This is a very angry and stressful blog post, but I feel like it's an important one. Especially if you're a UEA student, and especially if you're studying AB initio Japanese alongside another language.
I will start off by saying that although this time this is not the Year Abroad office's fault entirely, that they are absolutely useless and that you should not really trust a word they say without checking it out yourself or getting a second opinion. People may disagree, but this is my experience with them.
Now I will explain the situation.
I emailed the year abroad office asking for more information about when I'd receive my certificate of eligibility. On my Ryukoku application, it had told me that it would take 8-10 weeks between submitting my application and receiving my Certificate of Eligibility, which is required in order to get a Japanese visa. I worked it out and that placed it at mid-July. This is of great importance, because I told my French lecturers that I would need time out of my work placement to go back and sort my visa. Since this is a campsite, they said they wouldn't really be able to get me time off in August since it's peak season. They asked when I'd have my Certificate back in order to have a week off. I said the later the better, as I didn't know exactly when it would come, but it should be mid-July at the latest. They got me an unconfirmed date, but a definite week off in July to come back and sort my visa out.
Anyway, the year abroad office emailed me back saying basically saying that Ryukoku would send it early to mid august.
WELL NOW, that's all well and good, but what about the fact that I'M IN FRANCE! They told me not to book a flight home to England in July unless I was intending to stay until I went to Japan. I got really cross. They evidently didn't listen to what I'd said in previous emails and didn't grasp the fact that I wasn't on holiday, nor was this a voluntary work placement. It is compulsory. I sent them a very angry, and probably not all that polite email, explaining that, and generally getting really angry. I did also apologise as it wasn't really their fault, but they also should have told me that information without me having to ask.
Now I will have to go home at the end of my contract here in France, arrive probably the 24th or 25th August, and then go straight to the embassy to get my visa in time for my flight on the 3rd. This also pisses me off, as I was supposed to go and visit my aunt, Dot, in another country during the time between France and Japan, and now I can't. I'm trying to arrange to see her, but I'm not sure if we can see each other before I go to Japan now.
I did some calculations while writing out the email, and this is what I ended up writing in my final paragraph.
"Hopefully the visa application will go without hitch at the end of August, as I do not have any leeway here. I will be coming back on the 24th-25th August. The Japanese embassy website says "It normally takes 4 working days to issue a visa."... It also says that Visas EXCEPT certificate of eligibility ones have to be made more than one week before departure, but it says nothing about how soon certificate of eligibility ones can be submitted. Hopefully just the 4 days. Given this, if we assume the worst case scenario and I arrive home too late on the 25th to go to the Embassy, I will get to the Embassy and have the appointment on the 26th. 4 working days later means I would get my Visa on the 1st of september - 2 days before I leave for Japan.
WONDERFUL. I love stress and disorganisation! It's my favourite."
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