A Brief Moment of Panic

As I mentioned in a previous post, I bought a one-way ticket from Manchester to Tokyo for the 27th of August, as I didn't know exactly when I'd be returning to Blighty.  I decided that I'd see how my plans work out once I'm there, and then choose a date on which to leave.  After reading on the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office website that any entrants to Japan must have a valid passport and an onward/return ticket, I decided to give the Japanese Embassy in London a ring, as quite a few people from the University of Leeds have got single tickets, rather than return ones.

After being transferred to a person, rather than a machine, to talk to, I was initially startled by a greeting of  もしもし (yes, I was startled to be spoken to in Japanese when phoning the Japanese Embassy).  After a second or two (or three) of awkward silence and a mumbling of "英語で話してもいいですか" on my part, we were good to go!

I explained my one-way ticket situation to the lady, who then said that she wasn't sure, but that I probably wouldn't be able to enter Japan on a one-way ticket.  She then went on to tell me that she was from the cultural department of the embassy, hence the uncertainty, and that she would transfer me to someone from the diplomatic side, who would be able to inform me for sure.

As the phone went quiet, I was nervous, but remained hopeful that she would be mistaken.  Someone from the diplomatic side then picked up the phone (greeting me with a 'hello' this time), before telling me in no uncertain terms that "they won't let you into the country".  

I was very worried at this point!  I would have to get another ticket, or change my ticket, and I don't really have enough in the bank at the moment to do that.  After getting him to repeat the fact that I wouldn't be let in about twelve times out of disbelief, I then gasped "even with a student visa?!", to which he responded, "oh, yeah that'd be fine on a single."  It turns out his colleague hadn't explained that I was going as a student, so he just thought I was going as a tourist for a couple of weeks or something. 

As tourists staying for up to three months don't need a visa or guarantor to visit Japan, they instead need a return ticket.  Fair enough really.  Turning up in a country with no real reason to be there except for 'sight-seeing', and no ticket to leave the country, does smell a little bit like illegal immigration.  I think the UK has something similar in place, too.

Anyway, that's today's drama over with, and hopefully I won't have any other problems before I go to Japan!  Or whilst I'm in Japan, for that matter.

James

Japanese Student Visa Application

I have applied for my Japanese visa!  It’s scary how I can tick off all these little things on my mental checklist before Japan, and each one brings me a bit closer to going.  Leave my job. Check. Apply for visa. Check.  Next on the list is to apply for my Takase Scholarship!  But anyway, I’m just a few lines in and already digressing, so let’s get back on topic; my visa application!

So to apply for a Japanese Student Visa, you will need the following;

·      A Visa Application Form (available online or at the embassy)

·      Certificate of Eligibility (authorised after passing the required modules at your home university, then issued directly by the Japanese government)

·      Letter of Acceptance from the Japanese university to which you applied

·      Photocopies of the Certificate of Eligibility and Letter of Acceptance

·      Passport

·      One Passport Photo

·      £43 (cash only)

Besides those I also took a pre-paid, self-addressed special delivery envelope so that they could post it back to me.  You can either go back to the embassy in person to pick it up, or do what I did if you live too far away from London to do that.  You get to the embassy, and after an airport-style security check (including showing them your passport) at the front door, you go through into a waiting area, and take a ticket with a number on it.  You wait for your number to come up on the screen, and then go to the specified counter where someone checks that everything’s in order and takes payment.  Very easy!  I applied on Tuesday, and it should all be processed by Friday, and sent out the same day, so I should receive it on Saturday morning! 

So I took the 9:45 train from Leeds to London Kings Cross, which arrived just before 12 o’clock.  In the station I then bought a day ticket for the zones 1 & 2 of the underground, before going a few stops on the Piccadilly line to Green Park.  From Green Park station it’s just a two-minute walk down to the Japanese Embassy.  From the front of the building hangs a big Japanese flag, which was quite useful considering I don’t know my way around London!  I could see the flag from the station!  I forgot to take a photo outside the embassy, so here’s one of Natasha Clancey there a few days ago ;) Oh, and yes, she really did wear a Hooters top to a serious government institution.

I happened to bump into Leeds students Amanda Brown and Paul Farquharson whilst I was in the embassy; I was wondering whether anyone I knew would happen to be there at the same time as me!

After all that I met up with Joe Holloway, who I’ve only seen a couple of times since we both left school (we both went to Bradford Grammar).  Despite some confusion as to which station we were meeting in, we eventually met up outside Charing Cross, near Trafalgar Square.  We walked up to Covent Garden for a spot of lunch, as Joe knew of a chain of restaurants called Fire & Stone.  Apparently it’s a southern chain, which specialises in pizzas with unusual toppings from around the world.  Have a look at the menu on their website here.  I had the ‘Lombok’ – seriously tasty!  And only £4.95 at lunchtime!  I'd never have thought hoi sin sauce would go with a pizza- but it did!  I guess it’s because there was no tomato sauce on the pizza base or something.  Joe had the ‘Marrakech’, which he clearly enjoyed;

After lunch we got the tube up to Camden.  The canal was, um, green.

Camden’s not as good as I remember if I’m honest :( I suppose it would still be good at night and not during the summer holidays, but it was just absolutely packed full of loud American tourists, bratty kids and tacky tat!  It had a few pretty bits still, however! It was about 28 degrees and humid by this time, and we were preeeetty toasty, so we decided to go and sit by the canal.

We then went to Cyberdog, which was interesting…I headed downstairs and was freaked out (those of you who know the place will sympathise, anyone else should look at their website).  Let’s just say, I got a chance to practice my Japanese reading with some of the products for sale downstairs.

After wondering round Camden for a bit, Joe had to go for an interview at Embankment, and I had to get back to Kings Cross, so after going to Covent Garden again for a while, we both walked our separate ways; Joe on to Embankment, and I walked back to Charing Cross to have another look at a statue of Oscar Wilde which had tickled me that morning.

After gradually getting hotter and hotter walking around London all day, it was nice to get back on the air conditioned train back to Leeds, which arrived (slightly late) back at 9:35. 

So there’s the story of my trip to London to get a visa!  Hopefully it was of some help if you are going to Japan and haven’t yet got your visa…it was a simple procedure, apart from having to get to the other end of the country that is!

In other news, I’ve done some more on the side bar of my blog; I’ve added links to the blogs of other people from the University of Leeds who will be in Japan at the same time as me, as well as the links of some good websites relating to my blog and Japan!  Oh, and have a look at the map I’ve got!  It’s been exiting (sad, I know) seeing how many people from all over the world have been visiting my blog!  Any flashing stars on the map are users viewing my blog at the moment.  Also, it’s now even easier to follow my blog (heh)!  I’d really appreciate it if you’d follow me, which you can do by clicking the ‘Join this site’ tab on the right side bar.  You can do it not only with a Blogger account, but with a standard Google one, as well as a few others.

That’s all for now, please stay tuned! 

James

Bye Bye, Rhythm & Booze

I have now finished my 18 months with Rhythm & Booze!  Working in an off-licence (or wine shop, depending on who I’m talking to) certainly had its ups and downs, but I’m actually missing it already!  I was quite upset when I got home this evening!

The people I worked with were great, and I got on really well with them all.  I suppose I will miss working there, or at least miss the regular income anyway!  Speaking of which, I’m getting quite concerned about money matters whilst I’m in Japan, but I’ll write another post soon about that whole deal (and the DS thing I promised in my last post!). 

I’ll also miss the staff discount!  The shop was pretty cheap anyway, for example 3 500-600ml bottles of lager cost £5.50.  But my discount meant I could have them for £4.95; always good to keep it under a fiver!  I won’t miss the rude customers, however.  Obviously the majority were fine, but there always had to be the select few to ruin your evening, you know?  Although at least I’ve developed a thick skin after working there!  Every cloud and all that.

I know this is only a short post, but there’s not really a great deal to talk about!  Now I’ve finished working there, it definitely feels like I’m a step closer to going to Japan.  Putting all my affairs in order and what have you. 

I guess I won’t be seeing this view for a while!

Okay folkies, time for me to pop off!  Not doing a great deal tomorrow, just writing an essay to try and get a scholarship for studying in Japan, and then seeing Ayu!  Then on Tuesday I’m travelling down to London to apply for my Japanese visa!  I’ll definitely be writing a blog post on that, so look out for it on Tuesday or Wednesday :)

Oh, and happy August everyone :)

James