That's almost all I've done, however. You can see on that photo that I've also stuck some underpants in my suitcase, and started to fold other things up on the floor. Instead of gradually filling my bag up as I go along, I'm going to sort everything out on the floor first, then put it all together like a jigsaw puzzle to fit in when I'm happy!
And yes, I really did vacuum-pack my socks into a Sainsbury's freezer bag. You can't really see it from the picture, but it's really tightly packed, like when you buy some liver or fish from the supermarket in one of those heat-sealed vacuum packs, the ones that always make it look like it's just a fillet of mackerel on a sheet of gold paper. It's really flat, and now takes up a lot less space in my suitcase than if I'd just bunged all of my socks in. I didn't use any fancy methods though, I just put the socks in a bag and then almost sealed it, just leaving a tiny gap, before kneeling on it to push all of the air out and then quickly sealing it tight! It's tempting to do that for more items of clothing, but I fear that's a little too Alan Partridge.
In other news, I ordered some Japanese Yen today! The exchange rate is currently ¥126 to the Pound, but that figure is fluctuating all the time. It's depressing to think that two and a bit years ago, you could get literally twice as much for your money; the exchange rate was around ¥250 to the Pound. I found the best rate was through Travelex; I got it at ¥121 to the Pound, much better than the ¥115 or ¥116 I've heard that other people have been getting through the likes of the Post Office recently. So everyone reading this blog from Leeds Uni who haven't yet got their Yen yet, get it through Travelex! You'd have thought they'd give me ¥122 after that endorsement, but it wasn't to be!
So I ordered ¥121,000 (well done to anyone clever enough to realise that's £1000's worth) to take with me to last the first few expensive days in Japan. I'll have to pay ¥77,700 when I check into my accommodation (first month's rent, first month's utilities, bedding rental and deposit), as well as the deposit and initial credit on my Suica Card (Tokyo's equivalent of the London Oyster Card), some books for the university, and a bicycle. Yes I know it's a bit hopeful to want to get all those things with that amount of money, but we'll see! I'm going to the Travelex counter at Leeds/Bradford Airport on Tuesday to pick the money up.
Once I'm in Japan I'm going to open a bank account, and then transfer the current balance from my British HSBC account, as well as my savings. I just upgraded my HSBC account to a student account (a year late, I know), so now I can take advantage of my overdraft! Although I'm really going to try not to go into it, hence why I didn't upgrade during the first year of university. I might have to though, if I don't get the Takase scholarship. Oh, and by the way, I've now discovered that we will find out who has been awarded the scholarship at the end of August. There is a lot of the competition for the 20 people who are awarded it each year, as I mentioned in a previous post, so hopefully my entry essay was good enough! I suppose I'll find out in a week or so...
There are now just over 5 days left until I set off for Japan! Still so much to do!
James
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