application tips and some pre-arrival thoughts

Today marks one week till my departure to Waseda University in Tokyo! I am writing this post in anticipation—it’s been tough being the last in my cohort to begin my exchange, but maybe the wait will be worth it if I can catch the first cherry blossoms. I’ve already read six books and took part in two swim meets while waiting and I’m not sure I can wait any longer for my semester to start. In this post, I’ll document my university and visa application in hopes that it will be helpful to anyone planning on taking their exchange in Japan! If you’re not here for application tips though, feel free to skip to the bottom for my pre-arrival preparations!

Quickly, I'd like to introduce myself! Hi, I'm Faith! I'm a junior in the Moore School and a member of the swim team. I'm starting my spring exchange very soon. I'm writing this from home in Singapore--I've basically been on break since school got out in December.

If you’re planning an exchange in Japan, here is a breakdown of my application timeline:

Spring exchange application due date (post-nomination) 10/31
Acceptance email 12/12
Dorm application sent 1/7
Dorm acceptance email 1/16
COE issued 2/14
Visa application 2/28
Visa collected 3/6

I’ll admit I was worried about the COE not being issued on time for my visa application, but the visa process ended up being much faster than expected. One thing I will say—print out all your documents, even the ones you think you won’t need. I went to the consulate in Singapore, and my experience in there was eerily similar to my past experiences at the DMV: lots of waiting, shuffling between counters, and a general sense of mild frustration.

Another tip: for the applications, we had to mail in physical wallet-sized pictures for the application. Instead of finding a place that does professional passport headshots that will probably upcharge you, find a collage template on Canva and print it out at Walgreens for a under a dollar. I used the Brown Simple Photo Collage template that gives you 6 pictures and printed it as a 4x6 picture. And then after that I just cut them to fit passport photo size. They also accept if you mail it in the same envelope as a friend.

Now that the paperwork is out of the way, I’m focused on the fun stuff—documenting my experience and making sure I don’t stand out in a sweat set or athleisure. I was thinking about investing in either a digicam or a camcorder. I also went ahead and shopped for half a new wardrobe, including two pairs of shoes. My sister already booked her flight to come visit me before the semester starts, hopefully we get to visit Kyoto for sightseeing!