Through the Eyes of a Wombat

I got my visa!
Yay! So now all that needs to be done is I book a plane ticket and I'm out of here... off into the sunset, away from the Rising Sun.
Looking at tickets right now.

I was amazed how easy it was to get this visa - granted I had to travel from Tokyo and wait outside in the heat for two hours, then another hour in airconditioned comfort (ok, so that wasnt too bad at all :) ), then my interview with the consular official was three minutes, and I was approved on the spot!

Off for lunch with Chie, who worked at Wurruk and Seaspray a few years ago, then navigated the subway network to Takadanobaba (yeah, thats what its called) and wandered to Waseda Uni to meet up with Yusuke. Later, ANU students and a past exchange student or two came, along with Lorna from Canterbury. Was great to catch up with them again... even those whom I hadnt ever actually met before.

Spent that night on a futon on Yusuke's floor - was far more appealing than the couch at RAYs English Club in Saitama, though I did drop in at RAYs on my way back to Sendai. Trying to save money, I took the local train instead of the Shinkansen... I was far from in a hurry, and I saved about $70 - half the price of the shinkansen ticket! The only catch was, it stopped at EVERY station, I had to change trains twice, and finally arrived in Sendai seven hours after leaving Saitama... which was itself half an hour out of Tokyo.

Walked home, showered, then slept solid for ten hours.
Woke up this morning, checked the letter box, and my passport had been mailed back to me with a Business or Tourist class visa, for multiple entries until 2009!
Very exciting...

Photos are up in Scenery and Culture (Strange) albums.

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