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Life of an international student in Sendai 仙台での留学生生活

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Hi fellow readers, By the time this post was written, I had officially shifted into Sendai for about 6 months.  Recalling back to the days when I first shifted in was on  11th December 2023. At the beginning, I have to learnt a lot of things such as disposable of rubbish, where to take bus back and forth, how to walk to church, how to pay bills etc...... Before school starts, I traveled to various cities to visit friends. Finally, school started on 10th Jan 2024. Classmates came from the following countries: Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, USA, China, Vietnam and Mongolia. In total 19 students including me (10 girls and 9 boys). Lessons start from 1pm to 4.45pm. Before lesson starts, I will have lunch at the school canteen most of the time. School canteen have a wide range of food choices, there is also a convenient shop too.           After lessons, I will usually go to Sendai station for dinner. Occasionally, I will go home to cook dinner or meet up with friends. On weekends, I will go
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Japan Winter Holiday 2023 (Part 4) (26th to 29th Dec 23) (Osaka)

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  Hi all, Thank you for reading my final post on my winter holiday in Japan. I will be sharing my final holiday in Japan before I started school in January. Even though it was the last city that I visited, it was also the climax of the entire one month holiday in Japan. After settling into my new apartment in Sendai, I packed up my luggages and took a night bus to Osaka. It was my first night bus experience.  The night bus departed at 7.40pm and arrived at Higashi Umeda Station at around 7.15am.  On it's way to Osaka, it stopped by a few service areas like Nasu Highland, Kyoto and finally Osaka. The ride was good and I was able to sleep for a couple of hours. I woke up at around 4.30am and the best thing about this bus is that it has a toilet.  After arriving at Higashi Umeda Station, I took train to Tennoji station and went to the hotel to deposit the luggages before going for breakfast.  I explored a few places in Osaka before meeting Yuko and Mana for lunch at Abeno Q's mall
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Japan Winter Holiday 2023 (Part 3) (16th to 22nd Dec 23) (Hokkaido)

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 Dear folks for reading my previous post and now finally the real winter holiday will truly begin in this post.  Finally, things have more or less settled in Sendai and upon checking out of the hotel, I made my way to Sendai airport and check in for my flight to Hokkaido. Upon arrival at New Chitose Airport, I was welcomed by the fields of white wherever I go. What a sight. After checking into Dormy Inn Premium Sapporo, I rested for the night and be ready to meetup with Kazue San. On the 17th, after breakfast I met Kazue and we travelled to Otaru. We visited the popular Otaru Canal but the cruise was close in winter. We walked around the area, had tea and went shopping too. After returning back to Sapporo, we had soup curry for dinner and ended the day with night illumination at Odori Park.  On the 18th, I joined a Klook day tour to Asahiyama Zoo and Furano. One of the areas was closed due the heavy snow and I was quite disappointed. The tour participants were all Singaporeans. It had
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Japan Winter Holiday 2023 (Part 2) (8th to 16th Dec 23) (Sendai)

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  Finally I arrived at Sendai on the 8th in the evening. After checking in to the Dormy Inn Sendai Hotspring, I was surprised by the view, right in front of my room was my school that I will be studying in January.  Before I started to find my rental apartment, my adventure begins on the streets of Sendai.  In the midst of exploring the streets of Sendai,  Elio contacted me and he brought me to view the apartments. I finally settled into the area nearest to my school as the other apartments are not as convenient.  The reason that I chose this apartment is because it only takes about 15 minutes to walk to school and church. The other reason is because nearby have a 24 hours supermarket and there are a couple of foreign restaurants. Even though the rent is slightly higher but I really like the location.  After deciding on the location, I started to shift my luggages from the hotel to the apartment. I am grateful for Elio's help and all the prayers from my physical and spiritual famil
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Japan Winter Holiday 2023 (Part 1) (5th to 8th Dec 23) (Tokyo and Kawaguchiko)

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 Dear folks,  I have checked into Japan for the past 2 months.  Sorry for the delay in this post. For this past 2  months, I have been getting used to staying alone in Sendai.  Now I will share some of the wonderful moments during my one month holiday in Japan before I start school in January.  I arrived to Japan on the 5th of December.  The first place I visited was Tokyo station Marunouchi side. After a couple of attempts to visit this side of the station, my dream finally came true.  After visiting Tokyo Station Marunouchi side, boarded the bus to Kawaguchiko Station. The bus took about 2 hours and the scenery during the bus ride was fabulous. The stay at Kawaguchiko Station Inn was also wonderful despite the accommodation do not have a lift. The innkeeper was very helpful and Yamato delivery service was also available.  On the 8th of December, after exiting Kawaguchiko, meetup with Charlotte and friends at Tokyo for lunch and also visited Singapore embassy and 3D Cat at Shinjuku be
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Moving to Japan Timeline

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Dear all, At this moment, I am count downing to the day of moving to Japan.  Follow me as I keep track of the process on how to move to Japan. It all started after I went to Sendai in March and discussed about my plans to move to Japan with Pastors. While waiting, prepare for finances by changing money into Japanese Yen and pack luggages. May   19th: Meet up with Church Pastors and staff about my plans. 21st: Ask Japanese teacher to translate documents required for registration. 23th: Settled finances with insurance agent.  28th: Meet up with Japanese teacher to check registration documents June   8th: Changed money 9th: Mail registration form to Japan 15th: Documents arrived at Japan July 4th: Sign up with Youtrip international card August : 1st: Sign up for Wise international card  Send email to find out status of application 22th: Received email that school is preparing documents to send to immigration bureau September 15th: Received email  from school that documents were sent to Im
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Moving to Japan Packing List

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As mentioned in the previous post, here is the packing list. Business class allowed 40kg. I will be checking in two luggages.  As for my cabin carry on, I will be bringing a backpack, small luggage and cross body bag  Checked in luggage 1( Muji Black) Checked in luggage 2 Cabin Carry-on (Pacsafe backpack) Cabin Carry on (Shopper Red luggage) I hope that the photos shared will give you all a better idea of what to bring when travelling to Japan to study.  Thank you for reading this post and I will keep you updated about my next adventure in Japan. Stay tune. 
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