JR Pass

Picture source: internet

The expiration date for the pass is stamped.

[Japan Rail Pass] Official Website
[Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass)] from Japan Guide
[Application for Japan Rail Pass Exchange] - everybody needs one
[How to exchange the JR pass in Kansai International Airport]


JR pass is only available to foreign tourist entering as a "temporary visitor" or a Japanese national living in a foreign country. It has to be purchase outside Japan where you buy the Exchange Order (first picture) to be exchanged for the actual pass (second picture) in Japan.  JR Pass has 3 type of duration - 7, 14, or 21 days. We always purchase the 14 days pass, which is 45,100 Yen for the ordinary car. Because the pass can only be purchased outside Japan, the price we pay will depend on the currency exchange rate at that time. 


You will take the train to leave Kansai International Airport, so you need to redeem our JR pass "Exchange Order" to the actual pass. This should be done at the JR Office. You will need to provide the following documents to the front desk staff: the exchange order, the application form, and the passport. Reserving the seat is free for JR pass holders, so please also do it. Tell the staff you will take Haruka to Shin-Osaka, and then Hikari Railstar to Okayama. Before you leave the JR Office, you should have your JR pass, and the two reserved seat tickets (one for the Haruka train, one for the Hikari train).




Picture source: Bon Voyager

Look for the sign for "Railways" or "JR"

JR office (JR Pass exchange)

Inside the JR Office

"Haruka" (airport to  Shin-Osaka)

Inside the train "Haruka"

Request an English ticket. This is Japanese ticket.

Agenda for the Parent Information Meeting

1. Sister school introduction and the relationship with us
1. Location, History
2. How did the relationship start (2009)
   
2. Go over the information sheet 
1. Date
2. Chaperon
3. Cost
4. Schedule
5. Timelines
6. Host family
7. Cell phone
   
3. Slide show

Student Information Meeting

We had the Student Information Meeting at lunch in D107 yesterday. Fifteen students attended, including 5 frosh, 8 sophomores, 1 junior, and 1 senior.

We briefly talked about the trip and showed some pictures taken during our last trip. Emily and Elizabeth were there sharing experience and answered questions.

How to dial to Japan from the U.S.

Time difference - Japan is 17 hours ahead of California during daylight saving time. For example, Tuesday 1pm in Japan is Monday 8pm in California.
Residential Phone:

• 1. Dial 011, the international access code.
• 2. Dial 81, the country code for Japan.
• 3. Dial the area code (it's 86 for Okayama and Kurashiki)
• 4. Dial the rest of the telephone number.

For example, to call Seishin +81-86-462-1661

You will dial 011-81-86-462-1661

Cell Phone:

• 1. Dial 011, the international access code.
• 2. Dial 81, the country code for Japan.
• 3. The area code for the cell phones is usually 090 or 080, but you leave away the leading 0.

So you will dial like this 011-81-90-xxxx-xxxx

JR West Haruka Limited Expresses

JR Haruka

The JR West Haruka limited expresses run from the airport to Shin-Osaka (45 min). Trains run every 30-60 minutes.

The Haruka is the easiest and fastest way to connect to the Shinkansen (bullet train) at Shin-Osaka.

The Japan Rail Pass can be used for the Haruka. You can exchange your rail pass voucher for the pass itself at the JR ticket counter.

[Source]
[Official Website] in Japanese only
[Inside the train] in Japanese only, with pictures

 = first class car
 = ordinary car

Kansai International Airport

[Kansai International Airport]

[1F International Arrivals]

[4F International Departures]

[Airport Access]

Embarkation Card for foreigners

You will receive these two forms from the flight attendants.
The forms must be filled out by pen. Last time, a couple of students used pencil, and they were asked to redo the form by the immigration officers.
Please finish the form before landing.
The Embarkation card is double-sided.

Progress

All students have paid in full. We purchased the 14-days JR Pass which will arrive next week.

I received email from Seishin. Mr. Korachika is finalizing the program details. The schedule and host family list will be sent within a few days.

Ms. Slattery (NDSJ's VP of Human Resource and Administration) is preparing trip permission forms.

We will a mandatory trip information night after AP testing on Monday May 17 from 7pm to 8pm.

Free Cell Phone Rental by ANA (2010)

ANA (All Nippon Airways) provides free cell phone rental service to its customers. As we will fly ANA, we are qualified. [For details click here]

For our entire stay, the rental fee is free. The incoming calls are at no charge too.

Call Rate:

Domestic Calls (60 yen/30s)

International Calls (75 yen/30s)

SMS Messages

Domestic SMS (10.5 yen/msg)

International SMS (126 yen/msg)

Insurance (optional) 157.5/day

Experience shared by Blair

I received a long email from Blair's co-ordinator of the Japanese exchange program - Ms. Wulf. She has been to Seishin 4 times. Her experience is a great help for us. (Click the title to read the email.)

Meeting postponed

Sorry, I have to postpone the meeting on Thursday at lunch. I need to go to another meeting about course registration process with Ms. Tupaj-Farthing and Ms. Rolfson. They just scheduled it today.

Probably we can meet the week after the spirit week. I'll send out a notice next week.

Passport

Please check your passport. It must be valid at least 6 months beyond the day of your trip to Japan.

For passport application or renewal, please check:

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Flight Reservation

Flight reservation was made today. It will be on hold for 1 day. Tickets have to be purchased by midnight tomorrow.

Travel Dates Confirmed

Ms. Yoshida confirmed the dates today.

Facebook group

As suggested by Maddie, I created a group on Facebook for the students who are going to Japan this summer to communicate. It is a closed group, which means the members are by invitations only. All the posting can only be viewed by the members. Non-members can only see the group description.

We are going to have a lunch meeting next Thursday at M213. The purpose is to let the students know each other.

Payment Agreements

The payment agreements were given to the students on Monday February 22. The first payment is due March 31, and the second is due April 30. The payment agreements must be signed by the parents/Guardians and returned by Friday February 26; otherwise the student will lose her spot. We need this agreement form because we are going to book the flight as soon as the dates are confirmed.

Plan changed

Due to the high fare of UA's non-stop flight this year, we decided to stay one night at Narita. This change will save us $500 per person. We will take trains from Narita to Kurashiki the next day. It sounds fun, doesn't it?

I am still waiting for Seishin to confirm the dates.I hope the dates can be set as soon as possible, so we can book the flight. We are a group of 7 people and the dates are not flexible at all, we can't book it too late.

Application result sent

Application result was given to the applicants in homeroom today.

Received email response from Blair High School. They are thinking about leaving on June 7th too. They have 3 students going this year.

Applications

Today I received the 5th application. We need to have at least 5 applications to make the trip possible. The deadline is February 1, 2010.

Host family selection

Rebecca got back to me with the explanation of the host family selection process.

"Host families are selected by asking the incoming students' necessities and the like. Then they pass out sheets to each class in the school asking for volunteers. Then the volunteers come talk to Yoshida and they relay addresses and the like.

Please be VERY specific when applying for a host family. If there is anything that bothers you that could occur within a household, you must tell. For example, I hate smoking but my host family smokes. I didn't know that they would and I never asked in the first place. Little things like these could be troublesome over time."