Now, you may have already begun considering this question on your own. For me, it was one of the first things I started wondering about when I seriously began planning my semester abroad about this time last year. And that question is simple to ask, but a little bit complicated to answer:
How are you going to stay connected to the internet while you're in Japan?
Now, I get that to some, this may seem like an overblown question. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. are all hardly what one would truly consider necessities, and I would agree with that. I'm not out to offend any older generations with my attachment to the web and/or social media (though I do have lots of friends on some of those sites whom I do genuinely hope to be able to stay in touch with).
But internet access means so much more than being able to access these sites. It also means having a GPS in your pocket everywhere you go, which can help keep you from getting hopelessly lost in a foreign country. It means having an app that alerts you when your train is pulling into the station at a given platform, so you don't end up getting on the wrong train (and thereby ending up hopelessly lost in a foreign country). It means being able to stay in touch with your friends and family back home, as well as being able to reach emergency services if something goes wrong (in Japan, 119 for fire/ambulance, and 110 for the police). It means having live weather-monitoring services, earthquake early-warning systems, and what basically amounts to a pocket translator (Google Translate, while not always 100% accurate, is still your best friend, especially if you can read/type kana).
Essentially, for the student traveling abroad, internet access is, indeed, absolutely essential.
"I have a smartphone," you say. "I'll be good to go. I'll just be careful with the amount of data I use; my talk and text are unlimited." Unfortunately, most unlimited talk and texts plans only cover North America. Verizon Wireless, for example, will charge you $15 a day to use your plan as normal while in any other region of the world. If you're going to be abroad for, say, around 140 days, that means you'll be spending $2100 on just having your normal cell plan available to you (and that's besides whatever your plan normally costs).
This, obviously, is not an option.
You could, theoretically, just buy an entirely new cell phone abroad, but I didn't end up going that route (buying a new phone sounds a bit more expensive than I want to deal with). Similarly, most smartphones sold in the US are bound to a certain company (unless you specifically buy it "unlocked"), so you can't just get a new SIM card while abroad and trade it out for your old one. (Plus, then you have to worry about losing your tiny home SIM card while you're outside of the country, and with it, your mobile phone number.) Also important to note is that just as you have to pay extra money to call foreign numbers from a North American mobile number, you'd have to pay extra to call friends and family back home from your new Japanese number.
"Well, I'll just use public WiFi," you argue. But, as I believe I've mentioned once or twice in earlier posts, WiFi is not nearly as ubiquitous in Japan as it is in America. In fact, one of the things Kansai Gaidai made clear to students applying for a homestay is that homestay families are not required to have WiFi (or even Internet access) available at all to their homestay students. While most hotels and many tourist attractions have WiFi (and usually whichever school you're attending will too), it's certainly not able to be found everywhere. And besides that, how are you going to use Apple Maps (or Google Maps, whichever it may be that you prefer) if you're stuck hopping from hotspot to hotspot everywhere you go, entirely at the mercy of the shops and businesses around you and their willingness to offer free WiFi?
The answer, basically, is that you're not. You can't.
Unless you can take the WiFi with you everywhere you go.
Enter the genius invention that is pocket WiFi. You are given a little hotspot, basically a mobile WiFi router, that fits in your pocket. (The name is fairly self-explanatory.) The router is connected to one of Japan's cellular networks (which are, thankfully, pretty much omnipresent at this point, at least in the populated areas). As long as you're somewhere with a cell signal, and you have this little doohickey in your pocket, the internet is at your fingertips, like always.
(To make sure your phone company doesn't hit you with extra fees back home, make sure to let them know you're studying abroad soon. Verizon told me to just use my phone only in airplane/WiFi-only mode, and that doing so should prevent me from stacking up any extra charges beyond my normal cell plan. And since it's still technically connected, and able to access Japanese cellular networks (even if for an extra cost), I'll be able to use it as normal in case of emergency.)
Something important to note about pocket WiFi is that it's not unlimited (so far as I know). I'm signed up for 30GB of data a month (which is considered a medium-sized plan at the company I'm going with). I'll have WiFi access for free whenever I'm at school, and I have all of my fingers crossed that I'll have internet access at my homestay too (though it's certainly not a dealbreaker if they don't, by any means; I know what I'm possibly signing up for). So, when I'm out and about, I'll have around a gigabyte of data available to me every day. Considering I'm probably going to be using the GPS built into my phone a lot, that's probably a good thing. If I end up needing more or less, I will definitely let you guys know, so you have a better idea of what to expect you'll need.
The 30GB data plan I'm going to be working with is going to cost me around $50 a month, but that's very little compared to the $2100 we were talking about just to have my normal 1GB a month I get through my cell plan. So, assuming it works well, the connectivity is strong, and the battery life of the hotspot is decent, I should be good to go.
And again, I'm not being paid to endorse any particular company, but I'll tell you that I'm getting pocket WiFi through Sakura Mobile, since they offer special plans for travelers planning to use the pocket WiFi for more than 90 days (and because their name is, objectively speaking, really, really cool). Sakura Mobile can deliver the hotspot to an address/hotel, or allow you to pick it up at the airport. And if you don't want to use your credit card to pay, you can also pay with cash at several different convenience stores, such as Lawson's and FamilyMart.
But, interestingly enough, not 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven, apparently, is not the answer to every question the Japan-bound student may have.
TL;DR: If you want to maintain internet access while studying in Japan, looking into pocket WiFi is probably the most cost-efficient and user-friendly way to go.
And this information is important enough that it bears being included again in the summary: In Japan, you can reach emergency services at 119 for fire and ambulance, and 110 for police.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Friday, December 28, 2018
A Quick Shameless Self-Advertisement Plug
We interrupt your totally-irregular scheduling with an exciting (at least to me) message.
Earlier this month, I self-published my first book, a paperback through Kindle Direct Publishing! It's a collection of my poetry from the past few years. I think I ended up with 36 poems in here at final count.
The book is also available as an eBook, if you prefer those! Despite the price difference, I personally actually only make like $1 more from the paperback than from the eBook, so if you want to get the eBook to save money, I promise that I will not be offended at all.
Also, this is my first time self-publishing, so if there are any issues--glaring typos I missed, poor cover quality, or formatting errors I didn't catch in the proof copies, etc--please do let me know so I can try to get the problems edited out and fixed. I have been working hard to polish both versions up over the past couple weeks, but like I said, this is my first time--I may have made some mistakes!
The eBook version of the book should be available globally, anywhere you can use Amazon (whether the UK, Japan, the US, etc).
The paperback is available in most markets too.
You can also find it by searching "Elizabeth Ree" on Amazon; the Kindle version is the first result, and the paperback version is just a bit farther down.
Oh, and if you get either version of the book, whether you like it or not, please write an honest review! The more reviews I get, the more likely Amazon is to show people the book as a recommended item. Even if it's not 5 stars, let me know what you think!
That's all for this brief interruption. Even if you decide not to get a copy, thank you for reading this post! Have a Happy New Year, fellow travelers, and I'll be back soon with more posts about preparing to study in Japan.
The Problem of International Money Movements
So, you have your passport and your visa. You've got your plane tickets. You've even started packing (which will get its own separate blog post in the very near future). But now there's another big question--how are you going to get to your money while abroad? Where are you going to get Japanese cash? How are you going to make purchases in Japan without piling up bunches of foreign transaction fees?
Before we go any farther, let me just say that I'm not being paid by anybody to suggest any of the following brands or services. I've just done buckets of research over the past few months trying to find the best places to get this stuff done, and these are the brands I've discovered seem to offer the best deals. Of course, I've just recently gotten them and haven't tried to use them abroad yet, so we'll have to wait and see whether it all works out properly or not.
First of all, you're going to want to get a checking account that your home institution can deposit your financial aid into, and that comes with a debit card you can use to get cash out of Japanese ATMs. (And yes, you will have to get cash out of ATMs. Japan is still much more of a cash-reliant country than the US, and you shouldn't be surprised if a restaurant, non-chain hotel, or shop doesn't allow credit or debit cards. Even where credit/debit cards are accepted, you're likely to find that only VISA and Mastercard are allowed. AmEx and Discover can be used some places in Japan, but far fewer than the two brands above.)
The checking account I ended up going with is Capital One's 360 Checking. This is an online checking account, rather than an account you have to set up at a physical branch (though if you have a branch near you, you can go that route as well). The biggest reason I chose this one is that, unlike literally every other checking account option I looked at (through US Bank, CitiBank, Wells Fargo, etc.), it doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. If you use the debit card provided (a Mastercard, hooray!) in Japan, it will use the current exchange rate, and won't hit you with an extra 3-4% fee on top of the cost. From what I've read, it also doesn't charge any extra fees when you use it to withdraw cash from certain ATMs in Japan.
You can look into opening a Capital One 360 Checking account here.
Which brings us to the next thing, finding friendly ATMs that won't hit you with extra fees either here or there. An interesting thing about Japan is that, for whatever reason, 7-Eleven (yes, the convenience store) is much more popular over there than it is even here in the States. You can find 7-Eleven pretty much everywhere in Japan. They and Lawson's are the two biggest convenience store brands in Japan (or, as you say in Japanese, konbini).
Okay, so there are 7-Elevens everywhere. But how does this help the globetrotting college student? Stay with me. 7-Eleven's Japanese branch also runs a bank, called SevenBank. Yes, you read that right. 7-Eleven has a bank. And every 7-Eleven in Japan has an ATM in it, which is a SevenBank ATM. And SevenBank ATMs, for whatever reason, play extremely nice with American credit/debit cards. They don't charge you any fees for using them to withdraw yen in cash. So, basically, SevenBank is your new best friend.
Assuming, of course, that you get a debit card (like Capital One 360) that won't hammer you with fees on the American end, either.
Do note, though, that SevenBank ATMs may charge a small fee if you use them during off hours or on the weekends, and some cards may not be usable for small periods of time in the middle of the night (11:50 PM through 12:10 AM for Mastercards, if I recall correctly). I'm not sure why the cards aren't accessible for those ten or twenty minutes, but I'm sure there must be a reason. It may be so that the ATMs can be updated with the day's exchange rate or something; who knows.
You can find more info about SevenBank ATMs here, and info about the hours when a given card brand is usable here.
There are options for buying yen in cash online ahead of time, but I've ended up deciding not to go that route because of all the extra fees that seem to get tacked on everywhere (and the fact that a really bad exchange rate is usually the one used). I'm going to try to get some yen out of an ATM in Tokyo first thing, and if that doesn't work, I'm going to have some cash available that I can exchange for yen at the airport. Of course, that will also mean extra fees, but even if that happens, it won't be the end of the world. (I guess.)
And, of course, even if you don't plan to use it, make sure to take at least one credit card with you. You never know when an emergency might come up and you'd need it.
I hope someone else studying abroad in Japan can find this post to be helpful! It took me a long time to sift through everything and find the best options, and while I found different travel blogs that suggested one thing or another for certain financial questions, I never found any one post that actually helpfully summed everything up like this.
I will definitely let you guys know if these solutions work for me, or if for whatever reason, they end up not working as advertised.
TL;DR: The best solutions I've found for accessing money in Japan are as follows:
Checking account: Capital One 360
Debit card: Capital One 360 Mastercard
ATMs in Japan: SevenBank (at 7-Eleven)
Before we go any farther, let me just say that I'm not being paid by anybody to suggest any of the following brands or services. I've just done buckets of research over the past few months trying to find the best places to get this stuff done, and these are the brands I've discovered seem to offer the best deals. Of course, I've just recently gotten them and haven't tried to use them abroad yet, so we'll have to wait and see whether it all works out properly or not.
First of all, you're going to want to get a checking account that your home institution can deposit your financial aid into, and that comes with a debit card you can use to get cash out of Japanese ATMs. (And yes, you will have to get cash out of ATMs. Japan is still much more of a cash-reliant country than the US, and you shouldn't be surprised if a restaurant, non-chain hotel, or shop doesn't allow credit or debit cards. Even where credit/debit cards are accepted, you're likely to find that only VISA and Mastercard are allowed. AmEx and Discover can be used some places in Japan, but far fewer than the two brands above.)
The checking account I ended up going with is Capital One's 360 Checking. This is an online checking account, rather than an account you have to set up at a physical branch (though if you have a branch near you, you can go that route as well). The biggest reason I chose this one is that, unlike literally every other checking account option I looked at (through US Bank, CitiBank, Wells Fargo, etc.), it doesn't charge foreign transaction fees. If you use the debit card provided (a Mastercard, hooray!) in Japan, it will use the current exchange rate, and won't hit you with an extra 3-4% fee on top of the cost. From what I've read, it also doesn't charge any extra fees when you use it to withdraw cash from certain ATMs in Japan.
You can look into opening a Capital One 360 Checking account here.
Which brings us to the next thing, finding friendly ATMs that won't hit you with extra fees either here or there. An interesting thing about Japan is that, for whatever reason, 7-Eleven (yes, the convenience store) is much more popular over there than it is even here in the States. You can find 7-Eleven pretty much everywhere in Japan. They and Lawson's are the two biggest convenience store brands in Japan (or, as you say in Japanese, konbini).
Okay, so there are 7-Elevens everywhere. But how does this help the globetrotting college student? Stay with me. 7-Eleven's Japanese branch also runs a bank, called SevenBank. Yes, you read that right. 7-Eleven has a bank. And every 7-Eleven in Japan has an ATM in it, which is a SevenBank ATM. And SevenBank ATMs, for whatever reason, play extremely nice with American credit/debit cards. They don't charge you any fees for using them to withdraw yen in cash. So, basically, SevenBank is your new best friend.
Assuming, of course, that you get a debit card (like Capital One 360) that won't hammer you with fees on the American end, either.
Do note, though, that SevenBank ATMs may charge a small fee if you use them during off hours or on the weekends, and some cards may not be usable for small periods of time in the middle of the night (11:50 PM through 12:10 AM for Mastercards, if I recall correctly). I'm not sure why the cards aren't accessible for those ten or twenty minutes, but I'm sure there must be a reason. It may be so that the ATMs can be updated with the day's exchange rate or something; who knows.
You can find more info about SevenBank ATMs here, and info about the hours when a given card brand is usable here.
There are options for buying yen in cash online ahead of time, but I've ended up deciding not to go that route because of all the extra fees that seem to get tacked on everywhere (and the fact that a really bad exchange rate is usually the one used). I'm going to try to get some yen out of an ATM in Tokyo first thing, and if that doesn't work, I'm going to have some cash available that I can exchange for yen at the airport. Of course, that will also mean extra fees, but even if that happens, it won't be the end of the world. (I guess.)
And, of course, even if you don't plan to use it, make sure to take at least one credit card with you. You never know when an emergency might come up and you'd need it.
I hope someone else studying abroad in Japan can find this post to be helpful! It took me a long time to sift through everything and find the best options, and while I found different travel blogs that suggested one thing or another for certain financial questions, I never found any one post that actually helpfully summed everything up like this.
I will definitely let you guys know if these solutions work for me, or if for whatever reason, they end up not working as advertised.
TL;DR: The best solutions I've found for accessing money in Japan are as follows:
Checking account: Capital One 360
Debit card: Capital One 360 Mastercard
ATMs in Japan: SevenBank (at 7-Eleven)
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Minor Apprehensions
Don't get me wrong. I'm still beyond excited to go, and now that I've already bought my plane tickets and got my visa, there'd be no room to chicken out even if I wanted to.
That said, I'm starting to feel a little bit nervous. I don't think anything's going to go wrong, and I'm sure I'll have a great time. I'm not so much worried about what's going to happen there, as what I'm going to miss here.
I'm going to miss my brother's high school graduation next May, my little sister's birthday and her confirmation, and my littlest brother's birthday. Several of my closest college friends are seniors, and after next week, I might never get to see them again in my life. I'm not gonna get to see my best campus friend's senior art show, or see all of my senior friends walk at graduation.
I'm glad I finally get to go to Japan, and I wouldn't trade this opportunity for the world. I'm just... really gonna miss my friends and family on this side of the globe too. I know I can still call and text and stuff (pocket wifi for the win), and I know part of the reason this blog exists is to be able to stay in touch with the people I care about (especially since I didn't end up getting the Gilman).
It's just... hard to believe the semester is already over. I went stargazing and on a hayride with some friends back in August, right after the summer started, and that feels like forever ago, and yet, at the same time, the time since then has absolutely rushed by. It felt unreal when fall break got here back in October, and even more so when Thanksgiving break rolled around a couple weeks ago. And now, here I am, a week from winter break. After this semester, I only have two more here at my home school, and then it'll be off to grad school.
I realize this post is a lot more rambly than most, and there's a pretty good chance this is the most rambly post I'll have on here. I just needed to get my thoughts out.
I'm going to be a better person for the experience, I know. But it's still hard knowing that the world back home is going to go on without me, and that I'm going to miss a lot of things. I'm definitely so excited to go on this adventure, and like I said, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
It just sort of feels like I really am going to have to trade my whole home world so that I can go.
That said, I'm starting to feel a little bit nervous. I don't think anything's going to go wrong, and I'm sure I'll have a great time. I'm not so much worried about what's going to happen there, as what I'm going to miss here.
I'm going to miss my brother's high school graduation next May, my little sister's birthday and her confirmation, and my littlest brother's birthday. Several of my closest college friends are seniors, and after next week, I might never get to see them again in my life. I'm not gonna get to see my best campus friend's senior art show, or see all of my senior friends walk at graduation.
I'm glad I finally get to go to Japan, and I wouldn't trade this opportunity for the world. I'm just... really gonna miss my friends and family on this side of the globe too. I know I can still call and text and stuff (pocket wifi for the win), and I know part of the reason this blog exists is to be able to stay in touch with the people I care about (especially since I didn't end up getting the Gilman).
It's just... hard to believe the semester is already over. I went stargazing and on a hayride with some friends back in August, right after the summer started, and that feels like forever ago, and yet, at the same time, the time since then has absolutely rushed by. It felt unreal when fall break got here back in October, and even more so when Thanksgiving break rolled around a couple weeks ago. And now, here I am, a week from winter break. After this semester, I only have two more here at my home school, and then it'll be off to grad school.
I realize this post is a lot more rambly than most, and there's a pretty good chance this is the most rambly post I'll have on here. I just needed to get my thoughts out.
I'm going to be a better person for the experience, I know. But it's still hard knowing that the world back home is going to go on without me, and that I'm going to miss a lot of things. I'm definitely so excited to go on this adventure, and like I said, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
It just sort of feels like I really am going to have to trade my whole home world so that I can go.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Apply Now to Get Your Visa
No, not a credit card. (Though I'm applying for one of those in the near future, too. Time to start building a credit history!) No, the kind of visa I'm talking about is a student visa.
US citizens can visit Japan for periods of up to 90 days with just their passport. However, a semester is a bit longer than that--usually somewhere around 100 to 120 days. I'll be in Japan for a bit longer even than that, due to the length of the semester I'll be attending. Point being, if you're in Japan for a whole semester, you're going to need a student visa.
Surprisingly enough, applying for a visa has been one of the easiest paperwork processes I've encountered so far in my preparations to study abroad. Of course, part of this is that the school took care of the first step for me.
Remember how I mentioned that in my application to the school in Japan, I needed four very-specifically-sized passport photos? Well, what the school needed those for was to apply to the Japanese immigration authority for a document known as the "Certificate of Eligibility." This document, which is valid three months from its date of issue, is a sheet of cardstock printed in both Japanese and English, which bears your photo, and information like your full name, date of birth, and so on and so forth. This document (known as a COE for short) is NOT a student visa (though you will need it to get into Japan in addition to your visa). However, it is one of the items you need to have to be able to apply for a visa.
My COE arrived in the mail early last week, just in time for me to put my visa application together over Thanksgiving break and drop it in the mail on Black Friday. So what do you need for a visa application?
Well, first of all, you need to find out of which Japanese consulate in the US you live in the jurisdiction. (You can find that out here.) My nearest consulate is the one in Chicago, so that's the one to which I applied for a visa.
Now, while the website recommends applying in person, as long as you live in the jurisdiction area (and not in the immediate area of the consulate), you are able to apply by mail. This is the option I used, as it would be quite difficult to get to Chicago twice (once to apply and once to pick up the processed visa). So, the advice I'll print here relates to how to apply for a student visa by mail. (You can find the official instructions for the Chicago consulate here, and there's a link farther down the page to help you find your local consulate.)
As mentioned above, the process to apply for the visa is pretty easy and straightforward. There's a two page application, but all that really asks for is things like your name, date of birth, ID number, passport number, and the like. The application itself does also ask for the "names and addresses of hotels and persons with whom applicant intends to stay" and a "guarantor or reference in Japan." Both of these items were provided for me in the printed matter the school sent me. In my case, the address was the address for the school, and the guarantor was the president of the school. If you're studying abroad, the situation for you will likely be similar, though your school will likely let you know for sure (and if you're not certain, you can always ask).
Besides the application form itself, you'll also need a passport photo (this time, one that's sized 2 inches by 2 inches, a much easier size to cut down to). Luckily, I had one extra photo left from my earlier photo adventures, so I didn't have to go bother the poor county recorder yet again.
Of course, you'll need the COE too, but we already covered that.
If you plan to work in Japan, you'll need a copy of your work contract, but for purposes of studying abroad, you probably don't have to worry about that. If you're a minor applying to join a parent who already lives in Japan, you'll need a copy of his or her passport, visa, landing permission, and residence card, but again, as a student, it's pretty unlikely that you fit into this category. If you're an immigrant to the US, you'll need a copy of your green card, F visa, J visa, or whatever other US visa you currently hold. If you're a US citizen, then you don't have to worry about that step at all.
And if you're a US citizen, there's no visa fee you have to worry about paying, which was a nice surprise I wasn't expecting. There's actually a pretty long list of countries that are exempted from the visa fee, which you can check here at number 12. Even if you do have to pay a visa fee, it's only $27 (unless you're a citizen of India, in which case it's only $7).
Lastly, you'll also need a simple form known as the Release of Liability, which you really just have to sign and date, signifying you won't blame the consulate if your application gets lost in the mail in either direction.
All this will need to be shipped by USPS Priority Mail, which only costs (at the time of this writing) $6.70 for a flat rate large envelope (a welcome fact, given how much the Priority mailer to Japan cost a couple months ago). However, you'll also need to pay for a second Priority Mail envelope, which you'll need to make sure is given a stamp and addressed back to you. This will go in the first envelope along with everything else, and is what the consulate will use to mail you back your COE, and your newly visa-bearing...
Passport.
Yup. You have to send your actual passport.
That bit did stress me out a little. After all, I need my passport to be able to leave the country and enter Japan, so the thought of it cheerfully floating around in the mail for several days does make me nervous. However, since the visa actually goes directly into the pages of the passport, it makes sense that it had to go in the mailer along with everything else.
The Chicago Consulate website says that the application will be processed in about 5 to 7 business days, plus mailing time. So, hopefully within two weeks, my passport, my new visa, and my COE will all be back in my possession.
One last important thing to note about normal student visas: like the COE, they're only valid for three months from the date of issuance, so you'll want to make sure you don't apply too early (but do make sure to give yourself time just in case any issues arise during the processing). Also, they're usually only valid for one entry into Japan, so if you're planning to visit Korea, China, or any other area nation beyond Japan's borders during your time abroad, you'll have to go about getting a multiple-entry visa. I'm not sure how to go about that, since I'm not in that particular boat, so unfortunately, I can't really offer any help or advice there.
Well, that's one more thing finished on the checklist. I got my plane tickets to Japan last week, too (the only advice I can offer there is to shop around between airlines to find the best deal, and to get that figured out before you apply for your visa, so you specifically know your date of arrival in Japan). Within the next couple of weeks, I'll probably go ahead and also buy my tickets for my flight back to the States towards the end of May, just so I have one less thing to worry about.
TL;DR: To apply for a student visa to Japan, you'll need the following (at the very least):
-Knowledge of which consulate has jurisdiction over your area
-A valid passport
-The completed visa application form
-A 2"x2" passport photo
-A Certificate of Eligibility (see above for more details)
-A Release of Liability form
-A self-addressed, stamped USPS Priority Mail envelope for your visa to be sent back in
-A USPS Priority Mail envelope for it all to be sent to the consulate in.
Good luck, fellow travelers, and I'll be back soon with more news and advice--probably either about buying yen online or registering for pocket wifi.
US citizens can visit Japan for periods of up to 90 days with just their passport. However, a semester is a bit longer than that--usually somewhere around 100 to 120 days. I'll be in Japan for a bit longer even than that, due to the length of the semester I'll be attending. Point being, if you're in Japan for a whole semester, you're going to need a student visa.
Surprisingly enough, applying for a visa has been one of the easiest paperwork processes I've encountered so far in my preparations to study abroad. Of course, part of this is that the school took care of the first step for me.
Remember how I mentioned that in my application to the school in Japan, I needed four very-specifically-sized passport photos? Well, what the school needed those for was to apply to the Japanese immigration authority for a document known as the "Certificate of Eligibility." This document, which is valid three months from its date of issue, is a sheet of cardstock printed in both Japanese and English, which bears your photo, and information like your full name, date of birth, and so on and so forth. This document (known as a COE for short) is NOT a student visa (though you will need it to get into Japan in addition to your visa). However, it is one of the items you need to have to be able to apply for a visa.
My COE arrived in the mail early last week, just in time for me to put my visa application together over Thanksgiving break and drop it in the mail on Black Friday. So what do you need for a visa application?
Well, first of all, you need to find out of which Japanese consulate in the US you live in the jurisdiction. (You can find that out here.) My nearest consulate is the one in Chicago, so that's the one to which I applied for a visa.
Now, while the website recommends applying in person, as long as you live in the jurisdiction area (and not in the immediate area of the consulate), you are able to apply by mail. This is the option I used, as it would be quite difficult to get to Chicago twice (once to apply and once to pick up the processed visa). So, the advice I'll print here relates to how to apply for a student visa by mail. (You can find the official instructions for the Chicago consulate here, and there's a link farther down the page to help you find your local consulate.)
As mentioned above, the process to apply for the visa is pretty easy and straightforward. There's a two page application, but all that really asks for is things like your name, date of birth, ID number, passport number, and the like. The application itself does also ask for the "names and addresses of hotels and persons with whom applicant intends to stay" and a "guarantor or reference in Japan." Both of these items were provided for me in the printed matter the school sent me. In my case, the address was the address for the school, and the guarantor was the president of the school. If you're studying abroad, the situation for you will likely be similar, though your school will likely let you know for sure (and if you're not certain, you can always ask).
Besides the application form itself, you'll also need a passport photo (this time, one that's sized 2 inches by 2 inches, a much easier size to cut down to). Luckily, I had one extra photo left from my earlier photo adventures, so I didn't have to go bother the poor county recorder yet again.
Of course, you'll need the COE too, but we already covered that.
If you plan to work in Japan, you'll need a copy of your work contract, but for purposes of studying abroad, you probably don't have to worry about that. If you're a minor applying to join a parent who already lives in Japan, you'll need a copy of his or her passport, visa, landing permission, and residence card, but again, as a student, it's pretty unlikely that you fit into this category. If you're an immigrant to the US, you'll need a copy of your green card, F visa, J visa, or whatever other US visa you currently hold. If you're a US citizen, then you don't have to worry about that step at all.
And if you're a US citizen, there's no visa fee you have to worry about paying, which was a nice surprise I wasn't expecting. There's actually a pretty long list of countries that are exempted from the visa fee, which you can check here at number 12. Even if you do have to pay a visa fee, it's only $27 (unless you're a citizen of India, in which case it's only $7).
Lastly, you'll also need a simple form known as the Release of Liability, which you really just have to sign and date, signifying you won't blame the consulate if your application gets lost in the mail in either direction.
All this will need to be shipped by USPS Priority Mail, which only costs (at the time of this writing) $6.70 for a flat rate large envelope (a welcome fact, given how much the Priority mailer to Japan cost a couple months ago). However, you'll also need to pay for a second Priority Mail envelope, which you'll need to make sure is given a stamp and addressed back to you. This will go in the first envelope along with everything else, and is what the consulate will use to mail you back your COE, and your newly visa-bearing...
Passport.
Yup. You have to send your actual passport.
That bit did stress me out a little. After all, I need my passport to be able to leave the country and enter Japan, so the thought of it cheerfully floating around in the mail for several days does make me nervous. However, since the visa actually goes directly into the pages of the passport, it makes sense that it had to go in the mailer along with everything else.
The Chicago Consulate website says that the application will be processed in about 5 to 7 business days, plus mailing time. So, hopefully within two weeks, my passport, my new visa, and my COE will all be back in my possession.
One last important thing to note about normal student visas: like the COE, they're only valid for three months from the date of issuance, so you'll want to make sure you don't apply too early (but do make sure to give yourself time just in case any issues arise during the processing). Also, they're usually only valid for one entry into Japan, so if you're planning to visit Korea, China, or any other area nation beyond Japan's borders during your time abroad, you'll have to go about getting a multiple-entry visa. I'm not sure how to go about that, since I'm not in that particular boat, so unfortunately, I can't really offer any help or advice there.
Well, that's one more thing finished on the checklist. I got my plane tickets to Japan last week, too (the only advice I can offer there is to shop around between airlines to find the best deal, and to get that figured out before you apply for your visa, so you specifically know your date of arrival in Japan). Within the next couple of weeks, I'll probably go ahead and also buy my tickets for my flight back to the States towards the end of May, just so I have one less thing to worry about.
TL;DR: To apply for a student visa to Japan, you'll need the following (at the very least):
-Knowledge of which consulate has jurisdiction over your area
-A valid passport
-The completed visa application form
-A 2"x2" passport photo
-A Certificate of Eligibility (see above for more details)
-A Release of Liability form
-A self-addressed, stamped USPS Priority Mail envelope for your visa to be sent back in
-A USPS Priority Mail envelope for it all to be sent to the consulate in.
Good luck, fellow travelers, and I'll be back soon with more news and advice--probably either about buying yen online or registering for pocket wifi.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
When Dreams Turn Real
The past week has been a roller coaster of emotions, in pretty much all good ways. Just over a week ago, I was officially accepted to Kansai Gaidai. The past several days, all of my free time has been spent looking at plane tickets, hotels (for both my layover and once I land in Tokyo), directions from airports to hotels and attractions, pocket wifi plans, and on and on and on.
Ever since the summer I was 13, I've loved looking at flights to Japan as a sort of "maybe someday" daydream exercise. I've always enjoyed looking at photos of major Japanese landmarks and imagining seeing them for real one day. When the first limited-time-only Kirby Cafe opened in Summer 2016, I spent those few months looking at photos people I follow on Twitter posted of the cafe, the food, and the trinkets they got in the gift shop. But all this was never done with the intent of actually going in the near future.
This week, all of the research I've been doing is finally for real. I've figured out the flight I plan to take to get to Tokyo, and hope to get those tickets bought next weekend. I've found a good, reasonably-priced hotel for my layover, and a cheaper-but-better hotel in Tokyo too (unsurprising, honestly). Most exciting of all, the Tokyo Skytree is visible from my hotel, and Skytree Town just so happens to be where the second limited-time-only Kirby Cafe is now, open through mid-February. As soon as January reservations open in mid-December, I've hoping to reserve a time slot there.
(The Kirby Cafe is basically the ultimate "pilgrimage" a Kirby fan can make--think being able to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for Potterheads, or Disney World for a Disney fan. As someone who's had quite the Kirby obsession for the past five-odd years, knowing I'm probably gonna get to go to the Cafe is beyond exciting.)
However, just because it's all but certain that I'm going now, doesn't mean that my prep work is done. If anything, we're quickly approaching crunch time. Sure, I'm buying my plane tickets next week, and probably reserving hotels fairly soon after, but there's a lot left to do. Currently, I'm waiting for Kansai Gaidai to mail me my proof of enrollment that I'll need to be able to mail to the Japanese consulate in Chicago in order to obtain a student visa. I'm going to need to order some yen in cash, to use in cash-only situations (fairly common in Japan) until I can get a checking account opened overseas and direct my financial aid for next semester there. I'm also going to need to remember to reserve a pocket wifi plan between now and early January (funny story; I already accidentally reserved pocket wifi during my over-zealous research. Thankfully, they let me cancel it when I explained I'm not quite ready to pay for it, but why they let you reserve without payment to begin with, I'm not entirely positive).
Part of the reason I haven't been posting is because for the past two or so months, there just really haven't been any new developments. As I said last time, it was time to hurry up and wait (and, actually, I'm still waiting to find out how the Gilman Grant will turn out--the announcement is at the end of November). But now, things should start picking up a lot more. After all, it's only two months from tomorrow that I take off, according to my current travel plans.
I'll keep you all updated as everything keeps unfolding. For now, though, let me just say... I'm more excited than I ever have been before in my life.
My dream is finally coming true.
TL;DR: I was officially accepted to Kansai Gaidai, and from now through January, I have a bunch of stuff I've got to get done--but I've never experienced anything more exciting.
Ever since the summer I was 13, I've loved looking at flights to Japan as a sort of "maybe someday" daydream exercise. I've always enjoyed looking at photos of major Japanese landmarks and imagining seeing them for real one day. When the first limited-time-only Kirby Cafe opened in Summer 2016, I spent those few months looking at photos people I follow on Twitter posted of the cafe, the food, and the trinkets they got in the gift shop. But all this was never done with the intent of actually going in the near future.
This week, all of the research I've been doing is finally for real. I've figured out the flight I plan to take to get to Tokyo, and hope to get those tickets bought next weekend. I've found a good, reasonably-priced hotel for my layover, and a cheaper-but-better hotel in Tokyo too (unsurprising, honestly). Most exciting of all, the Tokyo Skytree is visible from my hotel, and Skytree Town just so happens to be where the second limited-time-only Kirby Cafe is now, open through mid-February. As soon as January reservations open in mid-December, I've hoping to reserve a time slot there.
(The Kirby Cafe is basically the ultimate "pilgrimage" a Kirby fan can make--think being able to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for Potterheads, or Disney World for a Disney fan. As someone who's had quite the Kirby obsession for the past five-odd years, knowing I'm probably gonna get to go to the Cafe is beyond exciting.)
However, just because it's all but certain that I'm going now, doesn't mean that my prep work is done. If anything, we're quickly approaching crunch time. Sure, I'm buying my plane tickets next week, and probably reserving hotels fairly soon after, but there's a lot left to do. Currently, I'm waiting for Kansai Gaidai to mail me my proof of enrollment that I'll need to be able to mail to the Japanese consulate in Chicago in order to obtain a student visa. I'm going to need to order some yen in cash, to use in cash-only situations (fairly common in Japan) until I can get a checking account opened overseas and direct my financial aid for next semester there. I'm also going to need to remember to reserve a pocket wifi plan between now and early January (funny story; I already accidentally reserved pocket wifi during my over-zealous research. Thankfully, they let me cancel it when I explained I'm not quite ready to pay for it, but why they let you reserve without payment to begin with, I'm not entirely positive).
Part of the reason I haven't been posting is because for the past two or so months, there just really haven't been any new developments. As I said last time, it was time to hurry up and wait (and, actually, I'm still waiting to find out how the Gilman Grant will turn out--the announcement is at the end of November). But now, things should start picking up a lot more. After all, it's only two months from tomorrow that I take off, according to my current travel plans.
I'll keep you all updated as everything keeps unfolding. For now, though, let me just say... I'm more excited than I ever have been before in my life.
My dream is finally coming true.
TL;DR: I was officially accepted to Kansai Gaidai, and from now through January, I have a bunch of stuff I've got to get done--but I've never experienced anything more exciting.
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
You Might Be the Most Unproblematic Person in the Country If...
...your passport arrives two weeks to the day after you applied for it.
(And yes, this post is therefore something like a month late. The back-to-school season will do that to a person.)
The best news is, yup, I now have my passport book and card in my possession, and am now eligible for international air, land, and water travel. The other news is that I'm working on applying directly to the college in Japan now, and that's well underway. The application requires two recommendation letters (one should be from a teacher of Japanese you've taken classes with before, if possible), a health form (rather obvious), an essay of intent (explaining why you want to study in Japan), a questionnaire about your previous experience with the Japanese language, a photocopy of the ID page of your passport and any visas therein for previous trips to Japan, official college transcripts, and 4 identification photographs (which must adhere to the very strict policies put in place by the Japanese immigration authority). If you study at a school other than Kansai Gaidai, there's a good chance your application requirements will be different. You'll likely have to send in the 4 photos, though, so be certain they comply with all of the requirements, including the size requirement. I ended up getting extra photos from the passport photo booth at the county recorder's office (boy, were they excited to see me again) and cutting them down to size using a pair of scissors and a good old-fashioned ruler.
Anyway, I've got nearly all of the elements of that application put together. All I have left to do is go to the doctor this Friday to get my health form filled out, and Saturday morning I'll be sending the application to Japan using Priority International Mail (which costs something like $30+ from what I currently understand, so be prepared for sticker shock if and when you do the same).
The other application I'm currently working on (and have finished, minus a couple of essays) is the one for the Gilman Grant. The Gilman Grant is a program created to enable low-income students receiving the federal Pell Grant to study abroad during their undergrad years. The Grant offers up to $5000 in funding, but if you're studying a critical-need language in a country that primarily speaks that language and plan to use that language in your future career, you could be eligible for up to $8000 in funding. (Since I don't specifically plan to use Japanese in my future career, I am not eligible for the Critical Need Language grant, but that's alright.) The Grant is fairly competitive, and not everyone who applies is guaranteed to get funding from it. However, it's a good way to try to offset some of the costs of studying abroad if you're also from a low-income background like me.
One of the other things about the Gilman Grant is that you have to have some sort of project you do in conjunction with receiving it, in order to encourage other students to study abroad (specifically through the use of a Gilman Grant). Well, surprise!--this blog is what I plan to submit for that project. No fears; even if I'm not accepted for the Grant, I fully plan to continue writing and updating this blog both now and while I'm abroad. If I am accepted for the Grant, though, there will be mentions of it in many of my posts, and I'll also add a post going more in-depth in explaining how to apply for the Grant. And once I get back home, there will likely be a post thanking the Gilman Grant and the people who offer it for helping me reach my study-abroad goals and dreams. This doesn't mean the blog would start being nothing but a huge advertisement for the Gilman Grant (though there'd be no shame in that, either). It just means that I'd be mentioning it often in the hopes of encouraging other students with financial backgrounds similar to mine to apply for the Grant. That way, hopefully more students would be able to experience studying abroad, rather than having to opt not to due to financial limitations.
Well, that's an update on where I am in my journey to Japan and Hirakata. T-minus 4 1/2 months and counting. My (hopeful) adventure draws ever closer.
TL;DR: My application to Kansai Gaidai is about ready to go, my passport is now in my possession and has been for several weeks, and I am nearly finished with applying for the Gilman Grant to help cover the financial aspect of studying abroad.
(And yes, this post is therefore something like a month late. The back-to-school season will do that to a person.)
The best news is, yup, I now have my passport book and card in my possession, and am now eligible for international air, land, and water travel. The other news is that I'm working on applying directly to the college in Japan now, and that's well underway. The application requires two recommendation letters (one should be from a teacher of Japanese you've taken classes with before, if possible), a health form (rather obvious), an essay of intent (explaining why you want to study in Japan), a questionnaire about your previous experience with the Japanese language, a photocopy of the ID page of your passport and any visas therein for previous trips to Japan, official college transcripts, and 4 identification photographs (which must adhere to the very strict policies put in place by the Japanese immigration authority). If you study at a school other than Kansai Gaidai, there's a good chance your application requirements will be different. You'll likely have to send in the 4 photos, though, so be certain they comply with all of the requirements, including the size requirement. I ended up getting extra photos from the passport photo booth at the county recorder's office (boy, were they excited to see me again) and cutting them down to size using a pair of scissors and a good old-fashioned ruler.
Anyway, I've got nearly all of the elements of that application put together. All I have left to do is go to the doctor this Friday to get my health form filled out, and Saturday morning I'll be sending the application to Japan using Priority International Mail (which costs something like $30+ from what I currently understand, so be prepared for sticker shock if and when you do the same).
The other application I'm currently working on (and have finished, minus a couple of essays) is the one for the Gilman Grant. The Gilman Grant is a program created to enable low-income students receiving the federal Pell Grant to study abroad during their undergrad years. The Grant offers up to $5000 in funding, but if you're studying a critical-need language in a country that primarily speaks that language and plan to use that language in your future career, you could be eligible for up to $8000 in funding. (Since I don't specifically plan to use Japanese in my future career, I am not eligible for the Critical Need Language grant, but that's alright.) The Grant is fairly competitive, and not everyone who applies is guaranteed to get funding from it. However, it's a good way to try to offset some of the costs of studying abroad if you're also from a low-income background like me.
One of the other things about the Gilman Grant is that you have to have some sort of project you do in conjunction with receiving it, in order to encourage other students to study abroad (specifically through the use of a Gilman Grant). Well, surprise!--this blog is what I plan to submit for that project. No fears; even if I'm not accepted for the Grant, I fully plan to continue writing and updating this blog both now and while I'm abroad. If I am accepted for the Grant, though, there will be mentions of it in many of my posts, and I'll also add a post going more in-depth in explaining how to apply for the Grant. And once I get back home, there will likely be a post thanking the Gilman Grant and the people who offer it for helping me reach my study-abroad goals and dreams. This doesn't mean the blog would start being nothing but a huge advertisement for the Gilman Grant (though there'd be no shame in that, either). It just means that I'd be mentioning it often in the hopes of encouraging other students with financial backgrounds similar to mine to apply for the Grant. That way, hopefully more students would be able to experience studying abroad, rather than having to opt not to due to financial limitations.
Well, that's an update on where I am in my journey to Japan and Hirakata. T-minus 4 1/2 months and counting. My (hopeful) adventure draws ever closer.
TL;DR: My application to Kansai Gaidai is about ready to go, my passport is now in my possession and has been for several weeks, and I am nearly finished with applying for the Gilman Grant to help cover the financial aspect of studying abroad.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
I Am Now Free to Move About the Planet...
...or, at least, I hopefully will be in four to six weeks.
Yesterday (though it will probably be the day before yesterday by the time I get this post published), I applied for a United States passport for the first time. I was already expecting it to be a mild adventure (because, let's face it, pretty much every trip to the county courthouse is), but it ended up being quite a bit more complicated than I was expecting.
So, before we get any further into this post, I'd like to thank the county recorder for being so sweet and helpful and not getting irritated with my dumb self and all the mistakes I made during the application process.
Alright, so, getting a passport for the first time seems like a relatively-straightforward process. You find the form at travel.state.gov, either print it out blank or fill it out online and then print it out, and then take the form, a proof of citizenship and a photocopy of the same (such as a certified birth certificate), an official ID and a photocopy of the same (such as a driver's license), and the appropriate fees to your county courthouse (either with or without an appropriate photo, depending on whether or not your county courthouse has photo equipment available onsite). Now, to be fair, some of the information I missed out on may have been present somewhere on the site and I was just too focused on the form to notice it, or it might not have been present to begin with; I'm not certain. What I am certain of is that I wish the site had made the information I missed out on more easily noticeable or included it in the list of directions at the end of the form-filling process (assuming it was present at all).
First of all, at least in my county, it turns out you're supposed to set up an appointment before applying for a passport for the first time. I did not know this, so I sat in line behind a gentleman who was renewing his passport and noticed the sign saying "first-time passport applicants, please make an appointment ahead of time" and thought, "Oh great, now I've had my parents drive me twenty-plus miles to the county courthouse for no good reason." Strike one on my part. Once the gentleman ahead of me had finished renewing his passport and collecting the papers he needed to mail into the government, I approached the counter with my folder full of passport application paraphernalia and led off with, "Can I please set up an appointment to apply for a passport?"
The kind recorder told me she didn't have any other appointments at the moment, so as long as I had all the forms and items I needed, I could go ahead and apply right then. Cool, possible "disaster" number one averted. She looked through my papers and made a different photocopy of my learner's permit, since the one I provided cut off a tiny bit (but I blame that on my copier, not myself). She remarked as she looked through my application that wow, I was planning on being in Japan for quite a long time (the application asks for the approximate dates of your planned trip outside the country and a list of countries you're planning on visiting). I replied that I'm spending a semester abroad, which she found really cool. After verifying I had all the papers I needed, she let me into the office so we could take my passport photo, at which point I set my cardboard portfolio of papers down on the counter--
--and somehow managed to put it in just the right place for the Walmart barcode on the front to be repeatedly scanned by the recorder's scanner and registered as an unknown barcode on her computer.
Oops. Strike two.
She kindly laughed and shoved it out of the way, and took me into the back room to get my photo taken. That thankfully went well, and also thankfully, I don't look nearly as likely to be a delinquent citizen as I do on my learner's permit (government cameras really do not like my face for some reason).
Then it turns out that there's a $10 fee for having your photo taken onsite, which totally makes sense, but which I was not aware of. Thankfully I had enough extra cash on my person that this wasn't an issue, but if I hadn't had extra cash, this would not have been my only problem.
So I headed back out into the hall and the county recorder double-checked my papers to make sure everything was in order while we waited for the photo to print. And then, she told me my total (which was $185; $110 to the Department of State for the passport book, $30 to the DoS for the passport card (used for easier access to Canada and Mexico), $35 for local processing fees for being a first-time passport applicant, and $10 for the photo).
All not an issue, except it turns out that the Department of State doesn't accept cash.
Which, to be fair, might be a fact that is totally obvious to most United States citizens, but it just absolutely stumps me. Why would a federal government organization not accept their own nation's legal tender? Why can I not just mail them $140 in cash? What is the logic here?
The county recorder kindly explained to me that while the local $45 could be paid in cash, the federal government's portion had to be either check or money order. Thanks to the fact that I don't have a checking account, that left me the option of a money order.
I'm a millennial (possibly Gen Z, the jury is still out on that one), whether that's a good thing or not, and so right up until I was yesterday years old, I didn't know how one went about getting a money order (I just assumed it was something you did at the bank, but apparently that's cashier's checks, which are apparently a totally different thing). I mean, the only times I ever heard about money orders were in the old (now defunct) American Girl and J.C. Penney's catalogs that I'd look through growing up when we got them three or four times a year. Mail orders could be paid for with check, credit card, money order, and even occasionally cash on delivery. But just because I knew if I wanted to get an exorbitantly-priced doll (which I did once) I could pay with a money order, didn't mean I knew what one was or how to get one.
Thankfully, before I could reveal my 90's kid's cluelessness, the county recorder was kind enough to tell me that you can get money orders at any US Post Office. And, also thankfully, she was going to be in for another forty-five minutes or so, so I was free to take my application papers and myself to the town Post Office, go buy a money order from one Uncle Sam branch to give to another Uncle Sam branch (since Uncle Sam won't take his own cash, apparently), and come back to finish the process.
Not having a money order to begin with and not knowing how money orders work? Strikes three and four on my part. Now I've got one out and my second batter isn't doing so hot, either.
So I went out to the car where my dad and brother were waiting (my mom and youngest siblings were at the local library waiting for us to finish and come get them), and explained the money order issue to my dad. He wasn't irritated at all and was perfectly willing to take me to the Post Office, except we didn't know where that was (we don't live in the county seat, after all, and in our hometown you can literally see the town Post Office from our yard). So I asked Siri to give me directions to the local Post Office, which cued up just in time to tell us that the destination was already on our left, just down the hill from the courthouse. Sweet. If I'd known it was so close, I probably would have just walked, but oh well. We'll only call that strike four and a half.
As I was getting out of the car, Dad told me that the Post Office would likely charge me a fee for getting a money order. Again, I had enough extra cash on me that this wasn't an issue, but it should still count as half a strike since I didn't plan ahead for it. Up to five strikes now; my second batter is about to be out too if he doesn't get lucky soon. Two strikeouts in a row is not a good start to a ballgame.
Inside the Post Office, I walked inside the store part of the building and jumped about two feet in the air when a motion sensor buzzer went off really loudly to announce my arrival. About a minute later, a lady came out to assist me. I saw a sign that said "money orders," so I went to go stand by that register, only to be called to a different register. Strike five and a half. I explained to the lady that I needed a money order, which she laughed at and asked if I'd ever gotten one before. I blushed and admitted that I hadn't. She replied "That makes sense; you're so young." Well, the extra fees were only a dollar and change, and then I was the proud (extremely temporary) owner of a money order, which I filled out there at the Post Office counter (using Google on my phone to find the address of the US Department of State because of course I don't just happen to have that memorized).
Back out to the car and back up the hill to the county courthouse, sitting at five and a half strikes. Dad parked the car and I went back into the building. Of course, by this time, the photo had finished printing, and the county recorder was able to staple it to my application form. She gave me the typical declaration of "if you lied anywhere on this form, even by accident, you will probably die" (hyperbolic, but you know what I mean), and pointed me to where I needed to sign. I did, and gave her all the relevant papers, the money order, and the cash for the local fees.
And then it turned out that I wasn't getting my birth certificate back, at least, not yet. Now, I don't know about you, but I only have one certified copy of my birth certificate lying around (well, now I have none). But while they only need a photocopy of your ID (which makes a lot of sense, since how on earth would you get back from the courthouse if the government requisitioned your driver's license for four to six weeks), they take both your proof of citizenship and the photocopy to send in to the feds. Now, again, in hindsight, this makes a lot of sense. This way if they need to see any watermarks or anything, they can (those things don't show up in a photocopy, after all). But I wasn't expecting it, and now I don't have a certified copy of my birth certificate available, and won't until around a week after my passport book arrives in the mail (thankfully, they do send it back when they're finished with it). While I'm not planning on needing it between now and then, I think this still probably counts as another half strike.
Six strikes. Two outs. Hooray for the home team.
Thankfully, after all that, my application was good to go (and I didn't even have to mail it in like I was expecting; for first-time applications the courthouse mails it for you). Whether or not my third batter got a home run or not, I don't know yet, and won't until my passport gets here in a few weeks. I'm not expecting there to be any issues, though, so soon I should hopefully have an electronically-chipped pile of paper that will allow me to legally leave this country and enter another.
So, to sum things up (or TL;DR):
If you're planning on getting a US passport for the first time, you will need:
1: The appropriate application form, filled out but NOT signed, available from travel.state.gov.
2: A proof of citizenship and a photocopy of the same (which you will not get back until a week after you receive your passport book).
3: An official ID and a photocopy of the same.
4: A check or money order, payable to the United States Department of State, for $110 (if you're getting just a passport book), $30 (if just a passport card), or $140 (if both).
5: $35 (by check, money order, or cash) for local processing fees, and $10 if you're planning on getting your photo taken onsite.
6: An appointment at your county courthouse's recorder's office (this may or may not be required in your county; I'm not sure, but it never hurts to check).
7: Four to six weeks of turnaround time (though it can be made shorter if you pay additional fees). Remember, you're going to need this passport to be able to fill out other necessary forms and complete other necessary processes to study abroad, so make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get it.
Hopefully my mild misadventure will turn out to be helpful and informative to someone else. Thankfully, as far as I can tell, everything turned out fine (and as I said at the beginning, the recorder was very sweet, kind, and understanding, and never made me feel like I'd done anything wrong). I guess in four to six weeks, I'll know for sure.
Point A is (tentatively) reached and completed. Kansai Gaidai, I am on my way.
Yesterday (though it will probably be the day before yesterday by the time I get this post published), I applied for a United States passport for the first time. I was already expecting it to be a mild adventure (because, let's face it, pretty much every trip to the county courthouse is), but it ended up being quite a bit more complicated than I was expecting.
So, before we get any further into this post, I'd like to thank the county recorder for being so sweet and helpful and not getting irritated with my dumb self and all the mistakes I made during the application process.
Alright, so, getting a passport for the first time seems like a relatively-straightforward process. You find the form at travel.state.gov, either print it out blank or fill it out online and then print it out, and then take the form, a proof of citizenship and a photocopy of the same (such as a certified birth certificate), an official ID and a photocopy of the same (such as a driver's license), and the appropriate fees to your county courthouse (either with or without an appropriate photo, depending on whether or not your county courthouse has photo equipment available onsite). Now, to be fair, some of the information I missed out on may have been present somewhere on the site and I was just too focused on the form to notice it, or it might not have been present to begin with; I'm not certain. What I am certain of is that I wish the site had made the information I missed out on more easily noticeable or included it in the list of directions at the end of the form-filling process (assuming it was present at all).
First of all, at least in my county, it turns out you're supposed to set up an appointment before applying for a passport for the first time. I did not know this, so I sat in line behind a gentleman who was renewing his passport and noticed the sign saying "first-time passport applicants, please make an appointment ahead of time" and thought, "Oh great, now I've had my parents drive me twenty-plus miles to the county courthouse for no good reason." Strike one on my part. Once the gentleman ahead of me had finished renewing his passport and collecting the papers he needed to mail into the government, I approached the counter with my folder full of passport application paraphernalia and led off with, "Can I please set up an appointment to apply for a passport?"
The kind recorder told me she didn't have any other appointments at the moment, so as long as I had all the forms and items I needed, I could go ahead and apply right then. Cool, possible "disaster" number one averted. She looked through my papers and made a different photocopy of my learner's permit, since the one I provided cut off a tiny bit (but I blame that on my copier, not myself). She remarked as she looked through my application that wow, I was planning on being in Japan for quite a long time (the application asks for the approximate dates of your planned trip outside the country and a list of countries you're planning on visiting). I replied that I'm spending a semester abroad, which she found really cool. After verifying I had all the papers I needed, she let me into the office so we could take my passport photo, at which point I set my cardboard portfolio of papers down on the counter--
--and somehow managed to put it in just the right place for the Walmart barcode on the front to be repeatedly scanned by the recorder's scanner and registered as an unknown barcode on her computer.
Oops. Strike two.
She kindly laughed and shoved it out of the way, and took me into the back room to get my photo taken. That thankfully went well, and also thankfully, I don't look nearly as likely to be a delinquent citizen as I do on my learner's permit (government cameras really do not like my face for some reason).
Then it turns out that there's a $10 fee for having your photo taken onsite, which totally makes sense, but which I was not aware of. Thankfully I had enough extra cash on my person that this wasn't an issue, but if I hadn't had extra cash, this would not have been my only problem.
So I headed back out into the hall and the county recorder double-checked my papers to make sure everything was in order while we waited for the photo to print. And then, she told me my total (which was $185; $110 to the Department of State for the passport book, $30 to the DoS for the passport card (used for easier access to Canada and Mexico), $35 for local processing fees for being a first-time passport applicant, and $10 for the photo).
All not an issue, except it turns out that the Department of State doesn't accept cash.
Which, to be fair, might be a fact that is totally obvious to most United States citizens, but it just absolutely stumps me. Why would a federal government organization not accept their own nation's legal tender? Why can I not just mail them $140 in cash? What is the logic here?
The county recorder kindly explained to me that while the local $45 could be paid in cash, the federal government's portion had to be either check or money order. Thanks to the fact that I don't have a checking account, that left me the option of a money order.
I'm a millennial (possibly Gen Z, the jury is still out on that one), whether that's a good thing or not, and so right up until I was yesterday years old, I didn't know how one went about getting a money order (I just assumed it was something you did at the bank, but apparently that's cashier's checks, which are apparently a totally different thing). I mean, the only times I ever heard about money orders were in the old (now defunct) American Girl and J.C. Penney's catalogs that I'd look through growing up when we got them three or four times a year. Mail orders could be paid for with check, credit card, money order, and even occasionally cash on delivery. But just because I knew if I wanted to get an exorbitantly-priced doll (which I did once) I could pay with a money order, didn't mean I knew what one was or how to get one.
Thankfully, before I could reveal my 90's kid's cluelessness, the county recorder was kind enough to tell me that you can get money orders at any US Post Office. And, also thankfully, she was going to be in for another forty-five minutes or so, so I was free to take my application papers and myself to the town Post Office, go buy a money order from one Uncle Sam branch to give to another Uncle Sam branch (since Uncle Sam won't take his own cash, apparently), and come back to finish the process.
Not having a money order to begin with and not knowing how money orders work? Strikes three and four on my part. Now I've got one out and my second batter isn't doing so hot, either.
So I went out to the car where my dad and brother were waiting (my mom and youngest siblings were at the local library waiting for us to finish and come get them), and explained the money order issue to my dad. He wasn't irritated at all and was perfectly willing to take me to the Post Office, except we didn't know where that was (we don't live in the county seat, after all, and in our hometown you can literally see the town Post Office from our yard). So I asked Siri to give me directions to the local Post Office, which cued up just in time to tell us that the destination was already on our left, just down the hill from the courthouse. Sweet. If I'd known it was so close, I probably would have just walked, but oh well. We'll only call that strike four and a half.
As I was getting out of the car, Dad told me that the Post Office would likely charge me a fee for getting a money order. Again, I had enough extra cash on me that this wasn't an issue, but it should still count as half a strike since I didn't plan ahead for it. Up to five strikes now; my second batter is about to be out too if he doesn't get lucky soon. Two strikeouts in a row is not a good start to a ballgame.
Inside the Post Office, I walked inside the store part of the building and jumped about two feet in the air when a motion sensor buzzer went off really loudly to announce my arrival. About a minute later, a lady came out to assist me. I saw a sign that said "money orders," so I went to go stand by that register, only to be called to a different register. Strike five and a half. I explained to the lady that I needed a money order, which she laughed at and asked if I'd ever gotten one before. I blushed and admitted that I hadn't. She replied "That makes sense; you're so young." Well, the extra fees were only a dollar and change, and then I was the proud (extremely temporary) owner of a money order, which I filled out there at the Post Office counter (using Google on my phone to find the address of the US Department of State because of course I don't just happen to have that memorized).
Back out to the car and back up the hill to the county courthouse, sitting at five and a half strikes. Dad parked the car and I went back into the building. Of course, by this time, the photo had finished printing, and the county recorder was able to staple it to my application form. She gave me the typical declaration of "if you lied anywhere on this form, even by accident, you will probably die" (hyperbolic, but you know what I mean), and pointed me to where I needed to sign. I did, and gave her all the relevant papers, the money order, and the cash for the local fees.
And then it turned out that I wasn't getting my birth certificate back, at least, not yet. Now, I don't know about you, but I only have one certified copy of my birth certificate lying around (well, now I have none). But while they only need a photocopy of your ID (which makes a lot of sense, since how on earth would you get back from the courthouse if the government requisitioned your driver's license for four to six weeks), they take both your proof of citizenship and the photocopy to send in to the feds. Now, again, in hindsight, this makes a lot of sense. This way if they need to see any watermarks or anything, they can (those things don't show up in a photocopy, after all). But I wasn't expecting it, and now I don't have a certified copy of my birth certificate available, and won't until around a week after my passport book arrives in the mail (thankfully, they do send it back when they're finished with it). While I'm not planning on needing it between now and then, I think this still probably counts as another half strike.
Six strikes. Two outs. Hooray for the home team.
Thankfully, after all that, my application was good to go (and I didn't even have to mail it in like I was expecting; for first-time applications the courthouse mails it for you). Whether or not my third batter got a home run or not, I don't know yet, and won't until my passport gets here in a few weeks. I'm not expecting there to be any issues, though, so soon I should hopefully have an electronically-chipped pile of paper that will allow me to legally leave this country and enter another.
So, to sum things up (or TL;DR):
If you're planning on getting a US passport for the first time, you will need:
1: The appropriate application form, filled out but NOT signed, available from travel.state.gov.
2: A proof of citizenship and a photocopy of the same (which you will not get back until a week after you receive your passport book).
3: An official ID and a photocopy of the same.
4: A check or money order, payable to the United States Department of State, for $110 (if you're getting just a passport book), $30 (if just a passport card), or $140 (if both).
5: $35 (by check, money order, or cash) for local processing fees, and $10 if you're planning on getting your photo taken onsite.
6: An appointment at your county courthouse's recorder's office (this may or may not be required in your county; I'm not sure, but it never hurts to check).
7: Four to six weeks of turnaround time (though it can be made shorter if you pay additional fees). Remember, you're going to need this passport to be able to fill out other necessary forms and complete other necessary processes to study abroad, so make sure to give yourself plenty of time to get it.
Hopefully my mild misadventure will turn out to be helpful and informative to someone else. Thankfully, as far as I can tell, everything turned out fine (and as I said at the beginning, the recorder was very sweet, kind, and understanding, and never made me feel like I'd done anything wrong). I guess in four to six weeks, I'll know for sure.
Point A is (tentatively) reached and completed. Kansai Gaidai, I am on my way.
Monday, July 16, 2018
The Countdown Begins: T-Minus Six Months and Counting
初めまして！"Hajimemashite," "Hello (when meeting someone for the first time!)"
My name is Elizabeth Roop, though you can call me Liz if you like. I'm a junior English and History double major at Morningside College in Sioux City, IA, though come next January, I plan to spend a semester as a student at Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku (Kansai Gaidai for short) in Hirakata, Japan. I've already been accepted by my home college for study abroad (and have been ever since December 2017, actually), but there's still quite a bit left to be accomplished before I leave for a new school and a new country. From getting my passport, to applying for a visa, to arranging a homestay, to registering for classes, to continuing to strengthen my Japanese skills, to getting a plane ticket, I have a lot of things I have to get done over the next six months before I'll be ready for my four and a half months abroad.
And besides all of the obvious things listed above, there are a lot of other things I'm gonna have to make sure to get done before flying overseas. Public WiFi isn't as common in Japan as it is in America, so I'm gonna need to make sure to sign up for a pocket WiFi provider in order to be able to stay connected with friends and family back home. I'm going to need to make sure to sign up for a metro pass so I'll be able to commute from my homestay family's home to school (and hopefully get a fair bit of exploring done too). Oh, and I'm also gonna need to remember to apply for the Gilman Grant (a government-funded study-abroad grant often provided to recipients of the Pell Grant, which helps students from a low-income background attend college), because, let's face it, studying abroad is expensive.
My point is, there is a lot on my plate right now, and I'm simultaneously excited and overwhelmed.
As an undergrad student tackling the tasks required to make it from small-town Iowa (my hometown has a population of 1100, and my college town has a population of around 83,000) to big-city Hirakata (a population of over 404,000), I've found myself wishing several times that there was a step-by-step guide to getting from Point A (passport), to Point B (visa), and so on to Point Z (arriving in Japan and starting the alphabet all over again). Sure, it's not too terribly hard to find online guides for each individual task, but wouldn't it be nice to have observations and tips for each stage of the process all in one place? That, my friends, is the current goal of this blog: to track my experiences at each step of the journey, all the way from The Little Town in a Cornfield to Kansai Gaidai. As I figure out and can check each stage of the process off of my to-do list, I'll take notes about what was required to get it done, and what I wish I had known beforehand. In this way, I hope to create a helpful resource for any other students planning to study in Japan.
But what happens to the blog once I actually get to Japan? Why, I'm so glad you asked! At this point, the hope is that I'll continue to update the blog at least once weekly with a record of my experiences up to that point and/or an explanation of different parts of Japanese culture that I find fascinating, cool, exciting, or even straight-up disconcerting (I'm preparing for a healthy dose of culture shock, despite all the time I've spent researching the nation and culture over the past almost-seven years). Once I make it overseas, the blog's title will be slightly changed to read "An Iowa Girl in Japan." Of course, we've still got a long way to go until then, at least when it comes to everything that has to happen first. Time-wise, as the title of this post suggests, I'm planning to take off for Japan on January 16, 2019, exactly six months from today (which is partially why I decided to set up and start this blog when I did). Of course, it's easy to start a project when you're on summer vacation and don't have too terribly many demands on your time. Junior year might keep me from updating as often as I'd like, but I'll definitely do my best to make this blog as helpful and interesting of a resource as I can.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the title: "ヘンナ外人," or Henna Gaijin, is a Japanese term that means "strange foreigner," and can be used to describe those odd foreigners who actually know quite a bit about Japanese culture (and thus hopefully can avoid many of the typical embarrassing lost-tourist mistakes culture shock can lead to). My hope is to actually be able to earn this moniker, so I'm using it as my blog title in the hopes that it will actually turn out to be the truth. If it doesn't, the blog title might end up changing later, but for now, I thought it'd be a cool/quirky title that would help my humble little blog stand out a bit in the limitless realm that is the internet.
A last couple of notes: This actually isn't my first foray into the blogosphere. If you'd like to read more of my writing, you can check out my other (tentatively-completed) blog, Naturally Observant, at naturallyobservantblog.blogspot.com. This blog was written for an English class this past spring semester, and focuses on nature and my place therein. And lastly, if you have any questions or comments for me, you can tweet me @starrymisfit.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to sharing my experiences (and hopefully some helpful advice) with you going forward!
宜しくお願いします！"Yoroshiku onegai shimasu," a phrase said at a first meeting which means something like "let's work together" or "let's be kind to each other!"
--エリザベス ("Erizabesu," "Elizabeth")
My name is Elizabeth Roop, though you can call me Liz if you like. I'm a junior English and History double major at Morningside College in Sioux City, IA, though come next January, I plan to spend a semester as a student at Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku (Kansai Gaidai for short) in Hirakata, Japan. I've already been accepted by my home college for study abroad (and have been ever since December 2017, actually), but there's still quite a bit left to be accomplished before I leave for a new school and a new country. From getting my passport, to applying for a visa, to arranging a homestay, to registering for classes, to continuing to strengthen my Japanese skills, to getting a plane ticket, I have a lot of things I have to get done over the next six months before I'll be ready for my four and a half months abroad.
And besides all of the obvious things listed above, there are a lot of other things I'm gonna have to make sure to get done before flying overseas. Public WiFi isn't as common in Japan as it is in America, so I'm gonna need to make sure to sign up for a pocket WiFi provider in order to be able to stay connected with friends and family back home. I'm going to need to make sure to sign up for a metro pass so I'll be able to commute from my homestay family's home to school (and hopefully get a fair bit of exploring done too). Oh, and I'm also gonna need to remember to apply for the Gilman Grant (a government-funded study-abroad grant often provided to recipients of the Pell Grant, which helps students from a low-income background attend college), because, let's face it, studying abroad is expensive.
My point is, there is a lot on my plate right now, and I'm simultaneously excited and overwhelmed.
As an undergrad student tackling the tasks required to make it from small-town Iowa (my hometown has a population of 1100, and my college town has a population of around 83,000) to big-city Hirakata (a population of over 404,000), I've found myself wishing several times that there was a step-by-step guide to getting from Point A (passport), to Point B (visa), and so on to Point Z (arriving in Japan and starting the alphabet all over again). Sure, it's not too terribly hard to find online guides for each individual task, but wouldn't it be nice to have observations and tips for each stage of the process all in one place? That, my friends, is the current goal of this blog: to track my experiences at each step of the journey, all the way from The Little Town in a Cornfield to Kansai Gaidai. As I figure out and can check each stage of the process off of my to-do list, I'll take notes about what was required to get it done, and what I wish I had known beforehand. In this way, I hope to create a helpful resource for any other students planning to study in Japan.
But what happens to the blog once I actually get to Japan? Why, I'm so glad you asked! At this point, the hope is that I'll continue to update the blog at least once weekly with a record of my experiences up to that point and/or an explanation of different parts of Japanese culture that I find fascinating, cool, exciting, or even straight-up disconcerting (I'm preparing for a healthy dose of culture shock, despite all the time I've spent researching the nation and culture over the past almost-seven years). Once I make it overseas, the blog's title will be slightly changed to read "An Iowa Girl in Japan." Of course, we've still got a long way to go until then, at least when it comes to everything that has to happen first. Time-wise, as the title of this post suggests, I'm planning to take off for Japan on January 16, 2019, exactly six months from today (which is partially why I decided to set up and start this blog when I did). Of course, it's easy to start a project when you're on summer vacation and don't have too terribly many demands on your time. Junior year might keep me from updating as often as I'd like, but I'll definitely do my best to make this blog as helpful and interesting of a resource as I can.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the title: "ヘンナ外人," or Henna Gaijin, is a Japanese term that means "strange foreigner," and can be used to describe those odd foreigners who actually know quite a bit about Japanese culture (and thus hopefully can avoid many of the typical embarrassing lost-tourist mistakes culture shock can lead to). My hope is to actually be able to earn this moniker, so I'm using it as my blog title in the hopes that it will actually turn out to be the truth. If it doesn't, the blog title might end up changing later, but for now, I thought it'd be a cool/quirky title that would help my humble little blog stand out a bit in the limitless realm that is the internet.
A last couple of notes: This actually isn't my first foray into the blogosphere. If you'd like to read more of my writing, you can check out my other (tentatively-completed) blog, Naturally Observant, at naturallyobservantblog.blogspot.com. This blog was written for an English class this past spring semester, and focuses on nature and my place therein. And lastly, if you have any questions or comments for me, you can tweet me @starrymisfit.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to sharing my experiences (and hopefully some helpful advice) with you going forward!
宜しくお願いします！"Yoroshiku onegai shimasu," a phrase said at a first meeting which means something like "let's work together" or "let's be kind to each other!"
--エリザベス ("Erizabesu," "Elizabeth")
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