Dear Japan, why are you so expensive?

I didn't think that spring quarter would be this busy. I'm taking JAPN 20C, LTWR 100, BIMM 100 (molecular biology), and BILD 3 (evolutionary & organismic biology). It sounds easy but the workload's not as light as I thought it would be for JAPN 20C and LTWR 100. D:

Anyway, I told Grace that I'd write a post like hers where she goes through all the stuff that she had to pay for so hereeee I go:

Putting the ICU application together:
* Passport sized pictures: At least $20.00 -- the first set that I took wouldn't show my shoulders when I cut them down to 4 cm x 3 cm. This also costed me an ENTIRE DAY because I kept running around to get them taken. Then I had to manually cut down the 2 in x 2 in pictures down to 4x3 cm.
* Printing and photocopying: At least $5.00
* Buttering up (to use Grace Mao jargon) the lecture who wrote my letter of rec: At least $20.00 (This is an underestimate. The card and chocolates were so expensive.)
* Sending three separate things via overnight mail: $54.00
> Total: $99.00

EAP & Japan health clearance stuff
* Blood test (to see my blood type. I'm A+): $3.59
* Urinalysis: $10.00
* Chest x-ray: $37.00
* Health history review (I think? It's just listed as Health HX Rev): $30.00
* Travel visit: $35.00
*PPD immunization (wait a minute... I didn't get this...): $9.00
> Total: $124.59

UOEAP stuff
* First payment: $450
* Extending my overseas health insurance for 30 days: $35.70
> Total: $485.70

Things I have yet to pay for:
* Hepatitis A immunization (w/SHIP): $25
* HPV immunization (w/SHIP): $62.50
* Flu: TBA ( D: )
* Oral typhoid vaccine: ?
* Cipro: ?
* Second payment: $1,158
* Final payment: ? It doesn't say how much but it says that I have it! D:
* Plane ticket: ~$1200
> Total: At least $2445.50

What the heck:
* Orientation, activities & services fee: $75
* Mandatory health insurance (I thought that this was included in our UOEAP payments, though?): $115
> Total: $190

Grand total: At least $3344.79!


This doesn't even touch how much I have to pay for boarding and food once I get there. Here's a link to the projected costs. On the table, my program's "Joint ICU/UC Fall Term," the last column. That includes the costs of everything (minus my health stuff and the silly costs that I added) that's related to the program. It projects that the program'll cost me $13,538. This is the second most expensive program on there. But the thing is that ICU is going by the quarter system while all the other universities are going by the semester system. With that in mind, my program is the most expensive. :( :( :( :( :( :(

And look at this! According to google, 100 Japanese yen = 0.9994 U.S. dollars! 100 yen = 1 USD is a rough conversion factor. It's been fluctuating a lot, though; one day, 100 yen = 1.0666 USD or something like that. Then it dropped to 0.98-somethingsomething USD the next day. -_-

Well, there you have it. And considering that I'll hopefully be traveling in Japan and buying souvenirs and stuff, I think that I'll be spending well over the projected costs. :(

As doom & gloom as this entry is, I still vouch for people studying abroad in Japan! (Even though I haven't even gone, yet. 8D;; I'm sure that there are better things to come!)


Oh! Word of the day!

お金 (おかね = okane. For you gringos, it's pronounced oh-kahn-eh)
Definition: Money
Example sentence: 今お金がありません。 (Ima okane ga arimasen.)
Translation: I'm po'