As well as you try to prepare, you can never be prepared enough. I like to think that I'm a pretty well prepared person. Before I went abroad, I tried ensure my own graduation safety. I made sure that I finished my freshman to junior courses all in my first two years. That way, when I went abroad, I wouldn't have to worry about getting credits for my major. I thought that that kind of preparation would be a worst case scenario. Thank goodness I did though, because that was just what happened. I was unable to take a single course towards my major. One of the issues upon returning from abroad is unit conversion. As you know, eight of the UCs are on a quarter system. Thus, the Educational Abroad System uses a quarter unit system. These quarter units are converted to semester units for Berkeley (and I suppose Merced). If the school abroad you are at is a quarter system, then you mostly don't have any complaints. The issue comes in when the school abroad is a semester system. Instead of direct semester to semester transfer, it is from semester to quarter to semester units transfer. For example. I'm taking a 2 unit Organic Chemistry I class here. This becomes 2.5 quarter UC units. This will finally become a 1.6 semester Berkeley units. That missing 0.4 units is a painful thing and can often mean the difference between a course being accepted as equivalent and not.

Another issue is the course schedule. Before coming, I had planned on taking a dozen or so courses in international studies, humanities, and Japanese. Yet, all Japanese courses are 2nd and 3rd period every day of the week. Most of the classes I was interested in fell into 2nd and 3rd period. Unlike Berkeley where one may sign up for time conflict classes, you may not do so at ICU, nor is there any way to override the system.

Thus, while I enjoy studying abroad, don't expect to get any major or requirements done while abroad. The only thing you may be able to get fulfilled are your breadths, and you may not even be able to do that unless you have advanced level Japanese. If you have beginner to low intermediate level language skills, the course and scheduling restrictions will keep you from doing so.

But note, I would still study abroad again if I had to do it all over. The experiences you gain here are worth more than the difficulty in getting credits.

Posted by K. Lee at 10:45 PM | Permalink

We all know that we get ripped off on our textbooks. Looking at that lovely organic chemistry textbook of Vollhardt's that costs $163.95 on Amazon is painful. Salt is just poured on the wound when I realize that I can get the same book new on Japan Amazon for $100. What's with this difference? (Not that we use Vollhardt's book here at International Christian University. We use Solomons where there is a $100 price gap.)
It's the exact same book being published in the exact same location. It's not even an "international edition" that is marked "not for sale in North America."
Science and education subject books are cheaper in Japan.
On the other hand, literature, law, and history books seem to be more expensive in Japan.

What's with this disparity? Hum....

Posted by K. Lee at 6:02 AM | Permalink

I don't mean that BBC News is rewriting history in a good way. As some may or may not know, Taiwan is holding their presidential elections tomorrow, March 22. This, along with the coming Beijing Olympics, has caused more news to be written about Taiwan than normal. Thus, the proliferation of incorrect and suggestive sentences, strongly biased towards the People's Republic of China, has increased.

Sentences and Formatting that Greatly Irritate Me:

(1) "China says that Taiwan is part of its territory, although the two have been separately governed since 1949."
Tibet focus for Taiwan election

(2) "Taiwan broke away from the mainland in 1949, when the Communists took over."
China trade links are key in Taiwan poll

(3) Interactive History BBC News Interactive History

Rebuttals:
(1) This sentence completely ignores the fact that beginning in 1895, Japan had formal control of Taiwan with the Treaty of Shimonoseki. And it was only in 1887 did the Manchu Empire (the Qing Dynasty who ruled China) declare Taiwan part of China. Actually, when the Taiwanese heard that they were to be part of Japan, they declared a Taiwan Republic. A couple days later, when Japan came in, the republic was taken over. Check out these maps:
Taiwan is not part of the map here in the Qing Dynasty, nor on this Ming Dynasty map (the dynasty right before Qing). Taking into consideration history, one must remember that possession is eleven points of the law. Immigration between the mainland and Taiwan was also quite fluid as they are located close to each other. (Currently the closest territory of Taiwan is less then a mile away from China, but the main island is at least 80 miles away.) Control of Taiwan varied throughout history with different empires ruling over portions of it at different times.

Continue reading "BBC News Rewriting History" »

Posted by K. Lee at 7:10 AM | Permalink

After church at Berkland Baptist Church, Tokyo, I went to the park behind Korakuen with some people. For only a 300 yen ($3) entrance fee, we got to tour the entire park. It's plum blossom season and it was beautiful. After, we left and went towards the Korakuen Department store. Parked outside was a bike with a kid in the backseat. No parent to be seen. We stood there for 25 min before we decided to get help. Two people went in to ask the station master what to do. He said it wasn't his jurisdiction and to get the police to handle it. (Closest police station is a 7 min walk down the street). Meanwhile, the kid's dad finally came back. He unlocked his bike, patted his kid's head, and rode off. It was like.. hum...
Tokyo's safe, but not that safe. There are often kidnapping reports (according to the Japanese people-church-friends).

Posted by K. Lee at 11:59 PM | Permalink

It's been one and a half weeks into my lovely vacation. Japanese universities have March off....and some even have February off too. I only have March off [International Christian University]. During this month, I've moved in with my cousin who is located in central Tokyo. The apartment is near Tokyo University [a.k.a. Todai].
Yesterday was quite productive. I finished my HTML final project for the UC Berkeley Extension class Creating Websites with HTML. http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/ Since I could do everything online, I had started in October. One has 6 months to finish an online class. Haha.

Continue reading "A month of Vacation" »

Posted by K. Lee at 5:39 PM | Permalink

Monopoly is coming out with a new world edition. You can help vote to put cities on the map..

Go nominate Taipei, Taiwan at http://www.monopolyworldvote.com/en_GB/world !
You'll have to register for an account, but... just do it!

If you look at the countries, they don't even list Taiwan. So go out there and nominate Taipei, Taiwan...then starting on the 29th of Feb, vote for it!

and.. yay! Kosovo has independence!

Posted by K. Lee at 6:30 AM | Permalink

Studying abroad means that one ought to take all the opportunities possible to improve one's language skills. One way that I do this is my watching dramas. I prefer to watch them once without subtitles, then once again with subtitles to catch the meanings I didn't get the first time. If the episode was fascinating, I might watch it once more without subtitles. For proper language skills, I would recommend that one not watch anime (Japanese cartoons). Many Japanese people mention that those to avidly watch anime talk oddly. They have a comic accent.

On an awesome note, as I was watching a drama, this guy with this shirt pops up.

Go UC System!

Posted by K. Lee at 12:17 AM | Permalink

The Washington State University's sports coach Willy and five athletes (golf, baseball, and athletic related majors) visited International Christian University, Japan, where I am studying abroad. As a member of the baseball team (manager = girls pick up balls, bring tea to the players, etc. [not quite as cool as what a manager means in the USA]) I went for the welcoming and closing parties.

I'm quite amazed at Japanese hospitality. They took care of U of Washington's people quite well.

On the other hand, I found out that Berkeley has a baseball team. Did you know that? I only found out when the U of Wash captain of the baseball team, Simi, remarked on his experiences at Cal. Heh. Also, when they joked about Cal and the Pac-10, all I could really do was smile and nod. You see, all I know about Cal athletes is football, we hate StanfUrd, and we're in the Pac-10. That's not very much information.

By the way, W Dub =/= Washington State U=WSU
And, now I have a WSU hat.

Yay! Come back and visit again WSU!

Posted by K. Lee at 5:48 AM | Permalink

A girl in my dorm is taking an English class on Bioethics presented me with the following case.
A scientist/doctor in Japan has transplanted 42 cases of kidneys into patients on dialysis. The issue with these kidneys was that they were previously diseased but had the diseased portion cut out before transplantation. In none of these cases did complications arise. Due to the situation in Japan, the scientist was unable to present his findings/paper in Japan. Yet, he will be bringing the paper to present in the USA this month (or perhaps he has already presented it this month).

She asked me about my thoughts:
Q: Is this more acceptable in the USA? The USA is probably more open about presenting abnormal, groundbreaking, cases. However, this does not mean that the situation would be more acceptable in the USA.
Q: Would you give your diseased kidney to someone? No. I don't want to deal with liability issues our legal system makes it easy to sue. Even with liability waivers, it is still possible to sue.

Continue reading "Bioethical Issues on Kidney Transplants" »

Posted by K. Lee at 7:24 AM | Permalink

I've never seen it snow before! It's 1 AM and my UC Irvine buddy texted me. I went outside to see for myself. Holding my hand out, tiny white droplets fell. Snowflakes!! They only lasted a second.. but.. SNOWFLAKES!!! As you can see, I am excited. :)

Posted by K. Lee at 8:00 AM | Permalink

It's still vacation for Berkeley, but I'm in the middle of my second trimester here at International Christian University, Japan. Thus far, I've learned about international representations.

When I think about America, I think about immigration. It's a soup bowl of people. It may be a melting pot or a salad, but either way we're a unique culture of combinations. There is truly no uniting force in the USA except that we are ... here by accident or by purpose (whether our own or some other force). Going overseas, we represent this conglomeration of cultures. Yet, because it is a glop of cultures, when we represent, we are unable to represent the entirety. We do not have a common history, ancestors, or thoughts to bind us together. The question of what is an American is a difficult question.

Continue reading "Representing" »

Posted by K. Lee at 12:59 AM | Permalink

According to this article and according to a little slip I received from the emigration officer when I was leaving Japan for a visit to the USA last week, beginning Nov 20th, I will be fingerprinted (and my picture will be entered into a database) every time I enter the country. Frankly, I feel quite...uncomfortable by this prospect. My fingerprints are my own, unique. I don't want them in some database especially since I haven't done anything. Sure, if I forget to turn on my bike light when I'm biking in Japan, take my fingerprint oh police-dude! (True thing. They take your fingerprint because foreigners normally don't have the I.D. stamp with them (hanko)). However, before I've even committed something is a bit... ... ... hum.

In the article, it talks about foreigner visitors to the USA needing to be IDed and photoed. Can anyone verify that? None of my relatives recall going though that, but it has been a long time since any of them visited. Maybe it depends on which country you come from and the Visa requirements?

Posted by K. Lee at 1:39 AM | Permalink

It's been quite fun here in Japan. Last weekend, the "Canada House" (one of the men's dorms) had a "Canada House Ball." I can't believe the effort the guys went into for the dorm. The theme was Indiana Jones...but I didn't see anything vaguely Indiana Jones-ish except for the entrance in.

Here I am with my classmates. All international students.

Over the weekend, I went to celebrate with my Baseball Club because we'd gotten 2nd in our league. Here's part of the team. The team is quite close. Even ex-members continue to come to practice and hang with the rest of us. =)

Then here's the yummy food we had.

Posted by K. Lee at 5:22 AM | Permalink

One disadvantage of studying abroad is that I have no resistance to their diseases. I've never been sick this often in my life. My entire Japanese class (minus the teacher) has been sick at least once in the past two months. We have a test tomorrow and we were trying to think of ways to get our professor sick...but since our Japanese class is taught by 6 different professors...we decided that it would be too difficult to get all 6 sick by tomorrow. ;) mwahahah.

Posted by K. Lee at 5:35 AM | Permalink

The Study Abroad Office asked me to answer some questions for Cal guy interested...so here are my answers just in case you were interested.

1. How intense was the school's Japanese language program?
2. How effective was it? (were you able to speak at the native level by
the time you returned home? Could you read books, watch tv, etc. How
proficient did you become in Japanese?
3. What level of Japanese did you take at UC Berkeley before studying
abroad.

I'm currently a Junior (Molecular Toxicology
Major) studying at ICU for the year. The Japanese Language Program (JLP)
can be quite intensive. There's a required summer program that is about
3.5 hrs a day 5 days a week. It was fast but doable. It's the "normal" JLP
classes squeezed into 7 weeks. During the normal year, there's a "normal"
JLP class (12 hours/week) and an "intensive" JLP class. Intensive is..
really intensive at 4 sessions of 70 min classes a day 5 days a week (23
hours). It's basically 2 levels of "normal" JLP classes squeezed into one
semester. It's recommended that you do not take any additional classes
aside from that. I think that one class on top of that is doable. ;) I'm
taking Intensive right now.
2&3. I've been in Japan for 3.5 months now. I entered with basically no
knowledge of Japanese. I had not taken Japanese at Berkeley. The last time
I touched Japanese was in sophomore year of high school where I took one
years worth of Japanese at the community college. Living in the school

Continue reading "ICU Japan Questions" »

Posted by K. Lee at 11:07 AM | Permalink

Today, I visited the laboratory class of Prof. Kobayashi of ICU. It was pretty awesome. They were doing a laboratory on progesterone and its effect on fish sexual behavior. I got to inject progesterone into fish. We watched the bipotential brain of the fish and the spawning behavior.

Then, we studied the the fish immunological system each student implanted fish scales from different types of fish and from clones of fish. It's not as easy as it looks. =)

Overall, I learned quite of bit from the class. The different teaching style, laboratory layout, and student to teacher interaction was also different. The single professor teaches with two helpers, a GSI and a post-doc. There are about 20 people in the class. The small class size and teacher to student ratio really allows for thinking and questions. The lab report that they were assigned for this lab was unusual in that it was an open ended question, "What follow-up question do you have? Design an experiment: Intro, Purpose, Materials, Procedure." Kobayashi-Sensei said that he wanted to train the students to critically think. I'm glad that I went even though I was dirt tired. Professors at ICU are pretty nice and welcoming. =)

Posted by K. Lee at 1:33 AM | Permalink

I joined the baseball team at International Christian University - Japan as a manager. In Japanese clubs, managers are the girls who pick up the balls, clean the equipment, do odd jobs, and perform first aid. What's nice is that one of the players actually lived in my hometown for a few years. =)
Anyways, today the university was getting a head count of all the players so everyone showed up. Since the equipment was out already, they started playing catch, practicing swinging, and helping to scrape the field. The thing is that everyone came from different places. First you have the people who were practicing earlier in their baseball uniforms. Then there were the people who just came from job interviews wearing their suits. The people who came from classes were still wearing their trendy clothes (e.g. tight red pants with a rolled up shirt, or the guy with the sports coat and jeans). Their enthusiasm for baseball really showed. It was awesome!

Not related to the baseball team, I was able to help a dorm mate check the English translation for a Japanese sex-ed book she was hired to translate. It was pretty interesting and the differences between the Japanese culture and American culture showed. I made a few cultural changes and grammatical changes. It was fun discussing it and learning about the differences. Ex. 1. The Japanese say that there are 10 months of pregnancy. (The lunar calender probably accounts for this difference.) Ex. 2. The penis is drawn the other way up in Japanese sex-ed books.

Posted by K. Lee at 3:02 AM | Permalink

One: It takes exactly 3 months to use up a 40 mL bottle of mosquito bite anti-itch medicine. That's plenty of mosquitoes causing me pain in order to reproduce and produce more mosquitoes that will cause me future pain. Irony.

Two: The best time to take a shower in the communal girl's shower at International Christian University - Japan 's 1st Women's dorm is between 12:30 A.M. and 1 A.M. That is when the showers are normally full and you are trapped with people that must talk to you. :) It's good practice. When else are you going to talk to people for a full 15 minutes without using your electronic dictionary?

Posted by K. Lee at 9:28 AM | Permalink

Give Blood. Mwahahhaa.
At Berkeley, there are often blood drives going on in MLK. You should see this guy in a blood drop suit during those times.
In Japan at ICU, there was a blood mobile. It was pretty awesome. I gave 400 mL today. whee~~ Hehe. It was my first time giving blood. The people were really skillful. I remember when I needed an IVP at the Tang Center. It took them 3-4 tries (2 people) before they got a hold of my blood. And.. that was painful. But the blood drive people do this all day for a long time. They're really skilled and in one shot, the nurse got my blood. They know how to angle it so that it doesn't ache. Thus, its pretty much painless except for the pinch at the insert-tation. (Is that a word?) It was faster than I expected. yay! blood! It didn't even hurt when they removed it.

GO GIVE BLOOD! And sign up for Bone Marrow Donation at those Bone Marrow Drives.

Posted by K. Lee at 9:30 PM | Permalink

Until April 30th, Microsoft is selling Office 2007 for $60 to university students. That is really cheap compared to the $150 Home/Student Version. For y'all out there with the illegal/free/downloaded/key-hacked version, this is your chance at becoming a good cit. (And for y'all out there who are saying that "it doesn't hurt anyone" you know that that's just plain BS.) Along with the Deal, there is also a blog contest going on. Thus:
This blog is part of the Microsoft “The Ultimate Steal” Blogging Contest. Go to www.theultimatesteal.com for details.
How would I use Microsoft Office for? As students, we've been living off of Word since birth. The Word 2007 lets me: word process my labs and research papers; manipulate my documents; and create nice looking pamphlets easily. Sure, I could probably make nicer looking pamphlets with Photoshop or something, but it’s just more instinctive with Word for me.
Then there's PowerPoint with which I can create awesome presentations. While people really want to learn about sarin, dioxin, or one of the other toxins in my Toxicology class, people also zone out fast. With interesting animations to maintain interest my professor will be awake enough to give me the decent grade I deserved. Also, with the main points on the PowerPoint, I don't have to deal with people saying "Can you repeat that?"
Ah. And finally Excel. Excel 2007 brings a higher powered calculation masterpiece. I can create my graphs, compare data, input data, calculate calculations, and basically analyze my data in every sort of way with Excel 2007. Even fuzzies (humanities majors) need Excel! E.g. History: calculating the mortality in a war or something.
Office 2007 will enable me to dynamically excel in my academic studies. I can’t imagine life before Office at all. Were those the Notepad days?

Posted by K. Lee at 7:01 PM | Permalink

Until April 30th, Microsoft is selling Office 2007 for $60 to university students. That is really cheap compared to the $150 Home/Student Version. For y'all out there with the illegal/free/downloaded/key-hacked version, this is your chance at becoming a good cit. (And for y'all out there who are saying that "it doesn't hurt anyone" you know that that's just plain BS.) Along with the Deal, there is also a blog contest going on. Thus:
This blog is part of the Microsoft “The Ultimate Steal” Blogging Contest. Go to www.theultimatesteal.com for details.
How would I use Microsoft Office for? As students, we've been living off of Word since birth. The Word 2007 lets me: word process my labs and research papers; manipulate my documents; and create nice looking pamphlets easily. Sure, I could probably make nicer looking pamphlets with Photoshop or something, but it’s just more instinctive with Word for me.
Then there's PowerPoint with which I can create awesome presentations. While people really want to learn about sarin, dioxin, or one of the other toxins in my Toxicology class, people also zone out fast. With interesting animations to maintain interest my professor will be awake enough to give me the decent grade I deserved. Also, with the main points on the PowerPoint, I don't have to deal with people saying "Can you repeat that?"
Ah. And finally Excel. Excel 2007 brings a higher powered calculation masterpiece. I can create my graphs, compare data, input data, calculate calculations, and basically analyze my data in every sort of way with Excel 2007. Even fuzzies (humanities majors) need Excel! E.g. History: calculating the mortality in a war or something.
Office 2007 will enable me to dynamically excel in my academic studies. I can’t imagine life before Office at all. Were those the Notepad days?

Posted by K. Lee at 7:01 PM | Permalink

This is aka hazing week over in the Japan ICU dormitories. Each newbie in the dorms must wear a costume for the entire week. Mine is keropi. I have a kangeroo friend and a yellow power ranger friend in the other dorms. ^^ I'll try to get a picture up.

For clubs, I think that I will join the Baseball and Golf clubs. I've enjoyed Golf since my Wii days. (yes, that's the Nintendo Wii.) I've wanted to try out the real thing, but its quite expensive in the USA. At ICU, they transform the baseball diamond (not really transform) into a golf range, so it is free to practice. So I'll be around the baseball diamond a lot. I'll elaborate on this post later.

Posted by K. Lee at 10:35 AM | Permalink

The typhoon is coming so we have canceled classes tomorrow. yay? It would be yay...except we're trapped inside...and that also means more work next week. Well, it's interesting at least. heh.

Posted by K. Lee at 12:58 AM | Permalink

I moved into my new dorm on Saturday. I have a huge room shared with a roommate. Nice. Imagine...a room double the size of the average Foothill room. Ahhh. The room was badly designed though. The closets are unmovable and in a sucky location. It's a long room so there is much wasted space since each person is lined up against the side. Wide rooms are preferable for shared rooms. Anyways, they have lots of sockets... YAY! I have 10 sockets just to myself. =) Good design.

Continue reading "A new dorm life" »

Posted by K. Lee at 6:24 AM | Permalink

I had two weeks off, so I went to Gunma and worked for a farm family through WWOOF. It is a work for food/housing thing. Since I do not have a work permit, that was pretty decent. I worked at the food stand at Asama National Park and at the cabbage farm harvesting cabbage.

So I wisely volunteered for farm work. As a result I am in pain... Cabbage cutting was painful until I adopted a sit on trough and cut. Move cabbage. Scooch forward. Repeat. Much easier on the back. cabbages are heavy. Really heavy. From the second day though, we needed to move faster, so I could not do my sit scooch thing. AHRGH PAIN.

Continue reading "Farming. Gunma. Japan." »

Posted by K. Lee at 11:34 PM | Permalink

I went on my first trip outside of Tokyo today. It was quite fun, but tiring. Two Japanese students led six overseas students. We went to Hakone, which is known for its hot springs. Our youth hostel had its own hot spring water, so we bathed at night and in the morning there. We also went to this classes onsen (hot spring) place. They had six pools and a sauna on the girls' side. It was weird in the beginning bathing with all the other women...but I got used to it after a while. (Swimming suits not allowed.) I stink like sulfur now though.
Then we went up on a Rope Way (cable car ride) to the top of the Hakone Mountains. There, we got to see the steaming sulfur pools and eat the black sulfur eggs. Quite interesting. The legend is that if you eat one egg, you gain 7 years, and if you eat 2 eggs, you gain 14 years to your lifespan. Eat more than that...and there are no guarantees. I've attached a youtube video link for you to see our mountain hiking trip. Enjoy. It's very simple.

Posted by K. Lee at 3:13 AM | Permalink

So here in Japan, they have fun with watermelons. They blindfold a person, spin them around, and verbally guide them to a watermelon that they have to crack with a stick. The point is not to smash the watermelon, because you waste watermelon that way. It's just to crack it so that you have a cutting point for your knife. Yummy Watermelon. Funny people. mwahahah. Sticky hands.

On the other hand, we learned yesterday in UC Orientation that... you should never do what your Japanese classmates do. In Japan, grades for your Japanese classmates don't matter. There's no GPA, so they don't care if they get a C. On the other hand, that would be painful for us UC students. There was this story of a cocky UCB student who decided that he didn't need to go to classes. The entire grade was based on a final paper. Yet... when the final day came and he was to turn in his paper, his professor would not accept it. Evidently, there was this 4 letter word in Kanji that means assumed attendance. You have to attend classes. He'd missed 10/13 classes. He got an F. Professors here don't mind giving out Ds and Es (what we would say are Fs). It doesn't hurt the student here... but since everything transfers back... one would say that all you can do is cry if you're in that situation.

Posted by K. Lee at 12:02 AM | Permalink

So bike registration was relatively easy. The housing assistants brought us down to the police station and we turned in our paperwork. Since we're "bimbo"s, or "poor," the nice police civil worker waived the fee for us. so ta da. I'm done. Now I don't need to be worried about being stopped by police.

Interesting Fact: It's illegal to drink and bike.

Posted by K. Lee at 6:20 AM | Permalink

Before entering Berkeley, you'll get an online alcohol knowledge seminar and a mini test. While I'd love tell you to take it seriously, it is hard to take that 3 hr long seminar seriously. I was reading/surfing the internet while the powerpoint was running. Click click click. Use the info for your safety. There is a lot of alcohol available all over campus and off of campus. Drink safely, and wisely. I would rather say, don't drink, but I know that it isn't reasonable for all people. Always go with a buddy, and leave with your buddy. If your buddy doesn't want to leave the party, get someone else to watch over your buddy, then call bearwalk and have them walk you home. Bearwalk is a free service. You call the number, and a person in a bright yellow suit comes to pick you up. There are dark blue suited people too, so if you don't want to walk next to a bumblebee, you can request a non-bumblebee. ;)
As far as sexual harassment... people don't think that you're as funny as you think when you are drunk. They're laughing out of awkwardness. Don't do it.
If you get sexually harassed, report it. Don't just be like, "Oh, it's okay, I don't want to make a fuss." People that sexually harass rarely stop. They just move onto the next victim. Don't let there be anymore victims. Even if the school can't do enough on the first report, they will be able to if a few report it. So, report it! http://ccac.berkeley.edu/ It's nice that UC Berkeley is pretty on top of things and actually cares. So, don't be scared to report it. We're at Berkeley so that we'll make a difference in the world. Blending in and becoming like grass for people to step on isn't really a way to make a stand in the world.

Posted by K. Lee at 9:40 AM | Permalink

Before coming to Japan, I was thinking, "where in the world is Carmen San Diego!" no... haha.. but, "how am I going to bring my money over and manage it?"
I'm a Bank of America loyalist... I've been raised in the good old American bank. Ever since my first ancestor came to the USA, we've always relied on Bank of America. However, banks have changed. They aren't as customer friendly as before. Doing my research, I found one awesome credit card / bank that didn't charge extra for international transactions:
Capital One. It's a small bank in SoCal that has a good internet presence. I have a money market account and credit card with them. It's awesome in that they pay out of their own pocket the 1% Visa international charge and they don't have any other charges. The same with withdrawing from ATMs. They don't charge anything. So where Chase, WaMu, and BoA would have hit you with up to 7% in fees.... I don't pay anything. So I'm living a happy life here while everyone else is having a hard time accessing moolah. Oh yeah. I also have a Citibank account which worked fine, but some people have been getting hit with a 1% fee at non-Citibank ATMs. Since the nearest Citibank is a couple cities away, I've just been using my CapOne. Since I also earn miles/points on my CapOne credit card, I've been using my credit card whenever possible.

Posted by K. Lee at 1:38 AM | Permalink

The post offices here are AWE-some. In Japan, post offices have semi-banking ability. You can open a post office savings account to store that lovely cash sitting around. There really isn't an interest rate though. Since there are post offices all around Japan in every nook and cranny possible, you'll always have access to the PO ATMs. Note however, PO ATMs are only open during specific hours and aren't accessible on the weekends (fact check?). I had an interesting experience trying to open one, but you to can do it with basically no Japanese speaking/understanding ability. The best part about PO accounts is that even if you leave the country, you can still keep your account. ATMs aren't just depositories however....

Continue reading "Going Postal in Japan" »

Posted by K. Lee at 1:26 AM | Permalink

Yesterday was a national holiday, but we were lucky and had the opportunity to take a midterm. whohoo! There was also a earthquake in a nearby prefecture. We were able to feel it though. shakeshakeshake. Quite similar to the Berkeley shakes. Ah. which reminds me. Non-Californians should learn about earthquake safety before they come to Berkeley. Quite important to know how to duck and where the safest parts of structures are.
Classes are quite intense. Three tests a week. 2 vocab, and one section/midterm test. It's a fast

Continue reading "Week two of ICU ILP study abroad" »

Posted by K. Lee at 10:32 PM | Permalink

It's been a crazy intensive first week already. whohhhh. Think intensive x5. 12 unit class. >< wah wah wah. haha. Two vocab quizzes for the two chapters that we've covered. We have a test on teh coming Monday. At least tomorrow will be a nice break. I'll be going on a field trip (wow! field trip! I haven't been on one since middle school!) to the National Theater in Japan for a Kabuki event. That should be superb. I'm not sure if I'll like it, but it'll be an interesting experience.

Homework has been quite heavy and tiring. I have not taken Japanese in four years, so I'm quite a bit rusty. Wish me the best!

Posted by K. Lee at 8:20 AM | Permalink

The campus is flat and wide. Well, flat except for these two lumps of hills in the middle of campus called Baka-yama and Aho-yama. (Stupid mountains) People who cut class tend to go there to sleep and hang out when they're cutting. There are lots of large tall trees. They're right outside of my window so its quite nice. My window faces the east which allows me to wake up with the sun on my face at around 8AM naturally! Isn't that amazing? Or maybe that's the jetlag waking me up. hahaha.

Ah, and the free bike. There was a drawing for 4 free bikes and I won one. yay! Now I have a bike to get around and I don't have to buy one. I was planning on buying a bike to get around for the year, but this is much better. Now I can spend the ~$100 on food. Food is expensive. It's not more expensive than UC Berkeley campus food, but eating that everyday adds up. I went grocery shopping a few days ago so I've been cooking for myself mostly. Thus far, I've spent 10152 yen (~$88). That's not too bad as a week in itself, but I've actually only been spending money for 2.3 days. Now it gets scary.

A nice thing I've noticed is that my skin feels nicer. It doesn't feel dry and scaly without lotion anymore. yay.

Posted by K. Lee at 7:58 PM | Permalink

Die mosquitoes. DIE!
I just got these two mosquitoes while walking through the foyer of the Global House, the dorm I'm living in. Yesterday, while walking I got 5 insects bites. I'm fully covered in long sleeves, long pants, sneakers, socks, etc. Yet these mosquitoes still find my skin in the tiny exposed crevices when I'm walking!
I took the three hour placement exam this morning. It was quite grueling. Even with the review I've been doing, I've realized that I don't have much listening nor speaking experience. I have reading and writing, but aural listening and speaking are simply...impossible at this time. I hope to become decent and be able to carry on a conversation by the end of this summer. Dream high, reach high.
Orientation. While the other, non-UC, participants of the summer program got a school tour, the UC students had Orientation number one. We learned about safety, the law, and safety. Follow the rules and you'll be okay. Don't follow them and.... good luck.
At the end of the orientation, we received our housing placements for the fall. I got into my first

Continue reading "Day Two - Japan - ILP" »

Posted by K. Lee at 1:20 AM | Permalink

I hopped on the train to Mitaka and took a taxi to ICU. If you're considering ICU, take the taxi if you're coming with luggage. It makes life so much better to not have to lug luggage around. Everyone who's living on campus stays at the Global House for the summer. It's 4 little rooms set around a sort of living room. There's a washer, shower, bathroom, mini kitchen, fridge, etc. in the suite. It's lovely! Each room has a personal balcony. It overhangs to lovely greenery.
I went out today to get my Alien Registration, Certificate, National Health Insurance, and cellphone. You need the Alien Registration to get the certificate and the certificate to get the NHI and cellphone. They make copies for you at the place for free, so you don't need to bring your own copies of stuff. If you don't have pictures already, there is a kiosk at the City Hall where you can get them taken. By bus 01 from ICU, its a 10 min bus ride. At first, I took the

Continue reading "Day One - Japan - ILP" »

Posted by K. Lee at 6:39 AM | Permalink

I'm now in Japan. I left on the 3rd, arrived on the 4th, slept overnight at my cousin's church place, and in a few hours I will be heading to ICU. We took the Keisai Skyliner from Narita airport to Ueno before traveling by taxi. The taxi service was interesting as you press a button and a taxi comes zipping around the corner. I was a bit confused about the seatbelt usage though. The driver didn't put on his seatbelt until 6 minutes into the ride. In the backseat, there was a sign that said to please wear your seatbelt for safety. However, there weren't belt locks for the window seats. I suppose safety is optional.
I didn't have a problem withdrawing money with my Citibank atm card at a Citibank machine. I had an exchange rate of 122.2 which isn't the best since its been at 123 these few days. I can always withdraw later I suppose. I didn't get hit by a transaction fee nor exchange fee which was nice.
At my cousin's place, her roommates made us some nice cold soba and salad. The salad consisted of white turnips instead of the lettuce that we're use to. The sauces were light but delicious. Much better than the ranch but not as sweet was the poppy seed dressings.
Temperature wise it is hot and humid though its said that it doesn't get really hot until August. I suppose that's reassuring? It was a bit rainy yesterday and the skies are gray. Ahh.
I met the burnable vs. non burnable trash today. Paper = burnable. Plastic = non burnable. Except there's a PET plastic that is burnable. What is PET? I'll have to figure that out some other time.
Research. One of the professors from ICU replied to my e-mail regarding research. He seemed very open and welcoming. He told me to drop by his office when I get to ICU. =) I'm not sure if I'll drop by during the summer or wait until the normal school year. We'll see.
Internet will be spotty for a while. Until next time.

Posted by K. Lee at 3:24 PM | Permalink

My passport arrived from the Japanese Consulate last Wednesday. It took them 3 business days to process and one day for the postman to bring it to me. I'm heading off this Tuesday on United Airlines, arriving on Wednesday, and beginning school on Thursday. There's this nifty video that teaches you how to buy a Japanese subway ticket. I found it quite informative. Here it is if you're interested. http://video.aol.com/video-detail/id/2428858945

Posted by K. Lee at 9:22 PM | Permalink

It's great that Japan and the USA are buddies. There was not a Visa application fee for USA nationals. It was a simple one page form with a required 2x2 passport (I just printed one out from my computer) picture. My certificate of eligibility arrived yesterday (June 20th) from Japan by DHL. I went to apply for the student Visa this morning at the Japan Consulate in San Francisco. The guy said that he had had four other ICU people go through the office these couple days. That's quite exciting. I hope to meet up with them over the summer. The visa will take three days to process. With overnight shipping, I should receive it by the 27th. That's cutting it close, isn't it.

Posted by K. Lee at 9:51 PM | Permalink

I took the 1:30 pm MCAT on Friday, June 15th.
When they say to get there early, they mean it. I recommend getting there 50 minutes early to deal with check in and things. The test is proctored by Thompson Testing Centers. They administer multiple tests which overlap. I had to wait 40 minutes before a computer and locker opened up so that I could begin. Since each computer has its own timer and everything, it isn't an issue. You want to get there early so that you get to your writing section about the same time other people do. The typing is just crazy loud in that quiet room.

Physics: died
the rest: relatively good.

=)

They did a good job in choosing interesting passages.