Japan Style

In less than two weeks, I will be boarding a plane (several planes, really) to Osaka Japan's Kansai International Airport (KIX). I have reserved a hotel room at the Dotonbori hotel in downtown Osaka. It was pretty cheap as far as hotels go. I decided not to stay in a capsule hotel my first night because I've read a NYTimes article talking about the bad conditions there, and also about how salary men are staying there for months at a time because it's cheaper than an apartment. I'm not scared of salary men, but I think people who live in hotels for long periods of time tend to bring a place down a little bit.

I bought a big Pelican case to take all of my photo equipment to Japan with me. It's a 1640 Pelican case, and it is almost too big to fly with. It barely made the size limit by just .6 linear inches! The case itself weighs 35 lbs, so I can't take much more in it without paying overweight penalties. Good thing photo equipment isn't too heavy.

I've been studying pretty regularly on renshuu.org to be ready for the placement exam once I get there. I talked to me friend Trey yesterday at OSU, and he said you don't have to write kanji for the placement test! I was so relieved - that is single-handedly my weakest area. I understand stroke order very well, but I have trouble recalling which strokes to make at all. I can identify and read around 250 kanji, I think, but not much more than that. Grammar will be my weakest point on the placement exam because it's harder to study outside of class.

Everything is looking good! This should be a great adventure.


Tyler

Hey!

Don't listen to what the websites tell you about the yakkan shoumei. Turns out it is easier to get one than you think!

Yakkan Shoumei is a paper that allows you to bring more than 1 month's supply of prescription medication with you to Japan. You need the yakkan shoumei form on your person when you go through customs. Websites will tell you that you need to mail it to the bureau

First off, if you can fill out your application digitally (via Photoshop, GIMP, etc) then I recommend you do that so you have a copy for yourself. Also, you will need a digital copy if you are faxing via the internet or computer.

Grab the application from the internet - a search for "yakkan shoumei" will get you started. Fill out the application using the instructions and example pages in the PDF as your guide. I recommend you use information sheets/leaflets for the medications you will be using. These can be substituted for the "explanation of products" page. Make sure you have information for each of your medications.

After your application is filled out, make sure you have the following things (either printed or in PDF format):

Completed Yakkan Shoumei application
Copy of flight itinerary
Copy of prescriptions signed by doctor

Take all of these things and fax them to the Kinki Regional Bureau in Osaka, Japan. Their fax number can be found on the application. If you aren't going the digital route, then you will probably need to scan each document to fax them.

My fax took about 17 minutes to send everything - I had about 18 pages in all. You should receive a return fax with a statement saying your original will be mailed to you. The fax will also have a scan of your yakkan shoumei completed!

No postage stamps, no "Coupon Réponse International", and no 2-week delay for your yakkan shoumei!


Tyler

Hello!

I have wonderful news! I have been accepted into Kansai Gaidai. I received my acceptance letter via email last week. Megan has received hers too, but we are still waiting on Blaine's...more on that later.

I was looking through my information, and it seems that Kansai Gaidai picks us up directly from the Kansai International Airport. The pick-up service is ¥2000 and runs from 9am-6pm on the 23rd.

However...my flight doesn't get in until 7pm. What's more, they don't run the service on the next day (Sunday), so I couldn't use the service until Monday - almost 36 hours later. I think it would be fun to make our own way to Kansai Gaidai, and potentially cheaper by about ¥500, with exception to the hotels. However, hotels are a sunk cost, given the circumstances. That expense will happen either way.

Megan and Blaine will arrive about 13 hours later than I! Wow! That means I have to figure out hotel arrangements all on my lonesome the first night. Should be interesting...! Oh my, the possibilities.

I think, if, possible, I'll be booking through Orbitz or something similar on the state-side, so that when I get there all I will have to do is show my papers to get my room.

I still need to get my visa. Waiting on KG for that one too.


Tyler

Man, this keeps bogging me down!

I received an email last week from Kansai Gaidai saying that they'd received my application, but there was a concern on my medical evaluation form. They wanted my doctor to send another letter explaining that I was just fine. As if the first one wasn't enough.

So...my application still hasn't been accepted and it's upsetting. I should have it fixed by the end of this week. Time will tell.


Tyler

At long last, my application to Kansai Gaidai is complete! I received the medical evaluation from my Mom via email yesterday, and turned in the application to Kat today. She also had me sign a contract saying that I agreed to pay OSU room and board, tuition, and fees in exchange for those same services at Kansai Gaidai.

We talked briefly about the girl that was there this semester that came home early. I don't want that to happen to any of us next semester!

Apparently the meal plan over there works like this: You are given breakfast and dinner at your residence hall, but lunch is reimbursed monthly. This is good, I think, because I can eat off-campus or wherever I would like for lunch everyday.

Still working on my course equivalency. I thought it was due today so I panicked and got a lot of work done on it today. This is a good thing, too! Sometimes I just have to get kicked into motion.


Tyler

I went in for the course equivalency part of my study abroad adventure today. I got a lot more than expected...and a little less too.

I took the half-hour before my meeting to determine my classes and print out their course descriptions. I should be taking some fun and easy classes next semester - things like "The Visual Anthropology of Japan," "Religion in Japan," and "Sexuality in Japan," and also my language classes. I'm excited for them.

I got into what appears to be a 10-minute argument with Kat, the coordinator for reciprocal exchange, in the office today. I came in and asked about my expense estimate, and she got upset very quickly. I'll try to lay it out as objectively as possible.

August 31st: I email Anne asking for an expense estimate to help fill out my Bridging and Gilman scholarship forms. She forwards the message to Linda Millis and Kat to "get the process started."

September 22nd: A follow-up email to Kat reveals that she did not start the estimate as asked. She did not think it necessary as the numbers would be more accurate as we came upon the study abroad date. She wanted me to have talked to Linda Millis first.

Later that day: Message from Kat: "This is the first time I hear that you need the expense estimate. You are now on my list, it will be done by the end of the next week."

Fast forward to today, September 30th: She doesn't have the expense estimate because she assumed it was for federal financial aid. She assumed wrong.

She got very terse, very exasperated, and quite upset about the whole thing. She raised her voice at me, too, while I kept my calm. It wasn't fun in the slightest. After that, she produced my course equivalence sheet for me. We ended the meeting on friendly (enough) terms.

From now on, I told her, I will give her every deadline and tell her exactly what to do when, and give no wiggle room or doubt in her mind as to my intentions. That's apparently the only way to get things done.

My next step is to get signatures from my advisors confirming my courses will count for me.


Tyler

Hey!

I've been working on my application for the past week or so. I guess I need to fill you in on that!

Kansai eventually sent us the link to K-GENESYS (it does indeed exist) it's really nice and efficient. About half of it is filled online, and the other half is a series of documents that you print, fill out, and mail to Kansai Gaidai. My study abroad office offered to mail them for me. yay! According to the timeline, My app was supposed to be turned in 2 weeks ago, but we're okay on time I think.

I ordered my plane ticket yesterday morning. I will be flying alone to Japan. It's unfortunate, but it had to be. Megan and Blaine got their airfare paid for with miles which is awesome! But...they must fly through Guam and that flight would have been $2400 for me. That's too much.

I will be flying from Tulsa to Houston, then to Narita, then to Kansai International. The return trip is the same. All in all, the airfare was about $1400. Not bad at all, and cheaper than when I went in 2008 for sure (thank you cheap oil prices).

Should get my paper application completed and turned in Wednesday. Probably will receive the rest of my documents next week to wrap up the process. I go in for course equivalency on tomorrow, too. What classes do I want to take...


Tyler

ps - My computer's been in for repairs for 13 days, so I haven't had access to my photos and such. Sorry for the lack of multimedia in this post.