number and much better services. Renting a cell phone is just plain expensive, and my room phone would have a Japan number, which is very expensive for family to call.

If you don't have my Skype number and I know you, ask for it via e-mail. I think I've told everyone, though.

Why go to Japan?

I'm going in order to find out what traveling abroad by myself is like. Learning better Japanese and getting school credit are side quests to getting cultured. There wasn't any deep-rooted childhood fascination with the samurai, or otaku-like interest in anime, before I decided to go. Excitement about Japan came after the decision was made, but now I'm really pumped that I made a great choice.

But it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, either. I didn't just toss a dart at an globe. Really, what kid my age owns an globe? I had a friend who took Japanese in high school. Hearing about it from him made me want to take the class myself, and I got the chance to do that last year. I've had three semesters of that crazy-challenging (and fun) course since then. It's a real eye-opener, learning what people do and how they talk on the other side of Earth.

I was in my third semester when the time seemed best for traveling abroad. When I evaluated my options---basically every place on the planet was fair game---Japan came out first. The only other language I'd studied was Spanish, and my vacation in Roatán, Honduras showed me that my Spanish is basically gone anyway.

Even though going to Japan hasn't been my lifelong dream, I'm as excited as anyone could possibly be over getting to go. I've been researching and planning and anticipating for months, so now that I leave in two days, I don't know what to do with myself. My room's a mess, with items and clothing strewn everywhere, waiting to be sorted into a suitcase. I'm up at this dizzy hour because in Japan it's only 6 PM (make that 5 PM, thanks to DST). But thankfully, you can't see any of that.

So if you have any last-minute tips that might save my life, now's the time to fess up. The clock is ticking.

The program e-mailed yesterday to offer futon rental for my stay, ask for my arrival information, and also request I have my physician submit information about my health. I had a physical examination several months ago, but there is hardly any overlap between what was tested then and want Kyushu University wants tested. I need a whole new examination to get the new information.

This would have been possible if I'd received the request a few weeks ago, but my flight leaves in five days, only three of which are business days. There is no place I could schedule these tests, let alone get the results back before the weekend.

I'll have to have the tests performed once I arrive, which means that having x-rays and blood taken is going to be part of my welcome ceremony. Yuck.

Yesterday my application for a visa arrived around midday. It was processed with blazing speed:

• Tuesday: Mailed the application
  
• Wednesday: Application arrived
• Thursday: Application mailed back
• Friday: Application arrived

I must have picked an off-season.

Now for planning and packing. Here are a few of the things I've taken care of or still need to take care of before I go:

• Look up the luggage limits (for each airline!) to see how much I can carry
• Cancel my NetFlix subscription
• Make copies of important documents: one copy for me, and one copy for leaving at home with family
• Copy important addresses and phone numbers, including those of the US Embassy in Japan
• Copy the numbers and phone numbers on all the cards in my wallet, again keeping a copy and leaving one at home
• Shop for clothing, etc., for the trip (guided by The Universal Packing List)
  

The flight is drawing very close, and I'm still waiting on my Certificate of Eligibility. I was assured it would arrive late this week, but now there's only one day left before mail carriers blackout for the weekend. I hope it arrives today, as I have all the materials ready to (nearly) immediately mail the visa application to Detroit for final processing.

I've also started to think about about what I want to have with me when I finally get on the plane. As an average-sized American guy, will I be able to find clothing once I'm there, or do I need to stock up before I leave? Do I need anything other than clothes and my laptop? I have some Internet searching and JapanesePod searching to do.

This last month was an unofficial blogging break, and surprisingly not because I was tired after writing that series on the welcome packet. To put it simply, nothing happened. I gathered and mailed my materials for the application for the "certificate of eligibility" from Kyushu University (which only required passport photos, personal information, etc.), and bought some plane tickets (through cheaptickets.com, by the way). Quite the boring month, I must say. There's a lot left to do, but I'm ready to quit the planning stages and go there already.

What prompted me to write now is that today I pre-emptively called the university to check on the status of my application*. They told me that it had been approved and that they were planning on mailing it later today (where by "today" I mean their "today," which begins just as mine is ending). Nice timing --- a few days better than their 14-day forecast --- and especially nice news given how little time there is left for error in this visa application process.

According to the page on travel visas on the Embassy of Japan in United States web site, my closest consulate is in Detroit, Michigan, whose application predicts a 5-day turn-around time for student visa applications. Given that my certificate of eligibility won't arrive until later this week, and I have a plane ticket for March 26th, there is reason for alarm. I need to stay on top of things, because there is no longer room for error.

It's nice to see things falling into place.

* I've called the university so many times for similar reasons that by now every person on call knows my name. Every time, I listen to their introduction (in half-understanding) and ask, "英語で、大丈夫ですか (eigo de, daijoubu desu ka - Is English all right?)." I hadn't realized the impression I was making until this time I was immediately asked, "Oh, is this Thomas?" The good part about calling so often is that now I recognize their voices, too, and know when they answer the phone whether the person knows English or will forward me to someone who does.