It's been a while since my last update. This is supposed to be my 'Japan Blog', but here I am still stuck in the UK. Shortly after my last post I recieved the bit of paper I had been waiting for in order to apply for my visa. This document is a 'Certificate of Acceptance' from Hiroshima University. It's basically a letter confirming that, yes I will be a student there until such-and-such a date. Another document exists called the 'Certificate of Eligibilty', but I had been told on the phone that I wouldn't need this particular peice of paper.
I received the CoA the day before the Royal Wedding and resulting 4-day bank holiday, meaning I had to wait until the following Tuesday before I could go to the Embassy and apply for my visa. Then, I was led to beleive, it would be another five days wait until I would get my passport sent back to me with a visa in it. Alrighty then.
But, of course, noing is that fucking simple, is it. Apparently there was some query. They had to ask their chums in Tokyo a couple of questions before they could process my visa. One question being the posibilty that I might be able to use the visa in my old passport (which I had previously had sent to me from Akita, where I had left it). This would save me the 40+ quid it costs to get a brand spanking new one in my new passport. I told them I'd rather just pay for the new one (my uni would be covering the cost anyway), but they said they still had to ask Tokyo anyway. I said okay, and then I thought to double-check whether or not I would need to provide the Certificate of Eligibility they had already told me I wouldn't need. She smiled and confirmed I would not need it, as these were 'special circumstances'.
The other catch was that Golden Week was just starting. Golden Week is basically a week long public holiday in Japan, meaning nobody in Tokyo would be able to respond to the Embassy's queries for a good few days. In fact, those few days turned into two weeks. I got a phone call and it turns out Tokyo's answer was 'no', I would have to reapply for a brand new visa in my new passport. Which is exactly what I intended to do in the first place. What a waste of two weeks! But, oh well, we're nearly there. They can just make me up the visa in the normal five day period, right? Well, actually no... I would also need my Certificate of Eligibility...
You Fucking What? I genuinely could hve murdered someone, and it would have felt so good.
As it happened, that very day, Hiroshima had sent the CoE to Newcastle, and they were swift to forward it to me. The document arrived this morning (or yesterday morning as it's gone midnight) and I'm planning to go to London first thing in the morning. I could very well have my visa by the end of tomorrow, because he said they could rush it through for me and I wouldnt have to wait the normal five days due to the 'special circumstances'. I'm sure you appreciate why I'm a tad skeptical, but it would be great to finally have that bloody visa in my bloody passport.
Hooooowever...
While all this was going on, one of my teachers, the lovely Moretti-sensei, who I have yet to meet in person, had been enquiring about an intensive summer course run by the University of Manchester. The idea being that if the whole getting-back-to-Japan thing ended up taking too long or falling through altogether, I would have a back-up plan.
So, last thursday I travelled to Manchester, found the right building and looked for room S3.16... I couldn't fnd it though. I walked up and down the corridor, S3.19, S3.18, S3.17, throught the double-doors, past the ladies', past the gents', S3.14... wait, what? I was sure I was mistaken, but it seemed like S3.16 was the ladies' toilet. Was this some kind of joke because I'm from a rival university? I went to the office to find out, and it turned out I had misread the email... I was after SG.16.
So I went downstairs and met Iwakami-sensei, who was very sweet and very polite despite my complete faliure of her placement test. I had pretty much totally messed it up and it was painful for both of us when she painstakingly went over the papers listing all the mistakes I had made. Nevertheless, we did get a little bit of dialogue going in Japanese and that felt nice. I left her, feeling quite embarrassed as a representative of Newcastle. I felt like I had let the side down. I met up with my friend Sarah, who lives in Manchester, for a swift pint in the station before catching my train home, where due to a lack of lifts and 4 duff taxi numbers, I had to walk for over an hour (about 30 mins of which was in utter pitch black) before I was recognised by a fellow Ticehurstian who stopped and drove me the rest of the way. Thanks Nick.
Today, I got an email from Moretti-sensei informing me that by some miracle, I had been accepted onto this class in Manchester.
Which, assuming I get this visa tomorrow, leaves me with two choices. Do I finally go back to Japan, to Hiroshima, after a continuous two-month barrage of obstacles and set-backs, or do I spend the next couple of months in Manchester? At the end of the day, my Japanese is the main priority, and I have asked my teachers to advise me as to whether or not Manchester might in fact be the wiser decision academically. The last thing I want is to be unprepared for beginning Stage 4 in September. I don't want to be failing and dragging my classmates down with me. Hiroshima is still my first choice, but at the moment I think I could be persuaded by the Manchester option if my teachers think it is a better option.
Sorry for the boring block of text with no pictures. Hopefully there will be some Hiroshima pics withing the next couple of weeks. If not, then how about some Manchester pics? Hmmm. We shall see.
Bye for now x
I received the CoA the day before the Royal Wedding and resulting 4-day bank holiday, meaning I had to wait until the following Tuesday before I could go to the Embassy and apply for my visa. Then, I was led to beleive, it would be another five days wait until I would get my passport sent back to me with a visa in it. Alrighty then.
But, of course, noing is that fucking simple, is it. Apparently there was some query. They had to ask their chums in Tokyo a couple of questions before they could process my visa. One question being the posibilty that I might be able to use the visa in my old passport (which I had previously had sent to me from Akita, where I had left it). This would save me the 40+ quid it costs to get a brand spanking new one in my new passport. I told them I'd rather just pay for the new one (my uni would be covering the cost anyway), but they said they still had to ask Tokyo anyway. I said okay, and then I thought to double-check whether or not I would need to provide the Certificate of Eligibility they had already told me I wouldn't need. She smiled and confirmed I would not need it, as these were 'special circumstances'.
The other catch was that Golden Week was just starting. Golden Week is basically a week long public holiday in Japan, meaning nobody in Tokyo would be able to respond to the Embassy's queries for a good few days. In fact, those few days turned into two weeks. I got a phone call and it turns out Tokyo's answer was 'no', I would have to reapply for a brand new visa in my new passport. Which is exactly what I intended to do in the first place. What a waste of two weeks! But, oh well, we're nearly there. They can just make me up the visa in the normal five day period, right? Well, actually no... I would also need my Certificate of Eligibility...
You Fucking What? I genuinely could hve murdered someone, and it would have felt so good.
As it happened, that very day, Hiroshima had sent the CoE to Newcastle, and they were swift to forward it to me. The document arrived this morning (or yesterday morning as it's gone midnight) and I'm planning to go to London first thing in the morning. I could very well have my visa by the end of tomorrow, because he said they could rush it through for me and I wouldnt have to wait the normal five days due to the 'special circumstances'. I'm sure you appreciate why I'm a tad skeptical, but it would be great to finally have that bloody visa in my bloody passport.
Hooooowever...
While all this was going on, one of my teachers, the lovely Moretti-sensei, who I have yet to meet in person, had been enquiring about an intensive summer course run by the University of Manchester. The idea being that if the whole getting-back-to-Japan thing ended up taking too long or falling through altogether, I would have a back-up plan.
So, last thursday I travelled to Manchester, found the right building and looked for room S3.16... I couldn't fnd it though. I walked up and down the corridor, S3.19, S3.18, S3.17, throught the double-doors, past the ladies', past the gents', S3.14... wait, what? I was sure I was mistaken, but it seemed like S3.16 was the ladies' toilet. Was this some kind of joke because I'm from a rival university? I went to the office to find out, and it turned out I had misread the email... I was after SG.16.
So I went downstairs and met Iwakami-sensei, who was very sweet and very polite despite my complete faliure of her placement test. I had pretty much totally messed it up and it was painful for both of us when she painstakingly went over the papers listing all the mistakes I had made. Nevertheless, we did get a little bit of dialogue going in Japanese and that felt nice. I left her, feeling quite embarrassed as a representative of Newcastle. I felt like I had let the side down. I met up with my friend Sarah, who lives in Manchester, for a swift pint in the station before catching my train home, where due to a lack of lifts and 4 duff taxi numbers, I had to walk for over an hour (about 30 mins of which was in utter pitch black) before I was recognised by a fellow Ticehurstian who stopped and drove me the rest of the way. Thanks Nick.
Today, I got an email from Moretti-sensei informing me that by some miracle, I had been accepted onto this class in Manchester.
Which, assuming I get this visa tomorrow, leaves me with two choices. Do I finally go back to Japan, to Hiroshima, after a continuous two-month barrage of obstacles and set-backs, or do I spend the next couple of months in Manchester? At the end of the day, my Japanese is the main priority, and I have asked my teachers to advise me as to whether or not Manchester might in fact be the wiser decision academically. The last thing I want is to be unprepared for beginning Stage 4 in September. I don't want to be failing and dragging my classmates down with me. Hiroshima is still my first choice, but at the moment I think I could be persuaded by the Manchester option if my teachers think it is a better option.
Sorry for the boring block of text with no pictures. Hopefully there will be some Hiroshima pics withing the next couple of weeks. If not, then how about some Manchester pics? Hmmm. We shall see.
Bye for now x
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