First Week

Although I was told to be at the University at 9:00am on Monday, April 2, I arrive there and again some sort of miscommunication had occurred and I was not supposed to be there until the following morning... nevertheless, it got me out of the dorm and in a mood to start exploring the walking distance area of the city near the Uni/Dorm... and find Ichizenya Donburi, as well as Sukiya... two places that I frequented quite a lot during  my first week and a half in Hakodate.
Fast forward to the next morning.

I arrived at the university and met the two other new Australian exchange students; Eleanor and Savannah. Savannah is one Japanese Level higher than myself at James Cook, and Eleanor attends university in Sydney.

The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily. This involved the following: 

1)   Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho

2)   Hokuyo Bank Account
3)   Japanese National Health Insurance

The University took us through the applications in this order, however I will discuss them in reverse. 

The Japan National Health Insurance is a wonderful programme; in the event you are required to pay medical bills, it creates a thing called a 'Self Pay Rate 30/70". This means that you (or hopefully your travel insurance) will only have to pay 30% of the medical bill. On that note, if you are required to source your own Travel Insurance, you may be able to barter them down on cost given that it is mandatory to register for the Japanese National Health Insurance initiative.

The Hokuyo Bank Account is the account from which Hokkaido University of Education will automatically draw your rent from on a monthly basis... It is (at current) an in expensive ￥4300 a month, and on the proviso that you are not a recipient of the JASSO Scholarship, you will receive a payment from the University of ￥100,000 a year for the duration of your exchange, paid into your Hokuyo Bank account each quarter. It's not much, but it covers rent per month and roughly half of utilities (￥9000 a month).

The Gaikokujin Toroku Shomeisho is, other than being quite a long work when Romanised, an ID card that allows you to act as if you were a Japanese National... nearly. It allows you to get a bank account, and the bank account and the Gaijin Card act as your "100 Points of ID" and allow you to get National Health Insurance. It also allows you to get things such as a Mobile Phone, Internet, and anything else that you have to prove your 'validity' in the country for. It's about a three week waiting period from application to receipt of the actual card, however until then, you are provided with a temporary one which you are required to keep on you at all times - and by rights with your passport. The overarching purpose of meeting at the university was to allow the International Student 'handlers' in want of a better word, to set us up with things to allow us to function in Japan more easily.

I was taken that afternoon to the Softbank Store which is nearly right beside the Male Dorm by one of the existing exchange students. He turned the potential three hour event of me being in there by myself, into a thirty five minute experience. I walked out with unlimited texts* and a 30 dollar recharge, and a brand new prepaid mobile for less than ￥6,500. Roughly $70 Australian Dollars.[*Japanese Mobile phones tend to send emails rather than 'texts', and the best thing is that you can email ANY address. You will also be able to set up an Email Address that goes directly to your phone only... quite a useful feature.]For the rest of the week, I - unfortunately, frequented Sukiya and Ichizenya Donburi... say no more.