Success

True to their word, Sophia University released the results of the application process "within two months of the application closing date", albeit, on the very last day of the deadline!

So after four months of waiting I can now rest easy that I will in fact be leaving for Tokyo in three and half months' time. ヤッダーーー！

I could go on forever about how cruel they were to keep me waiting for so long... the long nights and numerous hours hitting F5 on webmail... the disappointment of seeing an empty inbox and the paranoia of maybe never getting a reply - maybe they lost my application...? But I'm on quite a high right now that it doesn't matter any more.

(By the way, if any of you are thinking of going on an exchange, I will just warn you that you need to be prepared to wait. A looong time. You will develop OCD and will check your inbox several times in an hour. And then you'll wait a little more. But don't let that put you off ok?)

So anyway I'm pretty excited. I'm to receive the 'official documents' between late July and early August (ugh - more waiting) after which I can get my visa sorted. The housing placements are also included in that package so I'm still not sure where I'll be living yet.

So the low down:

• I leave on September 15 at 3:45pm, arrive Narita Airport (Tokyo) at 6:40am
• I'll be based at the Sophia University's Yotsuya campus, in the heart of Tokyo
• I'll be living in an apartment complex about an hour away from uni
• I arrive back in NZ on February 17 at 2:15pm

Thanks to Jaz and Ben for pushing me to do this and to all of you who've sent me congratulatory messages on Facebook (and in person). I realise that this may be a good time to let people know about this blog now. I may just do that. Actually, I think I will promote the blog closer to the time I go. It will probably be a while before the posts get interesting.

Next update will be after exams. またね！