Nara's International Division

This is the part of the blog where I rave about how awesome Nara's International Division Office is.

We have been exchanging emails back and forth for the last few days, mostly to discuss my flight and hotel accomodations when I land in Nara. If you remember from a previous post, they write to me in both English and Japanese, so I try to extend the same courtesy. A couple emails back, I received this praise from them:

"Thank you for e-mail.
I am pleased that your mail written in Japanese is very easy to understand."

It's silly how happy these words made me, but it was such a great encouragement to me. (Especially since my Japanese grammar needs a lot of work.)

Another thing that really impressed me about Nara's IDO is that they actually recommended a hotel for me, booked it so that I could get a discount, AND provided a map of the area. I mean, look at this thing!
They're really making me feel at ease about the whole process. I think I'm going to be just fine.


じゃ！
Corri(nne)



Kansai International Airport (KIX)

Taken from Technology 4 Lives:

Kansai International Airport

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Eagle Eye

Open for business since 4 september 1994, Kansai International Airport (KIX) is one of only two artificial structures visible from space- the other is the Great Wall of China. The purpose of this project was to build Japan’s first 24-hour international airport, in order to respond to the increased demand for air transport not only in Kansai but in the whole of the country.

Three mountains in the southeastern part of Japan’s Osaka Bay had to be leveled to provide the landmass, and transport bridges from the harbor 5 km (3 miles) away also had to be built. the cost and constructional difficulties of this ambitious undertaking were outweighed by the ideal of an isolated flight-site with future expansion possibilities and without the need for noise restrictions. Although the island is fully operational, this is only the end of Phase 1. Plans for Phase 2 includes increasing the size of the island and adding two runways.

SUBMITTED BY PRADEEP KUMAR RAJPUT

pradeep.prosoft@gmail.com

I Bought My Ticket

After exchanging several emails with Nara's international programs office, I finally bought my plane ticket to Japan. On the morning of March 30th, I will be leaving from Philadelphia airport and flying into California. From there, I will fly directly to Kansai International Airport (KIX), arriving around 3:15 in the afternoon on Thursday, March 31st. I will then travel about an hour and a half by bus to Nara. I will stay in a hotel over night and go to Nara Women's University the morning of April 1st.

Airports make me nervous, so having connection flights, buses, and hotels to deal with is all very daunting. However, I was able to pre-pay for everything through Student Universe (a website that sells discounted tickets to students), so that's nice, even if it did cost me about $1,700! Thank God for the $1,300 travel grant provided by the UNCG Honors Program!

I am more excited than anything, but a lot can go wrong so please pray (even this early) that everything runs smoothly and is on time. I have to be at Nara between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm on April 1st so I figured arriving a day early was safest. It also gives me the entire weekend to explore the city and get over my jet lag!

On another note, I will be returning on August 17th. UNCG starts on August 22nd so it is cutting it a little close, but I think I can manage. It's real guys! The plane ticket has been purchased, the reservations made-- all that's left now is my packing list and visa.

More coming soon!
じゃ！

Corri(nne)

Below: Kansai International Airport

It's Official!

Happy New Year! It has been a while since I last updated, but that's only because I haven't heard anything new about Nara or my plans to study abroad-- until now, that is.

About a week ago I received a call from the IPC at UNCG that my certificate of admission from Nara had come in (YAY!). Of course, since I live out of state, they had to send it to me. Last night, I came home to find it had already come in the mail. They also told me that while my certificate of admission shows that I was indeed accepted into Nara, I will still receive a letter in February that I will need to turn in for my visa application in order to go abroad. That's fine by me. At least I'm not the one doing the paperwork this time!

I still have a couple months to go. Living at home while everyone I know is back at school in Greensboro is somewhat nerve wracking, but I am keeping myself busy with my job and winter classes that I am taking in my home state. Although March seems like a long way off, I'm sure it will come sooner than I think.

Until next time!
じゃ！

Corri(nne)

My certificate of admission (in Japanese and in English)