Buying food - Cheap tricks

Living in Eleve for a year, it's nearly impossible to just live off of restaurant food. We are all poor students, so here are some tips, where to buy your ingredients cheapest.

Close to Eleve, there are only a few supermarkets. The closes shop would be Lawson, a Conbini, which is nice at 2 in the morning but sells everything a bit more expensive. I recommend going there for your breakfest when you're late, but at any other time between 10 am and 11 pm, go a few steps more in direction to the train station to a shop called "Welcia". They are a drug store and have some food as well. Alcohol, snacks, ice cream, drinks, instant food (oyakodon, ramen etc) and cornflakes, bread, milk, cheese for breakfast. It's a good shop for those, that can't really cook, because it has food like oyakodon or curry that you just prepare a little and pour over your rice.

If you need real food, there are three places you can go to. In direction of the university, there is a supermarket called "Ookuwa" (next to Family Mart). It is a bit overpriced, so I hardly ever went there, but as I heard from a friend, they sometimes have bio products. If you think it's important, I guess you can check there. But for being a bit more expensive, they have some products that you can find only there. If you like strawberry milk, gacha-gacha machines in front of the shop or like I mentioned bio products, this is your shop.

Lastly, there are two supermarkets at the train station. It's hard to go there, but I always bought my stuff there. One is called co-op and is below Daiso. If you want to buy meat, I'd recommend you to go there. They have a lot and mostly cheap meat. If you go after ~7pm, I think they also sell it cheaper. Not only meat, but also other stuff like dorayaki or the ready made food like fried shrimps, hamburger etc.
The other supermarket is called izumiya and is in the main shopping center, where there's also Mister Donuts, peach club etc. Izumiya is big and has everything you need, but I only went there, when I was too lazy to go to co-op. The good part about izumiya is, right next to it is a vegetable and fruits shop. They sell everything cheaper than the supermarket. Fruits won't get as cheap as you might be used to, but mostly, they are cheaper than in the supermarket. Also, eggs are cheap there!

If you happen to go all the way to lalaport, I'd also recommend going to the supermarket there. By bus it takes ~230 yen on way. They also sell vegetables and fruits really cheap, and as far as I know, it's also bio stuff. I got 0,5 kg of Mikan for 220 yen there. So definitely go there!

One other secret tip, if you happen to go there, is behind Momoyama. There is a shop close to the Sakihana Hospital. It's called Seiyu and is advertising, that it always has the cheapes prices. So if a supermarket somewhere in Izumi sells cheap milk, they will also sell that milk cheaper. It's a bit far, but if you have a bike, I'd recommend you to go there. (Link in google Maps) Last time I went there, I got some lovely chicken meat for katsudon for 200 yen. And it was a lot for that price and delicious.

In general, I'd recommend you to buy your own shopping bag. If you use the card at the cashier, you can save 2 yen every time. If you sometimes forget it, it's not too bad, since you can still use the bags for your trash. You are only allowed to use white or see-through bags, so you can actually save 100 yen for trash bags, if you sometimes use them from your shopping. But always getting their trash bags will make you drown in them, so use your own bag sometimes! Not only for the 2 yen, but also for our world.
Also in every supermarket (except Seiyu maybe), it's better to go later, if you want to buy anything that's cheap. If you have certain meat in mind, it might be better to go earlier, since for example minced meat is often sold out if you go there late. Aside from that, if the meat is expiring soon, you can get up to 20 % off.
Also, izumiya and lalaport have discount cards. You might consider making them, even though I never did. I think you can also get things cheaper, if you have a certain amount of points.

Aside from that, I can only recommend you to never go shopping on an empty stomach. ;)

Working in Japan

My biggest fear was always, that I'd have too little money for all the things I want to do or buy in Japan. Having two little sisters and being the oldest from them, I didn't really expect to get a lot of money from my family and actually, since I wanted to become an adult through this experience, I wanted to do this year on my own. Without any help. I failed a bit because of a mistake made by Momoyama, but if they didn't mess up, I would have managed to live with my own money through the whole year. Very necessary for that was a part-time job.

Starter Information

If you want to work in Japan, there are only two things to keep in mind: 

1) do NOT work in a night-club, hostess bar, etc. Momoyama will have problems, you will have problems and in general, it's just not something to do. I know that some people worked in some night etablissements, but really. Just don't make any problems. It's easier and better for everybody. 

2) Get your working permit ready BEFORE you arrive in Japan. Momoyama will send you a paper to fill out, in case you want to work. Even if you don't plan on working in Japan, just fill it out and give it to the people that check your passport and give you your visa. It will make things easier in case you take just a one-time job or whatever. If you don't work, that's fine, too! Just fill it out and get the permiss in case you work. Once I find all my old documents, I will upload it here for you, too.

 

All the jobs I did were English teaching jobs. That is, what 90 % of the exchange students did. We had some of the Asian students, that already spoke really, really good Japanese work for Hotels, in a Conbini or in an Izakaya. But the pay isn't all that good (between 720 and 900 Yen, I think?) so if you know English, just do that for a bit. It's stress-free, works even if you have lots of classes and it's fun if you are not all too bad with children.

 

Momoyamas part-time jobs

Luckily, Momoyama is very good for part-time jobs! The university itself offers one, even though it doesn't get you much money and I didn't do it myself, other exchange students worked for it. It's called Momotan. It's the universities English school for children. You basically prepare a class, play with children in english and then recieve money. Sadly, I am not sure how much it was but it wasnt't too bad. From time to time, there also were jobs at some middle-schools or ground-schools to go there and introduce your country. You can sign up at the international center for those, but if there are too many people, you might end up not getting the job. They pay also wasn't that good, mostly around 1,500~3,000 yen for 3 hours. But you have the expense of going to the school, so you lose a bit of that money. Still, the experience is really nice. The children love you and are so cute, so I would recommend to do it at least once, if you know even just a tiny bit of Japanese!
If you are there during the summer semester, you might also be able to work at Momoyamas open campus! At least during our semester, we got the chance to work there many times. They have many activities. Depending on your Japanese level they will either send you to do campus tours (Level C or D) or to play some games in english outside (Level A or B). You will also recieve a lunchbox and some green tea! And they pay 820 Yen per hour. Which isn't too bad for that kind of job. It was fun, most of the time. My friends' job was to sit in the universities cafeteria and talk to potential students in English. Fun! =)

Momoyamas Open Campus from June 2014

 Extern part-time jobs

I can not tell you how to get one of the jobs, but I can tell you how I got mine. Maybe that helps you. 

First, there is an Englisch school called Coconuts. The woman is very nice and the job is rather easy. She is always looking for a new teacher, once the old one leaves. For this semesters students (winter2014/summer2015), if you know Marjan, maybe she has still a few jobs left. XD  

I arrived in September 2013, and from February 2014 I worked at her school. Actually, somebody who went to Japanese class with me asked me, if I wanted to take one of her jobs, since she had to leave. And gladly I accepted. I got payed ~1,500 per hour. That also includes the transportation fee to the school. The classes were children from age 4 to 12. I always recieve a nice bag with word-cards in it, that we should learn. And I had to think of games and ways to make the children remember. It really was a nice time and I miss the children.

Another job I sometimes did was for somebody called Wada-san. He might not be the kind of person everybody likes, but since it's a job and you won't spend too much time with him, it's not too bad. His lessons are a bit more demanding. I had to teach children between 4 and 13, but this time, no Japanese was allowed. Which would be okay, if they understood or if we did some exercise. But if you have to introduce a new game, since you are a new teacher... Well, it takes time. But it is all worth it. 4,000 yen for 1,5 hours, and no transportation fee. He will pick you up and bring you back by car. Very comfy. I only got this job as a substitute. Whenever somebody was sick or travelling, I got asked to substitute.

Have you ever noticed the restaurant close to Eleve? It's called Okinawa or Ryukyu or something similar. The owner from that restaurant once come up to me and Tea on the street and asked us if we want to teach children from 2 to 5 some English. And we agreed. Per hour 800 Yen and two hours on friday. You basically only have to sing/dance and play with children. And try to make them repeat English words. Actually, it's very hard to teach them and I wouldn't be surprised if most of you stop after a short time. Because the children want to play a lot and don't listen very well. Even if you talk to them in Japanese and even though the parents are there. But still, playing with them is fun, just that it's hard to make the game English...

If you want, you can share your lesson with your best friend, like I did with Tea! We worked together for most of the lessons in the beginning. Of course that also means, you only get half the payment... But if you just make it that one person works more/is in charge for one of the lessons more and talking mainly in one of them, then it's not that bad! So it's like helping a good friend!

Hello-sensei.com

There is a page called hello-sensei.com. You can find it here: KLICK ME

It is a site where you can register with teaching information, what and who you teach, where and for how much. Then, people can look at your profile and buy your contact information. I NEVER had any unserious students or people who pranked me or anything. They were all nice people, who were eager to study English (or German). 

Downside to it is, that rarely anybody is from Izumi. So most of the time, you have to go all the way to Namba or even further, which takes a lot of money...

Still, I sometimes met people from there and it was always a pleasure. I also got many requests from people (even though I wanted to get 3,000 yen per hour, so that my transportation fee of 1200 yen would be covered), so if you are really in need of money and that platform can help! I also know two English schools that actually look for teachers over that platform and the best part is, you can also teach your native language, not only English. Check it out once!

Dining out in Izumi

Remembering my first few months, I have to say I didn't really cook a lot. And to be honest, it is not recommended to always eat ramen from the conbini... So this post is for all the restaurants and cafés in Izumi, that I tried out and would recommend or got recommended from friends!

Yoshinoya

If you've ever been to Japan, you probably know Gyuudon. There are three famous stores. Yoshinoya, Sukiya and Matsuya. In Tokyo it seems that Sukiya is pretty strong, but in the Kansai area it's Yoshinoya you can see everywhere. If you want to eat cheap, you go there. They are delicious, fast and fill you better than any regular McDonalds bruger. And aside from Gyuudon, they also have other delicious food. To make it more healthy, you can add a salad+miso soup set and it won't cost you more than 400 yen! (regular bowl of Gyuudon)

You can find Yoshinoya at the station, if you go to where the main shopping mall is and take the escalator in front of it. There are other restaurants there, too!

Saizeriya

They call shops like this "family restaurant". Because many families go there, since it's cheap and probably because it's acceptable for children to be loud there. But fear not, if you go during the evening, it's really lovely! They have something that gets close to what we westerners call "Pizza". It might be a mini-version of it, but it actually is delicious! And cheap! 399 yen for the mini pizza. And if you don't like pizza, they also have loads of other declicious food. My personal favourite was the italian hamburger - a hamburger patty with tomato sauce, cheese, some corn, egg on it, sauce and three potato wedgies. Adding small rice to it, it is a very filling and delicious meal. The burger alone is 499 yen, the small rice is ~160 yen. Don't remember clearly, but it's not bad. If you want to go to drink, it also only costs 180 yen for however much you want to drink during your stay there.

Basically, this "italian" restuarant is good if you want to get full! The only bad thing is the mexican (?) music that they play in the store... Not that I would care, when I am there with my lovely friends. ;)

You can find this lovely restaurant at the main station, as well! It is across the main shopping hall, in the same building as Seria, Nitori etc. You only have to pass JUPITER and there it is. I think it is open until 23:00.

あったか亭 Bentou store

If you don't feel like eating out, I can only recommend you the lovely Bentou store that's close to Eleve! The people there are very nice and the food is so good! Just thinking about it makes me want to eat it... They have a variety of bentous, basically everything you can ask for. If you want it cheap, you can eat oyakodon (chicken meat and egg with onions on rice) for ~350 yen or if you want a proper bentou, they have it with all kinds of meats, vegetables, fish etc, starting from 450 yen to ~900 yen. My bentous with fried shirmps normally cost around 500 yen, so check the store out!

It is located along the road to Momoyama on the right side before the big intersection. So you have to walk a bit, but it's worth it. And the bentous are all there to see, so you don't have to be able to read japanese to go there! (If you write this into google maps, you can find it, too: Ōsaka-fu, Izumi-shi, Karakunichō, 1 Chome−9 手作り弁当あったか亭Ａ)

KO:HI:KAN

There are two KO:HI:KANs at Izumi. One of them is hard to miss, since it's directly at our university. You can find it at St. Johns hall. The other one is a bit different. If you go to Book Off in Izumi, you have to leave it from directly downstairs and walk a bit around it to find the second Kohikan. If you type this into google maps, you can find it, too: 5 chome-7-5 Ibukino. It is across the Konami Fitness Center!
The good thing about this café is, that they have delicious food and drinks. Even for those who do not like coffee (like me), there are a few things you can drink. The only downside is, that it's a bit expensive. Like every coffee shop. My cocoa float or other drinks are ~550 yen. Since I only at there once, I can't tell you the prices for the snacks, but the toast was very delicious and what I saw on other peoples plates didn't look bad either. I enjoyed my date with my boyfriend there a lot. It's very comfortable and nice. And if you want to study there, nothing stops you from that either! How aout buying a nice book at book off and then going there to eat something nice? ^^


 Might be continued as soon as I can think of more very delicious places & their names! =D

Making your room yours - buying equipment

When I first moved in, my room felt kind of like a hotel room. Nice and clean, but not really like my own. But since I planned on staying there for a year, I knew what to do to make it mine: personalize it.
All the rooms in Eleve look the same, but as soon as you enter somebody elses room, most of the time you can see a part of their character as well. You can see, what they made of their room. For example me an my lovely neighbour. We had a party once for my birthday, where I actually planned on starting the party off in my room and as soon as there are too many people, we could spread the party to her room as well. But the party in my room never really took off, so we changed places and in the end, the only (very crowded) party room was her room. I think that's because my room is more like a living-room. You go there to talk, eat, drink and relax. But for her, her room had the right feeling. There was music, people drinking and dancing. Even though there were still the same people, the whole atmosphere was different.

So in this post, I want to tell you where to get cheap but useful things, to make your room mor comfy and "yours".

The first place to go to is called "DAISO". It is a 100 yen shop. That means all the articles are 100 yen, excluding taxes. So right now, the real price of everything is 108 yen. There are a few exceptions that cost 210 yen or 300 yen, but that's very rare and you see the price very clearly on the products, if they are not 108 yen.
If I tell you it's a 100 yen shop, you might think the products will be bad or cheap. But in reality, eerybody gets their stuff there. There are very cute things, very nicely designed and even though the quality might be poor, nobody cares because 1) it's cheap and 2) we are only staying there for a year... It's going to be thrown away soon anyway.

What you can find in DAISO is actually very hard to answer. At the front, there are the seasonal things. In summer there were beach-things like water guns or sun hats and stuff like that. In winter, there are warm socks and gloves. So basically, there is always something new to discover in DAISO. Then there is a very useful corner that has stationary. Folders, notebooks, pens, markers, erasers,... Everything you need will be there. Cute, cheap and unresistable. I bought more in that store than I needed and definitely more than I should, but I regret nothing. So if you go to Japan, don't bother to bring any note books or pens... It's better to buy them just there.

Another big area is the kitchen utensils. There are cheap glasses and plates, bowls and also everything you need to cook! In Eleve there probably won't be anything for you. But because of DAISO you can easily equip your kitchen with the stuff you need. The only thing you might want to buy in a proper supermarket or at NITORI is a frying pan or pot. The ones at DAISO are very, very tiny.

Next is the area with the bathroom stuff. Ranging from cosemtica to useful stuff like shower curtains, soap dispensers and toothbrushes -  you can find anything there. And most of it is very cute. Of course your room will actually have a shower curtain. But I found it really boring to enter an all-beige bathroom, so I pepped it up a bit. It's easy to do, if you only have to spend 108 yen for it!

Other smaller but still very useful areas are the ones with random baskets, the whole cleaning area and games. Really, if you need something, check DAISO first.
There is a second 100 yen shop called SERIA. It has mostly the same as DAISO, but I think the designs are cuter and more feminine. And they are the only shop that has their own Disney area! There you can buy cooking utensils in Disney design, as well as cute wrappings, stickers etc. and everything for only 108 yen! Definitely go there as well, just to get a tiny overview of the differences. I especially liked their nail polish, mirrors and glasses more than those from DAISO.

You can find both stores at the train station Izumichuo. DAISO is pretty much un-passable. It's in the building where CO-OP is. You won't be able to miss it. Seria on the other hand is inside the building of Saizeriya, the family restaurant. It's located on the second floor, so go and check it out!

For all other things, I think you will find them in Izumiya, the main supermarket, but not as cheap as in DAISO. And if you need a proper cushion or some soft matress additionally to the very thin futon that Momoyama Daigaku provides, you probably should go and check out NITORI, in the samme building as Seria. It also has bedsheets. The normal S size fits the futon-set that we recieve.

If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

I actually spent around 5,000 yen at DAISO to get my life in Izumi started and make my room comfy with all the stuff I needed. Of course I spent a lot more money at DAISO the rest of the year as well, but the first basic needs were covered with that 5,000 yen. (including the rather expensive 1,500 frying pan I bought at izumiya.)

Expenses living in Japan (monthly)

Before I came to Japan, I had to check my budget A LOT! I was working like crazy and always worried if my money would be enough to live in Japan. So, this post shall help you to somehow see how much it costs to live in Japan! Just a tiny warning, my nickname is Scrooge McDuck. So, if I leave the house, I take out the unused devices of their plug (like laptop, toaster etc.), don't use the heater much and even turned off the light when watching something on my laptop at night... But let's talk about the bills now!

Paying bills in Japan is very easy! Most of the time, you just take it and go to the convenience store - in our case, we always went to Lawson, because that's what's closest to our housing. Just give the paper to the cashier, they scan it, you push a green button on the screen and pay. Then they stamp it and you can take the reciept home.
The deal with the gas and electicity is, that if your montly bill is below a certain amount of money (I think it's ~1,200 Yen), you pay it together with next months bill. I am not sure as to why, but I think it is something about maintenance or service money or whatever. Anyway, so it could be you have to only pay every two months, if you are good! 

Here is what I had to pay monthly (even if I had to pay it together, I just split it up by the months they wrote on the receipt): 

Gas

September: -?
Oktober: 1,097 Yen
November: 1,093 Yen
Dezember: 1,455 Yen
Jänner: 1,992 Yen
Februar: 1,449 Yen
März: 1,275 Yen
April: 1,474 Yen
Mai: 1,525 Yen
Juni: 1,137 Yen
Juli: 1,137 Yen
August: 2,640 Yen (until departure on 26. August)

Electricity

September: 1,037 Yen
Oktober: 1,458 Yen
November: 1,734 Yen
Dezember: 1,858 Yen
Jänner: - (included in the February bill)
Februar: 2,921 Yen
März: 1,171 Yen
April: 1,143 Yen
Mai: 1,721 Yen
Juni: 1,441 Yen
Juli, August: 2,861 Yen

Water

The water gets paid directly at Eleve. You just go to the landlady and pay it. The good think is: Even though  you have a deadline, if you miss it a bit, it's not a problem. As long as you pay sooner or later, they are very understanding.

September, October, November: 3,776 Yen
December, January: 3,438 Yen
February, March: 3,390 Yen
April, May: 2,817 Yen
June, July: 2,920 Yen
August: 1,201 Yen

National health insurance

1,670 every month

Appartment (Eleve)

40,000 every month

Mobile Phone

I don't know if you will need one, but basically, here is what you'd need to pay, if you go to Softbank and get one of those prepaid phones. The deal with them is, you can use them however long you want. The number might die after a few months, if you don't re-charge your phone, but if you come back to Japan, it is very esay to re-activate. The phone is a simple one, no smart phone. But it is enough to do messages and calls. So if you decide to get it, here is what I paid:

13,605 Yen (Phone, money for two months and battery charger) After that:

3,000 Yen every two months (if you want, tell them to take off 300 Yen for free e-mail service!)

Food

That's something I really can't say. If you go out to eat a lot, you will probably spend 1,000 Yen a day. But if not, you can easily get it cheaper. If you need hints: Buy your meat at CO-OP and your vegetables in Izumiya, in the vegetable shop downstairs. (If you have ever been there, you will know what I talk about, don't worry. ;D)

I probably spent about 2,000 Yen on 3 days worth of food, excluding my food for lunch, because I'd only need something tiny like Donut during class breaks, which is ~108 Yen.

But fear not, there will be following a post about food and shopping, too! =)

Maison de Eleve Karakuni - Momoyama University's "dormitory"

Before going to Japan, I read on the homepage that Momoyamas dormitory costs 40,000 Yen a month and that doesn't include water, gas or electricity. And I was shocked, because I heard some people only had to pay 10,000 Yen a month at some university in Tokyo (up until today I am not sure if that is actually true).

But here I will give you good reasons, why those 40,000 Yen are absolutely okay.

Maison de Eleve is NOT a dormitory. In fact, it is a normal appartement complex. There are actually normal Japanese people living in the same building as you! Just that most of the rooms are rented by Momoyama. So if you thought you might end up sharing a room with somebody - not going to happen here! In this post, I want to tell you the good and the bad points about Maison the Eleve, or shortly, as I will call it from now on, Eleve.

The thing we are living in here is luxurious, if we compare it to other dorms. You've got your own bath and toilet, a (very tiny) kitchen, a balcony, washing mashine and air conditioner! The room is also equipped with a bed, TV, fridge, water cooker, rice cooker microwave, desk + chair, desk-lamp, futon + sheets, a tiny table and at least one shelf. If you are lucky, you have some extra stuff in your room from previous exchange students. I had a box with some useful stuff (stationary, a hair dryer, pans and a second shelf and table). This are the pictures of my room, shortly after moving in:

The entrance from the inside. The washing mashine.

View after coming in. Kitchen, washing mashine, microwave.

Entrance to the toilet (across the washing mashine)

The toilet.

The bath.

Proper view of kitchen (and my finger)

Entrance of the room. Bed, balcony, fridge, and everything!

View from the bed.

View from the balcony door. You can see the walk-in closet on the right. Spacy.

View from my door.

My room was on the 7th floor, called A701. There are three parts of the building. A and C, which are facing each other, and B. In A and C are the exchange students, the "common Japanese residents" live in the B part.

If you are not familiar with Japan, there are a few things to know in general: buildings have veeeery thin walls. No matter where you live. That's actually good, because if there is an earthquake, the walls won't smash you to death, if they fall on you. But then again, you can hear pretty much everything your neighbor is doing. You will know when he's coming home or listening to music or going to bed or when he's watching a very hilarious TV-program. If you have a nice neighbor, this won't be a problem If you have a neighbor that does like to party wheras you don't like to (or vice versa) you might have a few problems. But for the sake of all of you, I'd say it's easy to be considerate and at least for me, everything worked out very well during this year. I only had one neighbor and she became one of my best friends there, but still, I could always tell her if she was too loud or anything.

Because of the thin walls in Japan, you will soon face another problem with your room: it is not very well isolated. During winter, you might wonder how it can be so cold in one room and during summer, the high humidity will sleep together with you in your bed and make your room a lovely sauna. Of course, you can use your air conditioner, which also is a heater. But if money is a problem, try to not use it non-stop. At least in winter, you an use the lovely blanket to keep yourself warm. But in summer, I suggest you to really use your air conditioner. It is in the interest of your health and not only one of our exchange students had health problems because of the heat. 

Another important thing to know is, that in Japan, prices for ground are very expensive. And thus, the prices for appartements are also very high, compared to most of the parts in Europe. So while some of you gasp in panic, that your tiny room costs ~400 Euro per month, it is actually pretty cheap for Japanese standards. Because, like I said, it's not some cheap dormitory. It's your own home.

Also determining how expensive a flat is, is where it is located. Having it called a universitys dormitory might make you think it is very close to it, but actually, you have to walk to it for ~30 minutes. At some parts also up-hill. So even if you go there during the winter, you will end up sweating a lot. But you will get used to it, soon. So don't worry too much.
The train station is also about 20 walking minutes from Eleve. It sounds worse than it is, but if we consider that Eleve and the university are somehow already on the countryside of Osaka, it is not too bad.

Speaking of the train station, it is directly connected to Namba, the main part of Osaka. Kind of like Shibuya in Tokyo. But at the same time, the train to Namba is one of the most expensive ones in Japan. One way from Izumichuo to Namba is 630 Yen. So it's a bit pricey. But there are other things to do in the area. A good karaoke place is very close, only one station away in Komyoike, there is an Izakaya close to university etc. If you want to know more about it, please wait for the post where I explain about the things to do in Izumi!

Lastly, Eleve is awesome because you have your privacy, but at the same time all your friends with you. There are regular parties (to the very disappointment of the Japanese neigbors) and you will hardly ever feel homesick, if your friends are living in your building. It is a very family-like atmosphere and I can't tell you how much I love it here.

Only a warning: Lot's of spiders here, there is a rooster that will wake you up every morning (and night...) and the cicadas are not really quiet in summer either. But on the bright side, Osaka has not to deal with very strong taifuns or earthquakes, so I guess that's just fairness from mother nature. ;)

Here is a video I took after moving in from my room! Don't mind my talking. ^^'

Flying from Vienna to Osaka (2013) - Things to think about

After completing all the documents and getting the green light from both universities, we finally thought about our flight to Japan!
In all honesty, it was hard to decide on it... On one hand, we wanted to make use of our time and get there erlier, on the other hand we wanted to save as much money as possible. In the end, we decided to leave Japan at the end of August. How and why is a process I want to show you, to help you think about your own ideal time for arrival.

First problem is: How much is a flight to Osaka? I really love to check flight prices for possible journeys, so I already knew a bit about the prices. Since we are staying for one year, it was hard to think about how to book our flight. For example, we could book a 2-way flight and fly there and then when it's time to go home book a two-way flight and just go back, without ever going the other way. We would have to pay for it, but with a good offer it would be cheaper than booking a one-way-ticket both times.
So, the second possibility isto book a one-way-ticket at a time. Be careful, could be expensive.
And lastly, you can go to a travel agency and book there. This is what we did. In the end, there are various reasons why we are happy and at the same time unhappy about our decision.

We went to the AAKH Campus in Vienna, to STA Travel Agency. They really helped us a lot, gave us all the information we needed and we even ended up getting a pretty awesome insurance. We left Japan on 26th August 2013 and arrived in Japan, Osaka on 27th August 2013. We could have stopped for a day in Dubai, but we didn't really want to. And with all the baggage we had, it would have been too hard. So another plus for the travel agency! Price was also good - we paid ~1.200 Euro for the flight, including the first 8 months of insurance. Not too bad.

The only thing that wasn't good was a misunderstanding, that makes us leave Japan one month earlier than we wanted to. Since we didn't know when we would come back, we wanted a ticket that has an open date. We were told that this kind of thing is not possible, but we can book until the last day possible and then re-schedule our flight for a tiny charge of 100 €. And we could change to any date possible! So we were happy and this April we wanted to fix our flight. Just that the latest day we can leave Japan is 26th of August - so exactly one year after the ticket was issued. And that is not what I understand as "re-schedule your flight to any date you want". So what I want to say here is:

A flight ticket is only valid for one year.

No matter what they tell you, if you want to stay even only 1 day longer than a year, you should book separately. The second thing that wasn't so nice was, that we had to pay 200 € instead of 100 € because our "booking class" was not available anymore. I remember hearing those words once, so I won't say that they never told us. But some kind of advice on how much earlier we should book to get it for only 100 € would have been nice. So, please, if you book with STA Travel, keep the things I mentioned in mind.


Next thing we had to think about were all the things to bring and NOT getting over the weight limit. The good thing is, you can bring as many bags as you want to the check in, as long as the weight is not over 30 kg. (At least that was what we had when we took Emirates to Osaka.) And the hand baggage is not checked too strictly, but you definitely should not bring too many heavy things with you on the plane.
So things you can definitely buy easily in Japan are accesoires, kitchen goods etc. I even didn't bring any towels. If you want to do that, please just remember to buy one as soon as you arrive. I will tell you in another post about what to buy where and how.
I would just pack the things you normally need during your week, things you can't live without, and the rest caan be bought new - not even that expensive!