AmerikaJin5
Sempai
- 12 Nov 2014
- 174
- 99
I don't mind posting here, in case this situation applies to others as wellRight on - and your wife will arrive later? Are you first going into the dorm or did you get an apartment right away.
I ask only because I am in a similar situation (looking for apartment but still able to understand the benefits of dormitory first) and I know others are too - PM works as well though.
How is the packing going?
Yes, my wife will arrive later (hopefully December). It turns out that Tokodai will not sponsor her visa after all, despite being told they would...I don't blame them, since she's not a student, but still -- I wasn't informed until about a week ago. Thus, I need to apply for her certificate of eligibility (CoE) at Tokyo Immigration once I get there, and then she will apply for the visa (with the CoE) afterwards. Hopefully she'll be able to come in December like we planned!
I am in university housing at first (Shofu Dorm, Yokohama). I will start looking for apartments as soon as I arrive, hopefully within walking/biking distance of my lab. Tokodai tells me that they will assign me a "tutor" to help with this search; the tutor is a senior undergrad Japanese student who speaks English (almost like orientation volunteers in the US). The dorm is just for single males, so my wife can't join me until I find private housing (and she needs the visa).
But I will say -- the Shofu Dorm is crazy cheap! Staying there for a couple months will help save money for a private apartment later. And it is a few mins walk from the station. So not all bad
As for moving preparations, I have finished selling/storing all my stuff in the US and now squeezing all my remaining possessions into two suitcases and two carry-on bags