Don’t forget to get the receipt for your train and taxi ticket so that you can claim travel expenses from UTS. If you forgot to get it at Meitetsu Chubu station, you can always ask for it when you reach your destination. Kylie and I did this in fairly broken Japanese but we still manage to get the receipt. It is a lot of money – 1310 yen!
Pack light! I got away with 30kg and Kylie, 40kg, but lugging the damn luggage from the airport and train station and up five flights of stairs is not worth the trouble. Not to mention, the room’s wardrobe is pretty small so it’s not like you could fit very much either.
The Gifu dorms are quite old but if you can, try to request building A before you get here. Building B has everything A has except a cupboard and bathroom. But trust me; having a bathroom is an extra pleasure! The rooms in A look a lot newer, not that much but newer is still newer. They have wallpaper instead of peeling paint and the rooms are bigger as well.
Building A has mixed floors, building B is segregated to level 1,2,3 boys and level 4,5 girls. There are no elevators in either building so it sucks to be me as I live in room B506 on the fifth floor! It made carrying my luggage very difficult and don’t forget you might have to climb these staircases several times a day.
Ask the taxi driver to take you to the front of the International House, not the back as you can’t reach the reception by that way. Keep receipt from the taxi driver.
Definitely try to study before leaving as it really helps a lot. We got bombarded with Japanese as soon as we arrived. Staff can usually speak English but it depends on the situation. If they see that you are really lost then they’ll speak English but otherwise is a mix.
Bring 6 passport photos taken within 6 months. You will need this for your Alien Registration Card (ARC) and Dorm Notice of Arrival.
All international students have to undergo a health check including blood test, physical, x-ray and urine tests; usually within the first few days. It is pretty lame.
Most of the time, staff will usually take you out to register for ARC so you don’t have to worry about finding the Municipal Hall by yourself.
Bicycles are the way to go in Gifu so make sure you know how to ride one. If you don’t know then you’d better find out how. You don’t want to almost fall into the river twice like Kylie.
Bring some personal belongings to liven your room as it is pretty dinghy and bland
The 100 yen stores are awesome places to buy almost anything you need and everything is 100 yen excluding GST. Eg. Cutlery, baskets, stationery, cosmetics, laundry and cooking stuff, etc.
GST is not included in the advertised price so say for example you buy something for 100 yen; you actually need to pay 105 yen.
You get assigned a Japanese mentor/adviser as soon as you get here. There are really cool and nice. They will help you with your studies, personal or academic problems, etc. They are technically the ones who are responsible for you.
Go to Gasto’s. Their Gasto’s Burger is insane!
When you get here, find out where is the ping-pong room and multipurpose hall as it has all the things previous students have left behind because it wouldn’t fit into their luggage. Sometimes you can score really useful things like a heater, pots and pans, hairdryers, plates and cutlery, and even shoes!
Find out immediately what the address and phone number of your room so that your family can call you.
You get a 1% discount of your groceries at Kanasue if you don’t use a shopping bag.
Chicken breast cost 29 yen per 100g, roughly 40 cents and it Sydney it starts at $10.99 per kilo. It boggles the mind!
Definitely bring your own sheets, pillow and mattress protector. The pillows here are filled with lumpy beans and to buy a Western pillow costs a lot of money.
Also bring your sleeping bag so that it can act as a doona. Be careful about taking the ones left by previous students as they can be infested by bed bugs as poor Kylie found out after one night.
Things you buy here are almost dollar for dollar in Sydney with the exception of stuff that is actually on sale. Otherwise it is pretty much the same. So when it comes to saving money for your year here, just look at how much you spend in Sydney in one year (accounting for rent, bills, food, entertainment and some miscellaneous) and that is how much you need to save up.
Learn how to cook yourself basic meals if you don’t already know how to because eating out all the time will start to eat into your bank account.
If you already own ‘Minna no Nihongo’ and ‘Basic Kanji 1′ (the red kanji book), bring those along as they use it in class A or otherwise you’ll have to shell out 12,000 yen to buy them. If you’re in any of the other classes then you’ll have to buy new textbooks.
Bring along one roll of toilet roll in your checked luggage because your room is bare and won’t have any. And if you’re the type of person who needs to pee as soon as you check into your room, you’ll definitely need it.
Mail from Sydney usually takes about a week to reach you but it can get very expensive, about $10 per kilo.
If you like to cook like me, definitely bring your own spices because it can be very hard to find specialised spices.
Change your currency in Australia as the exchange rate is better there. Remember to bring enough money to last you three weeks as that is how long it takes to get your Alien Registration Card which you need to open up a bank account.
Find out how to call home before you leave or even better, buy one of the Telstra PhoneAway cards. They are really easy to use but most of the time, it is cheaper if Australia calls you rather than you calling them.
Expect to pay around $400 rent + bond for your first month here. After that, your rent and bills average about $130 a month depending on how much electricity you use.
Internet is also about $30 a month and don’t forget to set up a direct debit account with them because it is so much easier and saves you the fuss of going to the post office every month to pay your bill. Same with your mobile phone; so far I’m averaging $30 a month and Softbank takes it directly off my credit card.
