JapanForum.com  


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
(#1 (permalink))
Old
genjikun (Offline)
New to JF
 
Posts: 2
Join Date: Jan 2009
Kinda important decision to make - 01-24-2009, 04:39 PM

hello my friends, my names david and im from sweden. i have this little issue that im gonna share with you, and i hope someone here maybe got some pieces of information, advices or suggestions!

im gonna take a one year course on the language school KAI in tokyo in april this year, ive got my student visa and the school have accepted me and all that.
BUT, this global bank crash thing, have if i understands it correctly, made the YEN quite valuable, and the school fee has gotten up, calculated in my currency. i have the opinion to loan money from the swedish CSN, i probably have to do that, but i wonder if im kinda "untactical" if i travel at a time like this, when its so much more expensive.
maybe i shall wait half a year?

i totally want to travel to japan, and to really enjoy my stay, and understand people so i figure i have to study japanese.

OK, my questions is:

is it a very bad time for a scandinavian to travel and study in japan?
is econimic change to suspect?
is it hard to live like a poor student in tokyo?

feel free to just give me some generel tips and advices!

thank you!
Reply With Quote
(#2 (permalink))
Old
MMM's Avatar
MMM (Offline)
JF Ossan
 
Posts: 12,200
Join Date: Jun 2007
01-24-2009, 05:29 PM

No one know what the economy will do. It could be worse in 6 months, not better...who knows?
Reply With Quote
(#3 (permalink))
Old
Fooflowers's Avatar
Fooflowers (Offline)
ETiD
 
Posts: 63
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Canary islands
Send a message via MSN to Fooflowers Send a message via Skype™ to Fooflowers
01-24-2009, 05:44 PM

From what i hear this year i gonna be worse than last year and the next year might even be worse, you should probably jump at the opportunity if its not gonna bankrupt you as you might not be able to later on.

As for ppl saying Tokyo/japan is expensive that's crap i live in Lanzarote and after hearing some of the price exchanges among youtubers/forums its no more expensive then here, the supermarkets and retailers get away with murder here thers special laws against bringing in super saver supermarkets like Wal-Mart or Tescos so even residents have to pay tourist prices unless they go out of their way to get to the big shops.

as long as your accommodation is sorted, you know how much the school books/pens is gonna be, you just have to set yourself an allowance for each day for food and for buying clothes/random stuff


btw do you know if you can work on your visa? it prolly wouldn't hurt to check as a bit of extra cash is always nice



/shoot to thrill
Reply With Quote
(#4 (permalink))
Old
Gwen_Goth's Avatar
Gwen_Goth (Offline)
addict
 
Posts: 478
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Swansea, Wales
01-24-2009, 06:03 PM

I'd say take the chance while you still can


the world economy sucks; but because of it the yen is looking stronger then a lot of western currencies; i'd say it's more reason to go now; if anything you'll be rich by the time you get back

when you're there; just try not to think of yourself as a "poor student" it won't actually help with your spending or your enjoyment; just spend what you need to, and save anything else; it will be worth it




-~Moddess ~-

▲ ▲
Reply With Quote
(#5 (permalink))
Old
genjikun (Offline)
New to JF
 
Posts: 2
Join Date: Jan 2009
01-24-2009, 07:28 PM

ahh, thanks for the replies everybody!
this leads in to another relevant question! what does things cost in tokyo?
like;
1 l milk?
a bread?
filling yer stomach with sushi at a normal place? (not shabby, nor fancy)
a bus ticket? (like a 15 min ride)
training at a gym? (monthly fee)
a big mac?

please come with more examples of prizes if you have any! bombard me

my school fee is 670.000 YEN, is that much? how much is reasonable to suspect to burn in one month (how much YEN am i gonna count spending in a month, yes i know its individual, but plz give suggestions
piiiz and thanks!
Reply With Quote
(#6 (permalink))
Old
MMM's Avatar
MMM (Offline)
JF Ossan
 
Posts: 12,200
Join Date: Jun 2007
01-24-2009, 07:44 PM

I would say that school price for 6 months is pretty reasonable.

Your monthly expenses will depend...where are you living?

Food wise, you can survive on 1500 to 2000 yen a day comfortably.

Going out to sushi will probably be 2000 to 5000 yen depending on what you like to order.

A Big Mac is about 300 yen. A typical meal at McDonald's is 600 to 700 yen.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




Copyright 2003-2006 Virtual Japan.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.0.0 RC6