Gearing up before flying to Japan
May 25th, 2009 § 6 Comments
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be flying out to Osaka, Japan for a summer research internship that will go from June 1st until August 21. I just want to share a few things I’ve learned/noticed so far.
- My trip from Boston to Osaka, Japan has two layovers. The total flight time is over 20 hours long, including a stop in Washington, D.C. and another one in Tokyo. It was interesting to see that I had to fly out from D.C. rather than straight from Boston… maybe that made my plane tickets cheaper?
- On the way to Japan I lose 13 hours because of time zone differences, for that reason I leave at 9:30 am, but don’t get to Japan until 6 pm the next day.
- In Osaka there are not as many short-term housing opportunities as there are in Tokyo, for that reason I will be staying at an apartment complex which requires a daily commute to work of ~40 minutes.
- The apartment I’ll have doesn’t include internet access as part of the rent, and if I’d like to have it I have to pay ~$125 for installation fees, and ~$60 a month. Quite expensive for my budget.
- I don’t think I will have a working cellphone while I’m in Japan — I would have to buy a cellphone while I’m there, which would be expensive, or find a way to crack my iPhone so that I can activate it with a Japanese provider. 
Now, no internet access & no working iPhone?! I decided to find ways to keep myself distracted during the commute to work and my long cross-pacific flight to Japan. I got two new gadgets in preparation for my stay in Japan:
- I got a beautiful Canon PowerShot SD780 IS digital camera with an 8GB SD card. The camera features not only a great 12MP power, but also the capacity to record HD video, and the clip length is limited only by the storage capacity. I’m quite happy with the camera, and I’m looking forward to using it to document my stay in Japan.
- I got Amazon’s Kindle reading device.
I reasoned that, even though it’s a steep initial investment, there are many advantages to owning the Kindle. First, no need to pack books and make my luggage heavy, rather just carry one device that weights 10 ounces. Second, the prices for kindle books are usually a few dollars cheaper than the cheapest paperbacks, sometimes even more than 50% cheaper. Also, the books are delivered immediately (less than two minutes!) so no need to wait for deliveries or to wait at home for the UPS delivery guy. Lastly, it’s GREEN! No need to feel bad about paper and ink being used to make my book, or gas being used during delivery. Oh and also, Oprah loves it! Her endorsement of the product obviously closes the deal.
I’m flying out to Japan in a few days, so I need to work on packing everything and getting things in order. I’ll be blogging about my experiences in Japan! (When/If I find a good, reasonably-priced internet connection in Japan.
御丸
Finishing Another Chapter
May 12th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
It’s finally the ‘dead week’, that time of the year in which MIT classes are concluding and we are finally realizing that yes, school will be over sooner than you think. This week is all about finishing up lectures and preparing for finals which will take place next week. With three finals coming my way, it’ll be a great week/weekend. But with that, I’ll be concluding my junior year at MIT, something that 4 years ago I couldn’t even picture. What am I talking about, even last term I couldn’t picture this moment. Life is full of changes and surprises and the decisions I’ve made over the past year are quite exciting and have pointed my life in a new direction, one that gives me a sense of hope about my future career and goals. The main decision being deciding to merge my undergraduate education in chemical & biologial engineering with a business career in the near future. Several factors influenced my decisions, all of which I might have expressed before here.
As I mentioned before, I am currently in the process of applying for admission to Harvard Business School’s 2+2 program. For this reason, I’m registered to take the GMAT exactly one week after my last MIT final, and exactly three days before I depart to Japan for my summer internship. So far the GMAT seems like a fairly straightforward exam, and I feel it’s one of those that you should just get very familiar with ahead of time, and then get a fair amount of sleep before taking it. We’ll see, I’ll keep doing some more practice and hope for the best. Overall, I think the process of applying to this HBS program has been more about self-discovery, it really makes me think thoroughly about what I want to do, and why.
That being said, I’ll be submitting my application by July 1st, which is the deadline, but I’m actually aiming to finish most of it before I leave to Japan. Wish me luck!
And on that last note, I’ll be blogging while in Japan. Just for general information, I’ll be doing research in Osaka University, but living in the heart of Osaka, which will give me a good 40 minutes commute on the train to think about life and write down some thoughts for myself and to share with you all, and will allow me to explore the city in the afternoons/nights. I recently got a new digital camera to take pictures/videos while in Japan. 
Omar
