I thought I would update my blog now that I have found some of the answers to the questions posed in my last post. I strongly encourage anyone who is going abroad to ask any questions they have to people who have done it before. In this instance, the IPC at UNCG hooked me up with two students who had studied abroad in Japan recently. Through email, they were able to answer some of my lingering questions. Their response can be found below:
Q: What would you recommend as far as phones are concerned? My dad and I were looking at getting an international plan, but I am not sure what works for Japan and what doesn't. Is it best just to buy a phone there and pay as you go?
A: As far as phones are concered, I bought a phone once I got there that used a pre-paid 60-day plan/card, other exchange students bought phones and did a 1 year contract. The phones were a good way to communicate with Japanese people and other international students there. I don't know if those phones would work to call your family or friends here, but if you need a way to communicate with everyone back home, then you should get skype (
http://www.skype.com/). It is free to talk skype to skype, so as long as your family and friends get it, it won't cost anything to talk to them, and skype itself is free to download and use.
A: (from another student) As far as phones go, I would suggest buying a pay as you go phone once you get to Japan rather than getting an international plan (but both are viable options). If you get an international plan make sure the phone is able to work with 3G service, or it won't work. Also, I'm pretty sure you will have to pay an international per-minute/per-text rate when calling Japanese numbers and numbers back in the US. The company Softbank offers fairly cheap prepaid phones and prepaid phone service. I think having a Japanese phone will give you a lot more flexibility during your stay and it is cheaper.
Q: How do I go about opening a bank account in Japan and transferring money? I know that Citi Bank operates in Japan, but again, I am not sure if I can transfer money while I am still in the States or if I have to wait until I get to Japan and open an account locally. Also, my friend who went to Ireland had a problem where she was not allowed to transfer money to her new account because she needed some sort of number from her bank prior to leaving the States. Do you know anything about this?
A: As for bank accounts, I have no clue. I never opened one while I was there. The school I was at required us to pay all fees and rent and such in cash, and you could withdraw money directly from your US bank account with your bank card from an ATM. A lot of the exchange students didn't bother with an account.
A: (from another student) To open a bank account in Japan, you will have to wait until you get there to open an account. Most large cities in Japan should have a bank you can use. As for your friend, the number they needed may have been the routing number. You will have to get in touch with your bank to find this number. I personally did not open a bank account in Japan, I withdrew from international ATM's because that worked out better for me, so I'm not sure of the process of transferring money to/from a Japanese bank account. Again, talk to your bank and they will have more insight about this.
Q: What did you buy as far as power converters/plug adapters go? I was looking online and was at a loss at what to get.
A: You will only need a 3 to 2 prong converter/adapter. If you take a power strip and one converter/adapter, then you can plug any 3 prong cords into the power strip (if your laptop is the only 3 prong cord you have, you could just use the converter on it and not worry with a power strip). 2 prong cords can be directly plugged in.
I hope some of this might be able to help a fellow student in the future. I know it sure helped me!
じゃ！
Corri(nne)
