MEXT Scholarship for Postgraduate 2009: Post Application

[menrui]

Oh, I'm going to Osaka U. The international housing is managed by jasso, not the university itself. our rooms are 8m^2, and there is public facilities(kitchen, bath etc). and its 30min travel time to campus. What's weird is, it seems like they are forcing us into a 1year contract.

oh, and we dont have meals provided.

 

[kouki]

>Leeming and lskeki
Welcome!
Just my opinion. Hope it doesn't hurt.
I don't think weather in Japan is that dry that we need moisturiser (it is mentioned somewhere that their weather is rather humid).
Instant noodles... Japan has a lot of them there. I suggest you better check what would need to be quarantined first before bringing them into Japan. ooilingfan, can we bring chinese medicine over the custom? some which are not pills like tea leaves... I am wondering whether they will allow us to bring those...
By the way, we can drink the water from the tap directly in Japan.
It seems like we have to buy loads of things when we arrive there... I don't think I have enough cash for that... It is winter in October!!! - cold!

 

[Leeming]

just wondering,

I dunno whether if we can fax the Letter of acceptance to embassy? or we must post it to them?

 

[dumex]

> Leeming
The "sui tou bat fook" thing is kinda interesting, i shall keep that in mind. How many litres do we need? Any specification on the water that we're bringing?

> kouki, lingfan
Er...Does that mean you are going to need charcoals and claypot as well? I know nothing about cooking, die la, in big trouble now.

> menrui
8m^2 for 239400 yen. Wow.. expensive

Any of you guys bringing traditional costumes? postcards? pamphlets?

 

[MakKuro]

@Leeming
Here in Bulgaria, we had to send the original.

 

[parady]

hey everyone, and congratulations, on the subject of bringing stuff to japan, i think an interesting thing to do would be bringing stuff that represent your culture or your country, sounds like an interesting way of getting to know different cultures from around the world. what do you think?

 

[kouki]

ok, since claypot and charcoal are too heavy, I'd rather bring other things...
How about the souvenirs from our country? What should we bring?
>dumex
I thought we have a limit of 500ml of water we can bring on board? if you bring 1L, that means 1kg more for your luggage.

 

[clockworkorange]

wow, reading about all the preparations is making me excited. kinda kills the mood for work.

anyway, i wish all of you a smooth-sailing journey neh?

i was wondering, though, how long is your accommodation for? i read leeming's post (welcome to the forum, leeming) that hers is for 6 months. i know that most university dorms and international dorms are for half a year to 2 years. i assume after that you all are planning to go for private housing?

To parady,

Yeah i agree that we should bring something that is representative of our country. Frankly though i haven't been able to think of anything appropriate. I mean there many things that represent Malaysia (for some reason various types of food keeps popping up in my head) but right now i can't think of anything yet. I suppose i will give it more thought when its closer to my departure date. That and what to give my professor as omiyage. what are you guys gonna give?

 

[c0ok1e]

Bring satay over... best food malaysia can offer..

I really hope i can stay at the university dorm for the whole period of my stay there.. solve the hassle to find apartment and its cheap.. but i guess wont be so lucky la.. sure need to move out after a while..

\one more thing for malaysians that u cannot forget to bring.. the "-Lah" word

 

[Nall-ohki]

Bring satay over... best food malaysia can offer..
I really hope i can stay at the university dorm for the whole period of my stay there.. solve the hassle to find apartment and its cheap.. but i guess wont be so lucky la.. sure need to move out after a while..
\one more thing for malaysians that u cannot forget to bring.. the "-Lah" word

G'ha, they filtered me out of the lottery because I wasn't confirmed by the end of January (my school decides who is accepted in the beginning of February, how was I supposed to be even eligible?!?).

Man, they're really hitting me hard with this "pay your own way" crap... -_-

 

[jim84]

> Leeming
The "sui tou bat fook" thing is kinda interesting, i shall keep that in mind. How many litres do we need? Any specification on the water that we're bringing?
> kouki, lingfan
Er...Does that mean you are going to need charcoals and claypot as well? I know nothing about cooking, die la, in big trouble now.
> menrui
8m^2 for 239400 yen. Wow.. expensive
Any of you guys bringing traditional costumes? postcards? pamphlets?

Just get an electrical cooker there. You can cook rice, noodles, soup and even make steamboat from it.
Yes, the 23940yen per month for dorm is expensive, but private could be even higher. For those who are paying 5900yen per month with 13m^2 space, you guys are damn damn lucky! Ours is only 8.1m^2. Anyway staying in dorm for 1 year seems like a good idea, so, cheer up la menrui, we don't need to worry about getting 50,000yen per month's private housing until next year.

 

[clockworkorange]

What exactly is sui tou bat fook?

 

[c0ok1e]

G'ha, they filtered me out of the lottery because I wasn't confirmed by the end of January (my school decides who is accepted in the beginning of February, how was I supposed to be even eligible?!?).
Man, they're really hitting me hard with this "pay your own way" crap... -_-

that sucks.. ir eally dunno wat to say... ☝

 

[c0ok1e]

Just curious, for malaysias, how many of u took ir need to take the IELTS or TOEFL in order to get the acceptance into university?

 

[kouki]

Just curious, for malaysias, how many of u took ir need to take the IELTS or TOEFL in order to get the acceptance into university?

My university does, and they only accept TOEIC or TOEFL.

>Nall-Ohki
Can you find JASSO house there?

>clockworkorange
Sui tou bat fook is ﾂ絶?ｦ窶忱窶｢s窶｢ﾅｾ in Cantonese. It means one cannot adjust oneself to the condition when arriving in a new place. I think bringing those pills (cure for diarrhoea) will help.

>Malaysians
Don't bring your electrical appliances (which needs power supply) over... It won't work there... theirs is 110V, 50-60Hz, whereas ours is 240V. If you insist on bring those, you will need a transformer or power converter.

 

[jim84]

What exactly is sui tou bat fook?

Literally means: "Cannot suit the soil and water"
Mandarin is: ﾂ絶?ｦ窶忱窶｢s窶｢ﾅｾ
(please don't try to pronounce in kanji as i believe it'll sound weird) =p

means you cannot adapt to the local climate and food, including the germs there. Symptoms of inadaptation includes diarrhoea, fever, vomitting, cold, allergy etc.
It doesn't mean the place is dirty, just we're not used to the microflora, microfauna (that we ingest and come into contact) and climate.

>Malaysians
Don't bring your electrical appliances (which needs power supply) over... It won't work there... theirs is 110V, 50-60Hz, whereas ours is 240V. If you insist on bring those, you will need a transformer or power converter.

Anyone bringing their own laptops there?
I wonder whether using a converter would be fine

 

[kouki]

Try check on your converter. If it says 110-240V, it should be okay... But I think Japan uses 2 pins, instead of 3 pins?

 

[c0ok1e]

All laptops can be used there la.. gila meh if u can only use laptops from japan.. they sure have standardze the power adaptop for laptops all over the world im sure

 

[luckyme]

Just received confirm from my University. I will live in a JASSO dorm. I have to pay 32,000 yen per month, quite expensive. In addition, it takes me an hour to my University. However, when I read the newspaper about homeless people in Japan and feel that I'm still lucky than them.

 

[jim84]

=)
not only you have a home, but "sponsored" to stay there.
Jasso is charging quite high for a dorm, but they do help us solve our immediate problems on lodging, at least for 6-12months.
The 5900yen university dorm is really attractive, guess will have to fight really hard for it. Being active in ECA or something.

 

[c0ok1e]

My prof told me he arranged the dorm for me and asked me to confirm with him my arrival date but I dunno yet... anyway, he didnt mentioned about how much i need to pay.. does this mean that its free? i scared later he say it willl be expensive then die

 

[jim84]

hey guys,
come to think of it, there's quite a lot of stuff we need to buy once we get there.
Here's my shopping list, feel free to add:

- Phone + calling card
- Electronic jisho
- Power converter/adapter
- Extension sockets
- Toiletries
- Laundry detergent
- Clothe hangers
- Warm clothings / more clothings
- Blanket/comforter
- Pillow
- Stationeries
- Kitchen utencils - spoon,fork,chopstick,plate,microwavable container
- Mosquito repellent/aerosol spray
- Cleaning tools - mob, broom, pail
- Electrical items - multipurpose cooker, boiler (optional for dorms with kitchen)
- Cooking utencils (optional)
- Some snack food (biscuits etc)
- Food containers
- Can opener, knife, fruit peeler, bottle opener
- Load up a simple first aid kit
- A handy toolbox
- Computer accessories - network cable, blank DVDRs/CDRs etc
- Torchlight
- Bicycle + Lock


Things to do include:
- alien registration card
- health/medical insurance card
- season pass for subway
- open bank account
- register bicycle (if bought)
- contact our country's Embassy/Consulate?? - maybe inform them that we're here

My prof told me he arranged the dorm for me and asked me to confirm with him my arrival date but I dunno yet... anyway, he didnt mentioned about how much i need to pay.. does this mean that its free? i scared later he say it willl be expensive then die

I seriously doubt it'll be free, judging from what the rest of us are paying =p

 

[Leeming]

>>>Kouki
you're right , some food need to be quarantined. As I know, fruit, seed and animal .
-
>>>>> Hi, clockworkorange & makkuro!
Seems like they are many people dunno the meaning of "sui tou bak fuk". but ooilingfan and kouki do give a pretty good explanation.
-
>>> Dumex
haha...there is no specification in bringing how much water. just bring 500ml/325ml lo.

>>>Parady
Agree with you, bringing something that represents our country.
-
What should malaysian bring then? Most representative.
Wau? Orang utan figure? DURIAN!

 

[jim84]

>>>Kouki
you're right , some food need to be quarantined. As I know, fruit, seed and animal .
-
>>>>> Hi, clockworkorange & makkuro!
Seems like they are many people dunno the meaning of "sui tou bak fuk". but ooilingfan and kouki do give a pretty good explanation.
-
>>> Dumex
haha...there is no specification in bringing how much water. just bring 500ml/325ml lo.
>>>Parady
Agree with you, bringing something that represents our country.
-
What should malaysian bring then? Most representative.
Wau? Orang utan figure? DURIAN!

Haha, is it too late to learn top spinning now? =p
or is it easier to learn how to cook Penang char koay teow/asam laksa
Damn, i'm so out of touch with our culture, apart from the sickening political climate and worsening economy.

 

[Nall-ohki]

Bless my sponsor's heart, it looks like he got me a spot at Sapporo International House that opened up because someone didn't confirm their reservation.

I'm quite a bit happier now.