#7 Flight Plan

Today did not start well. I was awoken rather rudely at approximately 7.30am by a phone call, which had stopped by the time I fumbled to find my phone and forced my weary eyes open to see an unknown, foreign number. I called it back, and was directed to the company HQ in Japan. After being put on hold for quite some time I was put through to someone who told me that my Certificate of Eligibility, which I bring to the Embassy in Ireland to get my Japanese visa, will be sent out shortly. So things were looking up.

For such a simple form it causes mucho stress

I went back to sleep and around 11am I woke up again and checked my emails, to see that my flights have now been booked. By some miracle, I have been put on the flight I wanted - Emirates Dublin to Dubai, and from there to Tokyo. I am now a very happy camper.

I will depart Dublin in the afternoon of the 20th August, and after a 7 and a half hour flight I will get in to Dubai shortly after midnight on the 21st. I will proceed to wander aimlessly around the airport for about 3 hours until my next flight, nearly 10 hours to Tokyo. All going well I should be in Narita International Airport in Tokyo by 6pm on the 21st of August. Splendid!

Oh, and I will be leaving from terminal 2 in Dublin. A very important but admittedly very petty detail which had been bothering me.

Dublin Airport Terminal Two. . .the place of dreams!

I was on the Emirates website and I was able to look up the planes I'll be on and their facilities, although I am travelling economy and not first class it still looks pretty swish. For the slightly longer journey from Dubai to Tokyo I'll be travelling on the A380, the largest passenger plane in the world (apparently it can fit 555 people). It has two levels - the first being for first and business class, while the lower deck is for the plebs in economy. The economy layout is three seats - aisle - four seats - aisle - three seats. If you follow. More chance of an aisle seat, but less chance of being seated at the window. I'll try survive though!

Check out this badboy! [credits: Emirates]

The next step was to look up luggage requirements, which is thankfully 30kg and not the 23kg I expected. Although the first 30kg is free, I am only allowed an additional 2kg (which will cost €100) so I spent a few hours today doing a trial run on the weight of my suitcase. It looks like I will be needing to cut back a little, but generally you will fit a lot in with the 30kg.


And finally, I will be doing the same trip home on the 21st of December. It will take me a total 16.8 hours flying time to get from Dublin to Tokyo, but strangely enough it will take me 20.2 hours in a plane to get from Tokyo to Dublin.


It seems after months and weeks of waiting things are starting to move very fast, before I know it I will be there and back, and on to Sweden.

Soon. . .

#6 Twenty-Five Days

Yesterday morning I received confirmation that on the 20th August 2012 I will be getting a flight to Japan. That is roughly 25 days time. I have been given a list of things (teaching materials) to bring with me, to add on top of the things I already have. My suitcase has been semi-packed for the past few weeks, but it's time to check I have everything I need in there and buy whatever's left. I have also been given a lot of materials to read over, as well as some questions to fill out, which will keep me busy up until I go.

I have also received confirmation that I will be not be teaching full time, but rather working in an office, helping out with examinations and occasionally subbing in schools. I will also be staying around Tokyo, which I am definitely happy about, especially on my first visit to Japan. This may change, but for now this is what I can expect.

View from Tokyo tower, with the streets laid out to look like Tokyo Tower.

#5 I Am Not Rich

I have a concern that anyone reading this thinks I'm super rich and can easily afford all the associated costs with going to live in Japan and Sweden, especially consecutively. This is definitely not the case; there are a variety of factors that allow me to do this at a relatively low cost. In Japan I will be working as an assistant English teacher so I will be earning while I'm there. In Sweden I will be attending college and it is unlikely I will get a job, but as part of the programme each student gets a grant to help.

The Japan facts:

• To start off with the most important bit, the company pays for my flights to and from Japan. This is a HUGE factor as they would have cost me around €1,000.
• Another big factor, my accommodation is arranged on my behalf and is paid out of my gross salary, which brings me on to my third major factor: I earn about €600 a month, basically just for food and other living costs.
• The company also provides the following: free orientation and teaching materials as well as a hotel stay and transport from the airport on arrival in Tokyo, free health insurance cover, free transport within Japan from Tokyo to wherever I will be placed, and from my accommodation to the schools I’ll work in.

So as you can see, this is much cheaper than a holiday in which I would have to pay for flights, insurance and accommodation and the rest myself.

The Sweden Facts

• These are a lot less clear at the moment, but I do know that I will be receiving a grant of up to €1,500, which will go a long way.
• Flights with luggage etc will set me back about €150 return, it sounds like a lot but it costs €26 return on a bus to college from my house – so that would equal about 6 trips home if I were in Ireland (and I would go home more than that).
• As for accommodation, it’s looking like €400 a month, which is roughly the cost of my accommodation at home anyway – although I have to buy things such as bedding and stuff which I would have normally just have brought up from my house. I’ll also have to fork out for travel to college (I'm told a 3month travel card for the bus, train and metro will set me back about €135) while in Ireland I was in walking distance from college.
• As for things like food, there are shops like Lidl (which is quite low cost for anyone who doesn't know) which I would often shop in Ireland too.

I still believe that going to college in Sweden won’t cost me too much extra than at home – although I will probably not realise the extent until I return home this time next year.

I see this in my future (credits: World Of Stock)

So while I have outlined that my trips are not as expensive as they may seem, I have had to fork out for things such as more climate-appropriate clothes, plus a few expensive extras such as a video camera.

#4 Sweden on the Horizon

It is now July, and while I sit staring at my emails hoping to hear about my impending trip to Japan, I have also realised that it is just over 6 months to go until I travel to Sweden (and it's capital Stockholm, to be more precise).
I anticipate I will be home from Japan around Christmas Eve, and from the little information I can get about the college in Sweden at this early stage, I believe accommodation will be ready Saturday 19th January, with the orientation week beginning the following week. This will give me about three weeks to get my life sorted before I am uprooted again to a different climate and culture. Seeing this as a challenge, I've decided to start thinking ahead about what needs to be done:

The Swedish flag.

• Insurance: I have just applied for my European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), a free initiative in the EU that allows me to get free hospital care (or something to that effect. . .more research will be done closer to the time) in any European country. [EDIT: Received my card, took about 3 weeks or so.]

• College: I apply to Sodertorns Hogskola in September and travel over in mid-January. When I apply I pick where to live and the subjects I want to study. I don't need a visa because I'm a European citizen and it's being organised in partnership with my home university in Ireland.

• Flights: I thought the Dublin - Tokyo flights were a bit of a headache, so it's a relief that the Dublin - Stockholm route appears to be much easier. Glancing at the Aer Lingus website, I can see there's a flight for €51 on Sunday the 20th January, while Ryanair have a flight on the same day for €90. However there are midweek prices that cost €46 (Aer Lingus) and €49 (Ryanair). I assume bags etc cost more, so when I go to book the tickets this will have to be looked at. Also prices are going to go up closer to the time, so I'll be looking out for the usual Autumn sale for a better deal.

• Money: Sweden uses the Krona, not the Euro. How inconvenient of them I must say! But anyway, apparently Sweden is expensive. Especially Stockholm. But you know what? I live in Ireland, which is also said to be expensive. And I'll be going to Tokyo, which apparently has a reputation for being one of the most expensive cities in the world. So I will accept this challenge! Really my biggest problem will be trying to sort out the exchange rate (at the moment, €1 = 8.7Kr) as I hate numbers, this will be quite a mountain to conquer!

• Accommodation: This is something I have looked up! I have a choice of two college-arranged apartment blocks, or I can face the Stockholm housing market, which we are strongly advised to avoid. The two on offer are quite similar in terms of size and rent, with the only problem of distance to the college. Neither are close - both are more than an hour away and require the usage of public transport such as buses, trains and the underground. My final decision will likely be down to the other guys from Ireland and where they want to live. 

• EUROVISION: Ah yes, the European Song Contest. An annual event since 1956, if I am correct. For those of you watching the 2012 competition, you will already know that Ireland came 19th out of 26 on 46 points, while the winners were Sweden, with a massive 372 points! This means that in 318 days, on May 18th, the contest final will be held in Sweden, and with any luck Stockholm! Although I am looking forward to it, the ticket prices for this year's Azerbaijan final fetched up to €240, and I imagine next year will see no improvement. [EDIT: It has now announced that it will take place in Malmo, which is really far from where I will be in Stockholm. You can get a bus, train or flight. If we still choose to go I reckon we would take the train which is cheaper than a plane but is slightly faster than a bus (just over 4 hours on the fast train). That is definitely problematic.)

Euphoria: Sweden's Eurovision 2012 Winner Loreen (credits: Eurovision)