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Re: DECOMPOSED - "joey" 

By: Decomposed in POPE 5 | Recommend this post (3)
Fri, 15 Mar 19 7:04 AM | 89 view(s)
Boardmark this board | Pope 5 		Msg. 27890 of 62138
(This msg. is a reply to 27876 by Decomposed)
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Getting Joey to Japan was was neither easy nor stress-free. IMO, the "study abroad" program needs a lot of work. UVA did very little to help except to tell Joey that it had approved his request to study abroad at his chosen school (two of four students who requested that school were denied). Then, of course, UVA took our money. Tuition gets paid to UVA, not to the other school, and they want it even if the student won't be there.
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So here's what was involved:
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School began at UVA on January 14, 2019. Joey, as required, had paid his UVA tuition (about $8,300) but didn't enroll in any classes. We were told that the Tokyo school's Spring semester starts later and that we'd be hearing from them sometime between January 10th and January 31st. HAD THIS OTHER SCHOOL NOT ACCEPTED JOEY, WE WOULD HAVE FORFEITED THE TUITION MONEY. *** STRESS *** It was not until the evening of January 31st (almost the last minute of the last day) that the school finally e-mailed Joey to welcome him to Japan and to tell him that he'd be receiving an Admissions package soon via mail. *** STRESS ***
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Joey selected a dorm that is not affiliated with the University and applied for admission. They needed his arrival date. Orientation will be March 19th even though school starts April 6th, so we got him a March 12th flight from San Francisco to Tokyo. Once the tickets had been purchased, we knew when he'd arrive and submitted the application to the dorm. Some time passed, during which he missed his chance to get into the University-affiliated dorms. *** STRESS *** Fortunately, he was accepted by the dorm of his choice. However, they told him that he could only check in before 18:00 hrs. His flight arrived later than that, so he was going to need a room someplace else. Remember, he's 19 and traveling alone at night, has no car, knows nobody, only kinda speaks Japanese (3 semesters) and doesn't know the city. *** STRESS ***
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Hotel prices were ridiculous. $300. So were cab fares. $90. (By area, Tokyo is the largest city in the world. Just thought I'd throw that in.) Fortunately, Joey researched a hostel that was within walking distance of a subway station and within walking distance of his dormitory. $30 (in yen) for the hostel, including breakfast. A screaming deal. But he had to get to the hostel before 11 p.m. or he might not get in at all. The thing is, his flight wasn't supposed to arrive until 7:30 p.m. (And it actually arrived at 8:00.) If immigration and customs were slow - as they sometimes are in the U.S. - two hours or more could be blown. Could he get to the hostel by 11? *** STRESS ***
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Next: You'll recall that Joey was accepted to the Tokyo college on January 31st and they'd told him they were mailing an acceptance package to him care of his University. The letter of acceptance in the package is required for a visa. We'd already purchased a ticket for a March 12th flight from San Francisco to Japan and a ticket for a March 6th flight from New Hampshire to Sacramento so that Joey could visit grandparents and other relatives. By February 22nd, nothing had come in the mail. In two weeks, Joey would be gone - but he still had no visa. And, no, we could not get the visa for him. We asked.
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On February 22nd, a Friday, we called UVA since that's where the Japanese college was sending the package. They said it had not been received. *** STRESS *** Later that day, they called us back and said it had arrived. *whew* Since time was now very short, they said they would Fed Ex it to us. But they couldn't on that day since it was already too late. They would have to wait until Monday to send it.
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From that point on, everything worked. The package was sent on Monday. We received it Tuesday. My wife took Joey to Boston (a 2.5 hour drive) on Wednesday. Parking for 30 minutes one block from the Japanese consulate was $22. Ghaaa. The consulate told Joey that the visa would take three business days (WOW! A passport takes about six weeks!), Monday, March 4th, my wife and Joey drove to Boston again. This time, she dropped Joey off and didn't park.
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If anything had gone wrong with just two days before the flight, well . . . I don't even want to think about it. The visa was in our hands on March 4th and Joey was ready for his March 6th flight.
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Except . . . that he wasn't. On March 5th, one day before departure, it dawned on Joey that he'd forgotten about paying the dorm. He'd need to do so first thing upon check-in. The payment had to include 1st month's rent, security deposit, and an extra fee that only applied to those with no Japanese relatives. The total would be about $3,000. (The last two fees are refunded upon check-out in August - assuming, of course, that there are no issues.)
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Japan is a CASH BASED society. Almost nothing there is done any other way. People routinely travel the subways with $700 in their wallets. And Joey's dorm required cash. Not a credit card. Not a check. Not a traveller's check. Not wired money. AND NOT AMERICAN DOLLARS.
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Okay. Joey is leaving the next day and we need $3,000 in yen. Oh, what the hell, there are going to be other expenses too. Better make it $4,000 in yen. He can't get that much out of an ATM. *** STRESS *** Joey began making frantic calls to Sacramento. "Uncle #1! Do you have an account at a major bank that has a financial center? I need Japanese yen. You don't? Okay, thanks." *click* "Granddad! Hi! Do you have an account at a major bank with a financial center? BofA? GREAT! Can I bring you a check and get $4,000 in yen while I'm in Sacramento? No? Because it's a business account and that would mess up your bookkeeping? Uh, okay. I understand. Thanks." *click* "Grandma? Hi! Uh, do you have an account at a bank with a financial center where you can get $4,000 in yen? You doooo??? I *LOVE* you Grandma!!!"
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So that's how it went. While he was in Sacramento, Joey also opened an account for himself at Schwab. ATMs are free to use in Japan, but nearly every American bank charges 3% for cash withdrawals in Japan. Schwab charges nothing. So that was done too. And that reminds me that we still haven't put any money in that account.... Mmm. I guess that would be a good thing to do pretty soon.
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Joey's grandmother kept him for several days and bought him a money belt at Wal-mart. Joey flew from San Francisco to Tokyo, then took the subway, then walked at night to a hostel while dragging a suitcase, spent the night, then walked 20 minutes during the day to his dorm and checked in... the entire time carrying $4,000 in Japanese currency. Yeah. *** STRESS ***
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We haven't exhaled for a few months. He's finally there and all is good. We think.




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Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months


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The above is a reply to the following message:
Re: DECOMPOSED - "joey"
By: Decomposed in POPE 5
Fri, 15 Mar 19 5:06 AM 		Msg. 27876 of 62138

ribit:

Re: "...and Vietnam where people I didn't know kept trying to kill me for no reason at all. "Today's Democrats are just the same. It makes sense. Similar political views.

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