Getting legal

The past few weeks, I've had to get my paperwork together for going to Japan. The university e-mailed me my Certificate of Eligibility, which is essentially a piece of paper proving that I'm heading over for a legitimate purpose. I had to take that with a visa application and my passport to the consulate in Boston to get my visa. The New York consulate is closer, but only covers Fairfield County.

The day I went up, we had a snowstorm. The plan was to drive, but after enough hemming and hawing from Mom, I ended up driving to New London instead to take a train, as there were none that would stop back in Old Saybrook by midnight. Now, there was a plus to this. The Japanese consulate is in the Federal Reserve Building, which is conveniently located next to South Station. That, unfortunately, was the only plus.

No photos of the consulate allowed, so here's my security badge.

Boston weather is worse than Connecticut weather. I also did not bring my jacket, so needless to say, I was freezing outside. In addition, I booked a large gap of time in between train trips, and ended up not needing it. I ended up wasting time in the station for over four hours. There was a CVS and plenty of restaurants in South Station, but nothing else.

Humans weren't the only ones seeking refuge from the storm.

I drove up to Boston the next week to pick up my visa. It was actually easier and cheaper for me to drive there and back compared to taking the train. Plus, I prefer the road over the rails. There's something about driving that brings me calm, even with all the people out there that don't use their blinkers when changing lanes.

The Federal Reserve Building, from the road

I also had to send in a form to receive a "yakkan shoumei" for my anxiety pills so that I could take them through immigration. I had to book a quick appointment with my doctor [which was during, you guessed it, another snowstorm] to get the prescription and form for that filled out. $60 in postage and one week later, I got the form through e-mail, which should be good enough for my trip.

I had booked the plane ticket beforehand, so I am all set for the actual trip. I also found out that I got into the dorm on campus, so I have a place to stay. The only things I need to figure out are the car and the week that I have between arriving and moving in. Everything else is going according to keikaku, and now that I'm done at my internship, I'll have greater flexibility in fixing any issues that pop up.

-wp