There have been some major shake-ups and advances since I last updated this blog. Seeing as I am nothing if not a first-rate procrastinator, I haven't said very much about most of this to very many people. Well, at the very least, I haven't said much about it on the web.
To begin with, we received our housing assignment a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the already high price for student housing was nearly doubled by adding a second person. The husband and I would have more space than a single room, but it would be at a price: 650,000¥. That equals almost $7200 for a semester, and it doesn't cover food.
I was extremely appreciative of the fine people who worked to secure us a home, and even managed to wrangle a deal into it (they negotiated a $1000 savings!), but there was no way we could afford that. Literally, it would be a deal breaker. I quickly contacted a few people at the school, all of whom responded quickly and helpfully, and they managed to put me on track to filing a housing waiver and applying for an apartment.
I have yet to hear the final decision on the housing waiver, but we were referred to an awesome rental agency in Tokyo, who managed to put us into an apartment and fax a lease to my school in a matter of days. Don't get me wrong, there were many sleepless nights and fretful emails. However, the leasing agent's multi-lingual staff answered my myriad questions, sent me cute pictures, offered commuting times to campus, set up wire transfers, and handled the business end with my university. It was magical, and I expect someone will be getting the Japanese equivalent of a fruit basket when we arrive!
On the student visa front, our shiny new marriage certificate was received at a rate commensurate with the cost of expressing it there, and promptly sent to Japanese immigration. I have received no official notice that our visas were approved, but I did receive an email yesterday which said that Certificates of Eligibility were beginning to arrive.
We don't actually receive our visas from the school, but are shipped Certificates of Eligibility (COE) after our first semester's payment is processed. When the university gets its money, they will send Jarrett and I the COE, and we will take them to the nearest Japanese embassy. While briefly on foreign soil, we will be issued permission to enter Japan. Just writing that made me excited!
In the mean time, despite nothing official on the visa front, I just received an invoice in my email. I assume this means my visa has processed, though I will verify that tomorrow. I have the unique misfortune of usually receiving emails from TUJ just as they shut down for the day. Also, though no one has said my housing waiver cleared the proper channels, I was told it looked fine before it was submitted, and I was not invoiced for it on my bill. I keep my fingers perpetually crossed.
Now, the fun part: time to come up with the money which isn't covered by financial aid. I was hoping to have received my scholarship by now, but it hasn't come. Sigh. I would be pretty close to the amount I need, but had to decimate our savings for the wire transfer required to secure our apartment. You see how much fun this is? It's a roundy-roundy time.
In the mean time, I'm packing like the dickens. Well, I'm throwing crap away like the dickens, but the important part is how our apartment is very slowly emptying. Anything worth more than $20 is being sold on craigslist, and nearly everyone I meet is solicited with a polite, "Hey, how are you? Lovely to see you! Plasma TV? Bookshelves? Fairly reliable car?" I get the distinct feeling people are going to be glad to see me leave.
Hopefully, I'll have some more news soon. Wish us luck!
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