I received my visa in the mail yesterday. I forgot to mention that when I turned in my visa application, I didn’t have to pay a dime. Even without having to pay for the it, I got a multiple entry visa that doesn’t expire until 2014. That is freakin’ sexy!!

Now all there is left to do is clean out my apartment and pack. And finish this quarter at school…

Why… hello there everyone!

I hadn’t really thought that my journal would actually generate any real hits. But it seems from my Essay on Gay Marriage, posting of lyrics/songs, and various information about my upcoming trip to Japan, I’m actually generating quite a few legit hits.

Although I will be posting a lot more once I get to Japan about various cultural things and my study/stay overall, I’d be more than happy to journal other helpful things for people. If you have a random question about anything at all - whether you’re looking for resources or just have a general question about something nonrelated to anything, feel free to ask. I like comments, and quite frankly I’m surprised I haven’t received any yet (especially on the Gay Marriage essay).

So! There you go. Open invitation to suggest topics you’d like to see here. I’m open for discussion on anything, as long as it’s a civil discussion. ;P

Comment and say hi! I’ll be sure to respond.

Well, I have to admit that part two of the Visa process is almost not worth writing about. Chris, the guy also attending AU, and I drove down to Seattle early in the morning. We got to the consulate at 9:30, which is when they open. We went in, turned in 1 visa application, 1 photo, passport and the Certificate of Eligibility. I filled out a Fedex form to have our stuff mailed back to us. And that was it.

The hardest part of the whole process was finding parking and figuring out which elevator corridor to go to in the 60 story building.

We returned home just minutes before noon.

Our financial aid short-term loan went through, so we bought our plane tickets.

All that’s left is to get our returned Visas, pack, and go.

So here’s my fancy new countdown:

I’m very pleased and happy to announce that I am now in possession of my Certificate of Eligibility from Japan!! (Ignore my shitty picture.) What exactly does a Certificate of Eligibility do? Well, it speeds up the Visa application process by a lot, supposedly. When you apply for to study abroad in Japan, your school of choice should give you a fancy form for you to fill out. They then send it to the Ministry of Justice. Several MONTHS later, you receive this fancy certificate. I understand now why it took so long to get all my acceptance paperwork - we were waiting for the Ministry of Justice to issue my Certificate of Eligibility. We sent the form to the school way back at the end of October. The date on the certificate shows January 20th. Obviously, it takes a while.

As part of my very small acceptance package, I also received my Admissions Certificate. It comes on fancy, easily voidable paper. Now, supposedly, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan’s website, I will need the following items: passport two 45mm x 45mm passport-type photos taken within the previous six months (stateless persons must submit three photos) two official visa application forms, available at the embassy or consulate documents certifying the purpose of the visit (see the accompanying table)

The “accompanying table” says:

College Student

1.) A copy of a certificate of admission from the educational institution where the person concerned intends to study. In the case where he or she intends to study as a research student or an auditor, documents certifying the substance of the research or the subjects and the number of lessons from the educational institution concerned.

2.) Documents certifying that the person concerned can defray all expenses incurred during the stay in Japan. In cases where the expenses incurred during the stay in Japan are defrayed by another person, documents certifying the income of the person who intends to defray all expenses and documents showing why he or she intends to defray all expenses for the person concerned are required.

Now, I called the consulate yesterday to get verification on some of the questions found on the Visa Application, such as “What do I put for ‘Address of hotels or names and addresses of persons with whom applicant intends to stay’?” and other questions that are found at the bottom of the application. Well, here’s what you put:

Click to see full image

Also, I was trying to ask about the #2 piece of additional documents, but the guy I talked to insisted that I just needed the basic essentials found in the first blockquote. I don’t really trust what he says, so I’m going to bring everything with me anyways.

You can count on me blogging my Visa application process. I’ll be going to get it on Friday. Stay tuned.