MEXT Scholarship for Postgraduate 2009: Post Application

[DaiUso]

hi everyone

well, my flight is the same as oronen, but i've received word from my uni that there will be another 5 students on this flight

my guess is that everyone who's from europe or around will be on the flight frankfurt-narita, so a great chance to make it something like a monbusho get together

 

[oronen]

@DaiUso

I believe we have the same flight from Tel Aviv to Frankfurt, but afterwards I will probably separate from the rest of you and fly to Kansai Intl. instead of to Narita...

 

[Carson]

Hi all,

I am Carson...thanks ooilingfan for the invitation. I will be going to Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in October for my Japanese language course and then to Hoshi University (Private Pharmaceutical University) for my PhD.

I think I have to read thru all 18pages of post to catch up what u all have discussed. by the way, how u guys n gals manage to contact ur respective University on ur dorm details? Then contacted u 1st or the other way round?

 

[parady]

Carson, In my case my supervisor asked me if i wanted to apply to the university lodge, he did the application for me and they contacted me a couple of weeks later, almost a month i think. But if you don't have any information regarding your lodge, i think it's ok to ask, considering the short time you have left before departure.

On another subject, anyone travelling from LAX to Narita on April 2, i'll probably have 2 days of travelling! it would be nice to have some company as many of you will. I don't have the exact details, only the last flight, but i think it will be something like Santo Domingo - New York - Los Angeles - Tokyo

 

[c0ok1e]

wow carson going to tokyo for language course..how many of u actually have already confirm going to language course and where??
cuz when i ask my supervisor the answer hegave me was "you dont have to attend the language course if you dont need to".. whihc gives me a feeling that nothing about the language course have been arrange for me.. ill be flying to his place straight..

 

[pilarika]

Oh and i keep reading on these lists of what to bring to japan that you should bring your own deodorant. Apparently the Japanese don't sweat or don't stink. Or both. So the deo in japan is really weak.

I was told a while ago by someone in the industry (please feel free to correct me, it's just something I heard), that nowdays most farmaceutical companies try to make health care products like bug repelent and deodorant based on skin reactions specific to ethnicity and genes. So when a previous scholar from my country told me that japanese deodorant dind't work for her, I thought about this right away and packed as much as I could...

On another subject, anyone travelling from LAX to Narita on April 2, i'll probably have 2 days of travelling! it would be nice to have some company as many of you will. I don't have the exact details, only the last flight, but i think it will be something like Santo Domingo - New York - Los Angeles - Tokyo

All of us from Colombia are travelling April 2 from LAX to Narita, not sure about the flight but I believe it's at 12:55. So maybe we'll get a chance to meet and travel together.

 

[jim84]

wow carson going to tokyo for language course..how many of u actually have already confirm going to language course and where??
cuz when i ask my supervisor the answer hegave me was "you dont have to attend the language course if you dont need to".. whihc gives me a feeling that nothing about the language course have been arrange for me.. ill be flying to his place straight..

really?
seems like you may have had an exemption for the course, or your university has it's own language program within the campus (such as Tokyo U and Osaka U)
I received quite some details on my language course, including the orientation, course structure and list of lecturers.
It's been quite close to the commencement date d and i suggest you contact the international student's office or whichever dept that has been emailing you these few weeks to find out.

 

[jim84]

oh, and welcome to the forum, carson

btw
may i ask any newcomers/any existing members who wish to participate in our listing to update us with your University + course here? :
MEXT Scholarship for Postgraduate 2009 - List of recipients + Universities
I don't have time to update it right now, but will do so asap.
Thanks!

 

[maaya]

how many of u actually have already confirm going to language course and where??
cuz when i ask my supervisor the answer hegave me was "you dont have to attend the language course if you dont need to".. whihc gives me a feeling that nothing about the language course have been arrange for me.. ill be flying to his place straight..

I also didn't receive the language course and I know for sure that I won't be taking one. My professor told me it's not needed for sociology students and only students who follow things like chemistry for example need it ... A pity, because I really wanted to follow it. I will have to learn hard on my own, nothing to do about it. We can still follow one or two Japanese classes in between our everyday doings, whatever it might be.

 

[maaya]

Oh and i keep reading on these lists of what to bring to japan that you should bring your own deodorant. Apparently the Japanese don't sweat or don't stink. Or both. So the deo in japan is really weak.

Oh, Japanese people _do_ sweat and smell, you can be sure of that. Once it gets warmer there, quite a lot of people are "smelling", probably these who believe they don't need a deodorant :joyful:.
But it's truth that you should bring your own supply of deodorant sticks. I tried and tried to find a deo stick in Japan that would be strong enough for me and I didn't.
But maybe I have a sensitive nose, who knows .

 

[parady]

Pilarika,

Just got the travel itinerary form the embassy, and we are on the same flight! which is good, considering i arrive from miami at 16 hrs on april the 1st and the plane leaves at 12:55 next day!! i think we'll have a lot to talk about... how many colombians are travelling?

 

[c0ok1e]

really?
seems like you may have had an exemption for the course, or your university has it's own language program within the campus (such as Tokyo U and Osaka U)
I received quite some details on my language course, including the orientation, course structure and list of lecturers.
It's been quite close to the commencement date d and i suggest you contact the international student's office or whichever dept that has been emailing you these few weeks to find out.

From who did you receive the details regarding the language course?? Embassy of japan?? there are no email between me and the international students office.. every contact i make with the university is between me and my supervisor only... now it looks kind of fishy cuz the only contact i have is my supervisor while all of u have contact with international office of the university..

 

[kouki]

>c0ok1e
So do I, no replies from the international student division. If you would like to look for the contact from the international student division, you can try look under the appendix 2 (窶｢ﾃ看ｽ窶?窶啣), which is what we call the details of the university... You should be able to find the contact of international student division. Or else, you can try accessing Hokudai's English webpage, you should be able to get the contact from there.

Anyway, since I will only be leaving in October, I don't think I will bug the international student center of my university at the moment.

>Carson
Welcome! You can try contacting the international student division of both places at the moment, informing them that you have received notification from MEXT, and ask them what you should be doing at the moment.

>Malaysians
How are you going to the send-off ceremony? No public transport access, and I think you will have to walk for 15-20 minutes from the nearest station. Imagine wearing formal dress and you walk until you sweat like hot spring...

And Ms Yin did mention that if we would like to go there by public transport, please be reminded that the parking would be at your own risks, as it is illegal parking over there.

 

[abeeyo_q8]

just got some semi-uggh news from the uni

apparently those that arrive later than a certain time have to spend the night at the airport hotel and take the next shuttle the next morning...

anyone else gonna have do this as well?

 

[c0ok1e]

airport hotel means u have to spend a lot of money for 1 night cuz its expensive there?

Anyway, i read about the internet in japan and it seems that they only have hardwire connection.. i was hoping for wireless so i can surf everywhere.. hardwire is also more expensive cuz need intallation of telefon lines...

 

[V__]

airport hotel means u have to spend a lot of money for 1 night cuz its expensive there?

Anyway, i read about the internet in japan and it seems that they only have hardwire connection.. i was hoping for wireless so i can surf everywhere.. hardwire is also more expensive cuz need intallation of telefon lines...

Cookie, they do have some wireless internet but its still not very common and the service area isn`t great (if you live far from the main centre of the city you probably won`t be able to get access)...so you`re right, most of it is hardwire connection.

Anyone who is living in an apartment can expect it to take about a month from the time you sign up for internet access until the time they come to your house to install the phone line and internet...not all apartments are able to be fitted with any kind of internet, so you need to check with the person you`re renting from (or the real estate agent) about which kind of internet/which provider is available at your place...also, me and lots of other foreign students there had trouble getting some companies to give access to us, like they don`t want to sign up foreign students, so you might need to ask around a bit...

For those of you staying in a dorm, my experience was that out of about 50 of us students, about 3 people had signed up for access with an internet company (again, not all internet companies are willing to put up access in a student dormitory), and about 5 or so more students were able to share access of each of those connections, we just asked whoever it was who had the connection in his room if he could hook us up too, and then all people sharing off that connection split the monthly internet bill....the rest of us who weren`t involved in that system just relied on the internet at the university or internet cafes.

Maybe at some of the university dorms you guys are staying at the university has already organised an internet access system? ask the office lady at your dorm when you check in about internet access, i don`t know if mine was a typical situation or not.

 

[maaya]

Anyway, i read about the internet in japan and it seems that they only have hardwire connection.. i was hoping for wireless so i can surf everywhere.. hardwire is also more expensive cuz need intallation of telefon lines...

Doesn't the place where you will be staying (I assume the university dormitory) already has an internet connectivity? Normally there should be some kind of internet connection available for students.
Once you look for your own place to stay, look at apartments with a preinstalled connection for fast internet (fibre). Possibility of internet connection is often listed down together with other features of the room/apartment.
On the other hand, they also have a wireless internet in Japan, but it's much slower. Before Willcom had flat rates, maybe others (like Au) have it too nowadays.

 

[kouki]

>c0ok1e
I read it somewhere that you can actually use mobilephones to connect you to internet, like what we do there in Malaysia. Do confirm about that when you are registering for you mobile phone services.

In fact, there are two major types of wired internet service, the ADSL and the optical fiber.

Most universities' dorm are equipped with the internet access. You can try confirm from the website of your university. There should be a dedicated page for life and dormitories in the university. These basic information are usually translated into English, so that you will be better prepared to it when you go there.

 

[kouki]

>c0ok1e
It seems like someone will be fetching you from the New Chitose Airport upon your arrival...

I can't find any information on the internet access (English webpage not available yet), but I managed to see how much does it cost you a month... 4700 yen per month!!! You are soooooo lucky!

 

[c0ok1e]

>c0ok1e
It seems like someone will be fetching you from the New Chitose Airport upon your arrival...
I can't find any information on the internet access (English webpage not available yet), but I managed to see how much does it cost you a month... 4700 yen per month!!! You are soooooo lucky!

how do u know there will be people fetching me from the airport?? Dont give me hope then make me sad .. where did u get all those info?? i wanna check for myself..lol

seems like internet there will be a bit of problem.. i prefer to surf net using laptop than handphone.. by the way dont even know when i will get my handphone there..

and is there any free wireless internet in japan like singapore?? can we just sit in a public area and start surfing the net or we need to pay for account?? hopefully the university will have good wireless connection..

it will be hell without internet..haha

 

[kouki]

>c0ok1e
When I tried to access the International Student Center of Hokudai, I saw a message asking students to apply to be volunteer to meet new students in the New Chitose Airport. I suppose you will be fetched also at that time. But don't be disappointed when no one is there...
Anyway, the problem of the wireless... You can use your handphone to connect to the USB port like some Malaysian does using Celcom and Maxis, to be used as some sort of wireless modem. That's what I saw from the mobile phone service provider like NTT Docomo, KDDI au and Softbank Mobile... Try have a look there, they come with English sites too...
You can try search aeroplanes from Narita to New Chitose Airport:

• All Nippon Airways
• JAL

Or else you would need to move southwards, to the Haneda Airport to get more planes...
Going by train would be too long time for you, I think I will die sitting on train, 14 hours 15 minutes!!!

 

[abeeyo_q8]

well for those staying at the international houses belonging to kyoudai...internet is included

 

[pilarika]

Pilarika,

Just got the travel itinerary form the embassy, and we are on the same flight! which is good, considering i arrive from miami at 16 hrs on april the 1st and the plane leaves at 12:55 next day!! i think we'll have a lot to talk about... how many colombians are travelling?

We are also arriving on the 2nd to LA from Miami, but our plane arrives at 18:25.... maybe you can wait for us and share the long wait, that would be great!! There's 7 of us, 6 for graduate and 1 for undergrad, so there's plenty of company

 

[Leeming]

>c0ok1e

>Malaysians
How are you going to the send-off ceremony? No public transport access, and I think you will have to walk for 15-20 minutes from the nearest station. Imagine wearing formal dress and you walk until you sweat like hot spring...
And Ms Yin did mention that if we would like to go there by public transport, please be reminded that the parking would be at your own risks, as it is illegal parking over there.

yea, no parking at all. The nearest station would be Ampang Park Lrt Station, I used to walk to embassy from there, really sweat like hot spring. Better bring an umbrella with you coz recently KL raining cats and dogs even flooding. And, the send-off ceremony location further than embassy , but still walking distance. You go there alone ?

 

[menrui]

Its great that you guys get a send off ceremony. I get to eat lunch with my MEXT coordinator and his boss .