Alia Luria

I was extremely lucky because I know some Japanese and knew a lot about Japanese culture when I made my decision to visit Japan. However, even with those advantages, traveling to Japan can be daunting for some. I have started to write a series of articles on Suite 101 dealing with tips and advice on how to maximize the benefits of a trip to Japan and avoid potential problems. The list is short at the moment, but I hope to add to it in the coming days!

• Currency Exchange — U.S. Dollars to Japanese Yen
• Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Part 1: Directions and Overview
• Ooedo Onsen Monogatari Part 2: Procedure for Entering and Navigating the Baths
• Day Trips from Tokyo: Ancient City of Kamakura

Well, I’m getting on a plane in 9 hours and leaving for Tokyo. There was a lot of drama over the last couple weeks with my health, but everything seems to finally be going well, and I’m on my way to Japan tomorrow morning. :) When I get settled into my hotel, I will update peeps with photos and/or some kind of video post. I received an iphone for Christmas from my amazing boyfriend, so I will hopefully be able to post mobile photos to flickr via wifi. I know I can’t use it as a phone while I’m over there, but it seems like it will be very, very useful for many other things, so I’m super excited to have one. :)

Anyway, I’m sleepy and I have an early flight. So, ciao everyone, and my next update will be from Tokyo! Also, you can check twitter for mobile updates.

Well, it is getting close to go time, and here’s my current updates:

1. I got a kidney infection this week. Hopefully, this won’t stop me from going, but I’m on some heavy antibiotics to make sure that I kick out this infection and can go.

2. My visa arrived today. I got my passport back today, with my visa pasted inside. Yay!

3. I got approved for a transfer-fee-free credit card (use Capital One if you are traveling abroad), and it should allow me to pay for my rent and all of that jazz without the exchange fee that most banks use. Hopefully it will arrive by next week, and I can have it before I leave.

4. I got the vast majority of my hair chopped off. It’s still kind of freaking me out. Maybe I’ll like it better in a couple weeks when it grows out a half an inch. :) I guess my stylist took to heart my statements that I wouldn’t be getting it cut for four months while I’m in Tokyo.

5. I’m now thinking I might have to take two major pieces of luggage instead of one. The one bag was packed so tight, and I still had a lot of other stuff I felt I should bring.

And, I’m totally a dork. I forgot my heavy winter coat in Gainesville, so I will have to pick it up when I go to feed my cats.

Well, that’s all for now!

Well, I got my visa materials out yesterday, and I checked the tracking number, and it arrived in Miami today. So, hopefully, by next week I should have my passport back and be ready to roll. As far as financial aid, I just got the confirmation this morning that everything is in order for my loan disbursement (whew!). I’m beginning to think that I might have to bring two suitcases instead of one. Ouch! But, it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to fit everything I need to fit into one suitcase. I guess I’ll tinker with it a bit over the break.

Only one more final left! It starts in an hour and a half, and then I’m finally done for the semester. It has been a very long semester, but a lot has happened, so I’m not surprised that it felt really long. It’ll be amazing to see my sister in a few days as well. I haven’t seen her since March, when she left for Uganda. :) Yay!

After the final, it is just finishing packing, getting my cats settled to be home alone for a bit, and then, I head off to Orlando for the weekend before heading to Tampa. I’m pretty excited to start my vacation, and when it’s over, I’ll be flying to Tokyo!

Well, I decided to join Viddler so that I could post videos from Japan. Here’s my first one… a test really. Lesson? Speak up! Heh.

It’s time to become one with iCal. I really don’t want to lug my paper planner around Tokyo with me. I don’t even really want to lug my laptop, but I can’t live without it. :P So, I will have to start spending some quality time with iCal (or maybe 30 boxes), so that I can kick the paper habit. Yesiree!

So, I’ve been a member of the site twitter for almost a year, but I never really got into using it. Now, however, I’m thinking it might be handy for keeping people updating on my random goings-ons while I’m in Japan. If you care to be bothered with my ramblings, you can get a twitter account and follow my by going to my profile, here, and add me to your list of people you follow. I have to approve you, because my profile is currently closed (so that not everyone has access to my account). You can also set it to text your phone when people update twitter, which is pretty cool. I’ll probably see if anyone bothers with it and decide at that point if I want to keep up with it.

Well, just as my freaking out about finding a place to live in Tokyo had reached full force, I got an e-mail from Sakura House last night. Turns out, a room in Togoshi, room 403, was opening December 23rd, but they would let me move in and start paying rent on January 9th. We concluded a deposit agreement last night, so I officially have a place to live in Japan! Yay! There is no picture of room 403 on their site, but I can post photos of 303 and 503 that you get an idea of what it looks like. It’s 140 sq feet, so it’ll be roughly the size of my current room in Gainesville.

Room 303

Room 503

As you can see, it will have tatami floors and basically be a traditional Japanese-style room, which I am actually looking forward to. It will give me more flexibility as to how I arrange futons for myself and guests. :) So, I’m pretty excited. Also, I get my own balcony (even if it’s only on the 4th floor), and my room is separate from the other two rooms I’m sharing the floor with, which means I’m near the kitchen, but I at least am not up next to someone else’s wall. So, overall, I’m really happy, although after seeing that video about the 5th floor, I’m not super confident that it won’t be a hole. :) Either way, the price is right and the distance from school is good as well.

Well, there has been some progress on the Japan-front. Here’s the latest:

Received my certificate of eligibility today, so I can officially apply for my visa with the Japanese Consulate of Miami (I have to mail in my certificate, a visa application, my passport, and some photos).
I was supposedly registered for all the classes I want, although I have no real confirmation of this, as OWLnet isn’t showing my registration.

The dollar has been doing poorly, but at least stabilized over the last couple of days at ¥110 per $.

I’ve elected to stay at the Sanuki hotel for a few days upon arriving, but I haven’t heard whether that has been approved or not yet.

So, I guess that’s my recent news. The Consulate of Japan in Miami said it should only be a four day turnaround time to get my visa, so I will try to get those materials to them next week at the latest. Also, I supposedly have to attend a mandatory orientation through UF, but I have a class that day, so I will have to see if there’s any way to get out of it.

Well, despite my intense hope that the U.S. dollar not continue its precipitous decline against every foreign currency out there, the dollar has not been listening. Okay, so it’s not really the dollar’s fault. It is entirely the fault of… well, that’s neither here nor there. Either way, the result is that as days pass, I am getting less and less bang for my buck (literally, less yen for my dollars). So, even though I haven’t done anything whatsoever to change my financial situation, I am having less and less available living money for Japan as time passes. I knew I should have bought yen, but I don’t yet have the money to exchange. So, I am left just watching in horror as my rent, travel costs, and food costs creep up. I know that a few yen here and there isn’t that big of a deal, but I’m sure that it adds up. sighs and shakes a fist