Everything is very busy at the moment; Work has been busy, in what little free time I have I try to spend brushing up on my Japanese at YesJapan.com (Probably THE best way to learn Japanese online.) Though lately I dont have alot of free time to study or do much of anything. Furthermore, after saving up for almost 3 years I'm suddenly throwing tons of money around like nothing in preparation for this trip (read on, you'll see) - kind of a strange feeling.
In a few days I have to return to Toronto to pick up my Working Holiday Visa. (NOTE: The Japanese government currently has my passport >.> - for some reason I like saying that hehehe.)
Anyways, in order for them to hand over your passport WITH the visa in it, you have to bring 2 items when you go to pick up your visa.
a) $2,500 in Traveller's Checks - this is to show that you have sufficient funds to get yourself situated while you find a Job etc.
b) Actual return airline ticket - this is to prove that you're eventually going to return and not over-stay your visa.
Getting the first of these items was pretty easy, except that my bank is an online bank and because it doesn't have any tellers it's difficult to get traveller's checks from them, so I had to buy them from a different bank.
Buying the traveller's checks from a different bank presented it's own problems, as at one branch they wanted to see my passport to sell them to me (uh... yea.. the Japanese government has my passport <.< and wont give it back until I show them these traveller's checks.. hehe still love saying that..)
Anyways, I went to a different branch of the SAME bank (CIBC), and they sold them to me without any photo ID at all.. So item a) is covered.
Item b) is a bag of issues on it's own. No Canadian airliner flys to Fukuoka (where I'll be staying for the first duration of my journy to attend Genki Japanese and Culture School); Most of the flights go to Tokyo and then you have to transfer to JAL or All Nippon airlines to go from Tokyo to Fukuoka.. You can buy tickets from Expedia or Travelocity or Orbitz that include this entire trip, but unfortunately they are only e-tickets and no actual ticket is given to you, you simply goto the air port, show them photo ID and they give you a boarding pass. This wont work for me, as the Japanese consulate wants to SEE a return ticket itself. Also, I've heard a number of horror stories about e-tickets and people getting to the airport and being told they need an actual ticket, etc. and it sound's like a possible headache waiting to happen...
So...
I've decided that I'll purchase my ticket in person at the Airport where I live: round trip from Toronto to Tokyo, with a stop in Vancouver; Once I get to Narita International Airport Tokyo, I'll have to buy another ticket to goto Fukuoka or I may take the Shinkansen. I'm aiming for a departure date of November 6th, and a return date of April 30th or May 1st..
So, I have my plate full in the next few days, and on top of all of this I have to stop at greyhound and buy a greyhound ticket to go back to Toronto on Wednesday or Thursday. isogashii ne~ (aren't I busy? -.-)
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2 comments:
Busy Busy Busy!! Jeeze! I guess it's all worth it though eh? (not making fun of Canadians haha) I definitely think you should stay away from internet tickets, bad idea! Good thing you've got a better plan! It takes a very responsible person to plan a whole trip to another country!
=]
Shaye
how did you make out in the Japanese counsolate? I`m wondering if you intend to stay for a year but they only offer you 6 months at a time for your visa, how do you appropriatlly buy your round trip ticket before hand?
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