How to get to Japan Method 1: Study Abroad

There are numerous ways to *get* to Japan. The trick is figuring out which one will work for you. In this post I will discuss my method and reasoning for choosing a study abroad over other ways.

Pros:

• Get hand-holding from the school. The University hires staff that are supposed to help you figure things out. It's their job, utilize it!
• Direct-exchanges via your home University are "cheap"! Essentially the same tuition you pay at home. You're already forking over your life savings and racking crippling debt, might as well go abroad.
• Get a scholarship. This can be hard but it's like really tacky dating-- Law of numbers. Write a billion applications. Have a clear purpose, brain wash yourself that this is your life dream. Write a ton. Be creative with the submission. Get personal. use life references. Pray. 
• Make friends more easily than on your own
• Become a "native"
• They say it's better than working in Japan, which is more lonesome for foreigners.. Heck, it seems that Japanese are even more lonely.

Cons:

• Busting your way into a University in Japan. You will have to duke it out and probably BS your way to get into the program you want / school you want to be at. Get on waiting lists. People bail, plans change, money gets tight. 
• Transferring credits toward your actual degree WILL be difficult. The exchange coordinators may claim it's easy. Just assume it's going to be as difficult as the ending fight in a Rocky movie. If you have / experience otherwise, you have a great school, great exchange program, and are very fortunate.

Steps

I never had these tips when I did my exchange program. It was trial and error. I added a few side stories to prove some points, if any of this sounds horrifying to you, don't worry about it. Even during some of the more crazy times if you take everything in with a grain of salt and think: great story for later (I mean assuming nothing terrible happens) then it's more of an adventure. The slight hassles of getting there are well worth it. 

1. Make sure your University offers exchange programs
2. Talk to the coordinator. Ask a billion questions, anything you think is too embarrassing to ask, just ask it. You'll be glad you did
3. Figure out where you want to go, research online.. Look at any packets they have.. Look on a map online!!! Use street-viewer on Google. Get a flavor for what the terrain looks like
4. See what past students say, my University had a giant folder of reviews. These were sort of biased / old but also stalk out alumni on Facebook and LinkedIn. Poke them. They'll probably be very friendly as they once had the same thoughts you did.
5. Figure out when you want to get the hell out of school. If you don't mind the pains of graduating later, do a longer exchange or take on a funky set of classes to expand your horizons. Either way expect you'll be slightly set back. My University was fantastic at accidentally doing that. 
6. Figure out your goals: To learn, to play, to shop?? To be in the city. You'll probably get to achieve at least one. Don't get your hopes set to high.. Just be happy you get to go and adapt. I was around a ton of people who had all these expectations. If they're too high and not met you'll get discouraged. I did.. At the end though, I thought: screw it. I might as well enjoy since I'm going to be delayed a quarter. And, then things got fun. 
7. Now is the hard part.. You have to persuade them to get you into a direct exchange. 
8. I don't want to bash any programs (I would in person but I will attempt to refrain online.. But DO NOT go for external ones that are 20k+ that's ridiculous.. (Unless you have family that has dough and you just don't care..) You may be in debt but you don't want to be in more debt than is necessary. Random rant: It's like those bogus pay to be an intern programs. Come on. That's just insulting. I don't often call out shady programs, but that is one that just blows my mind and I'm willing to fight to defend my position. Try direct exchanges first. They're just a way better deal. 
9. Now have 3 back ups. Just because you can't get to University in Tokyo or Osaka or wherever you want to go still sign up. In all honesty my Japanese is terrible I believe because I went to Tokyo. I spent too much time not speaking Japanese. An easy trap to fall into. I have no regrets-- but it can be avoided but I feel that those in more rural areas will get a much greater benefit language-wise. 

To be continued......

Additional Tips:

• Be nice to your parents. Any issues you have, resolve them. You're going to be really far and need help when shit hits the fan with your bank account / you can't access funds / your college is being sloppy and lost your records. You're many time zones away and having someone reliable who has all your account info / details is crucial. My life ordeal summed up in a few sentences: 
• My school held funds, I had no money, I was in Japan on ~ day 10 and tried to access my American bank account to withdraw a few bucks for food (credit cards don't work too well in 85% of places).. DECLINED. Me: HOLY S@#$.. I'm in Japan and only have 730 Yen (~6 bucks) for food and living.. The next business day is tomorrow.. My University's financial aid center isn't open for hours and I'll have to stay up late to email them and what if they don't answer, I don't have the paperwork, etc etc..
• I e-mailed my mom (it was a crazy hour in the US) an emergency email
• She found the number to the head of the exchanges, ended up calling 4 different Financial Aid people and had to get the low down in the US why my funds weren't going to my bank account.
• They explained somewhere along the line I wasn't logged as registered. She had to yell at them and say "YOUR department got the paperwork-- she's doing an exchange through your school. They reply: have her come in she replies: Are you crazy, she's in Japan!.. Turned out there was a big mis-communication with numerous students like this where their paperwork / note that "oh this student is studying in another country they still get their substandard loans.. Didn't get through..
• Praise the Lord the next day my bank had funds.. But if she wasn't there who knows what unbelievable bureaucratic tapes I'd have to go through, esp when you attend a University with 40k+ people!
• To SUM UP: make sure you have someone, somewhere (preferably the home country) that cares about you / would be willing to ring a few necks to save you just in case.