Since the last time, I got my COE/Visa, got a new camera for taking lots of pics/vids to share, spent WAAAAY too much on clothes, and got to working on all the packing I have to do. 

We were assigned ePals to email back and forth for awhile before we left so as to know someone as soon as we arrive as well as to get some extra practice with the language. My ePal’s name is Nanako, she’s 19, and majors in English. It seems like IES tries to match you with an ePal who has similar interests (at least that’s been the case with everyone I’ve talked to). I highly recommend participating in the ePal program, because it’s a great way to meet natives.

I was pretty happy that my visa came back early, because it takes so much time to process and you only get it 2-3 weeks before you leave. I’ve heard that some students didn’t get theirs until the day before they had to leave! D: My plane leaves from Pittsburgh this coming Monday the 30th and I’ll arrive in Tokyo the afternoon of the 31st.

We all received our housing assignments as well. Everyone I know is in a dorm, except for one friend who got a homestay (as well as two ePals), and we’re all about a half hour (including walking time) from campus, so that’s really nice (they said it could be 30-90 minutes). I don’t know the exact position of my dorm (GoogleMaps is failing on that account), but I found some blogs of people who stayed in similar housing and it looks pretty nice.

I also found some housing for over winter break (end of Dec till end of Mar), for pretty cheap. I used http://www.sakura-house.com/ to find places to stay. If you have someone to share a room with, the guest houses are pretty manageable.

Next time, I’ll probably be updating from my hotel room in Tokyo that we’ll be using for IES orientation, and I’ll try to get some pictures/videos up of the scenery. If there are any requests for things to look for when I start traveling around Tokyo, let me know and I’ll do my best!