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Japan is now the world leader in innovation. Modernity is pushed to its limits but manages to harmonize with the country’s ancestral traditions.

It makes it a colorful destination, whose exploration can hardly leave anyone indifferent. That’s why every year, many students decide to come and study in Japan. It is an experience that can be very enriching in many ways provided you conscientiously organize it in advance.

Prestigious teaching

The Japanese education system ranks 10th in the world ranking of higher education. Universities and other educational institutions offer many programs in English in many fields.
They have the latest technology computer equipment, as well as numerous laboratories and libraries. The best conditions are therefore in place to encourage students to succeed. As for the choice of institutions, there are nearly 800 higher education institutions in Japan.

Vocational schools and language schools are not to be outdone either since a wide selection is available to international students.

Studying in Japan: Serious opportunities for the future

For foreigners coming to study in Japan, staying there is often a valuable option, full of possibilities. Learning to speak fluent Japanese will place expatriate students at the heart of the job market since Japanese companies are very much in demand for bilingual profiles in the face of globalization. And this, whatever the sector.

The fluidity of the labor market also offers excellent opportunities for development, which you should not overlook. Anyway, studying in Japan will make you grow up, whatever your profile. However, this is an experience to be prepared in advance to settle in optimal conditions.

The application for a visa to study in Japan

The visa application must be made six(6) months in advance, and according to your profile. If you want to do your internship or short-term studies in Japan, the visa to apply for will not be the same as for an internship or long-term study in Japan. You can find all the information about the different visa applications on the website of the Embassy of Japan.

The housing market

You will be able to integrate one of the many university residences set up in Japan. The rent is 100 euros per month. You can also choose to stay with a host family. It seems to be ideal for short stays because of its low cost and allows immersion in the heart of Japanese culture.

Financing

As registration fees are costly, scholarships have been set up by Japan for international students, including the Jasso scholarship for the most deserving. There are also scholarships granted by the French government such as Egide to help students come to Japan to study.

Health

The costs of care and hospitalization are very high in Japan. That is why it is advisable to take out medical repatriation insurance before your departure. It will cover these costs.

This 3.000km long country offers a great variety of landscapes. As Muscat remains the country’s main gateway, the brand new Muscat airport, inaugurated on 20 March this year, will see its capacity increase from 6 million passengers to over 20 million.

For many people, Oman is sure “the best-kept secret of the East”. Oman does not want to copy its neighbors and to keep its authenticity does not seek mass tourism but rather quality tourism. Tourism in Oman must remain a source of employment for the Omani people themselves.

Perhaps the most difficult thing was to get the Omanis to admit that it was possible to “work” in the field of tourism because the sense of hospitality towards foreigners was so much a part of the Omani population that the idea of earning money by welcoming tourists seemed inconceivable to them.

It was a slow development that provided many jobs for young Omanis and unlike the neighboring emirates, the number of expatriates – mostly from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan – represents no more than a third of the total population.

The objective of the strategic plan 2040 is to eventually receive 11 million passengers including 5 million foreign tourists spending more than three nights in Oman. Currently, tourism represents about 1.5 million visitors.

France with its 50,000 tourists (+21% in 2017) is in the third position among European countries after the United Kingdom and Germany. The objective is to increase French customers by 10% by 2018 and 2019.

The United Kingdom, which has unique historical links with Oman, has three direct daily flights with Muscat (two Oman Air flights and one British Airways flight). France is served by a single daily direct flight from Oman Air and another KLM flight (no direct AF flight).

During the hot summer months, from June to August, the Salalah region benefits from a monsoon tail which ensures a milder temperature for a few months and a spectacular green side for a country with a rather desert climate.

Ahmed Al Mahrezi recalled that Oman welcomed with interest the major international hotel groups that have already participated for several years in the creation of luxury establishments and that continue to develop this sector significant for the attractiveness of Oman.

The emirate, which currently has 20,000, will have 25,000 rooms by 2020, more than 50% of which will be rated from 3 to 5 stars.

For those who like more “nature” or more “budget” tourism, Oman is a country of great freedom where camping is allowed everywhere under two of the most straightforward conditions in the world, not to disturb the local populations and leave the place as clean as when arriving.

However, remember the basic safety rules in these desert regions with water and fuel reserves and avoid venturing with only one vehicle off-road.

An E-visa system is now in place and avoids long queues on arrival at the airport. The price: 5 rials (about 11€) for a visa of 10 days and 20 rials for one month.

The maximum duration of the tourist visa is three months. Please note that visitors with a tourist visa from Dubai entering the Musandam region, which borders Dubai, do not need an Omani visa.

Oman has huge almost deserted beaches; it is a destination that offers countless centers of interest, with its citadels and forts, its historical sites, its culture, and traditions. It’s wadi with their ancestral irrigation canals aflaj, its mountain villages, its preserved fauna as its turtle nesting sites, its many sports activities, trekking, climbing, mountain biking, etc.

After noting that Oman is ranked among the ten safest countries in the world and that there has never been a terrorist threat in the country, the minister also pointed out that in Oman the place of women is particularly important.

Some women are ministers, others are senior civil servants, and for a long time, they have had the right to drive and to pursue higher education.

The Islam practiced in Oman is Ibadite Islam, a little known current but which mainly advocates tolerance, pacifism and indulgence.

New markets are opening up for Oman, China and India, but Europe remains a priority market with customers looking for authenticity and quality of welcome and service.

Embarking on the luxurious “Shongololo Express” train for a spectacular rail cruise in the heart of Southern Africa.

Is it a dream, this giraffe coming out of nowhere and seen from the train window? We have just left Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. Most of the passengers of the “Shongololo Express” are still ecstatic in front of their lovely mahogany cabin. And there, outside, wild animals, at the foot of the houses. The convoy runs alongside one of the private reserves surrounding the city. On the train platform, the landscape opens onto a wide green valley.

At the station – tiny – the welcome was grandiose: red carpet, honour hedge, songs and champagne. If the travellers had not arrived in jeans and bobsleigh, we could have thought we were in the “Orient Express”. But the “Shongololo”, an old luxury train re-circulated by a South African company, cultivates a more relaxed atmosphere, even if the service is at the top. One fairy godmother per car to ensure the well-being of passengers to Cape Town, South Africa. Our life? Rhythmic by the back and forth between the cosy cocoon of our cells, the smoking room and the restaurant all carved woodwork and golden lights. We almost regret that tuxedos are not mandatory.

Straight line

Stops in empty stations, nowhere to be found. Now we’re taking buses. Created at the beginning of the colonial era to transport ore from mines in the North, the railway crosses the country almost in a straight line, from top to bottom. To go west, where the main tourist sites are, the road is mandatory.

For now, heading north to Etosha Park. More than a hundred species of mammals, 340 species of birds listed, not to mention reptiles, various frogs, etc.. The tourist guides ensure that the animals come to you, that it is as guaranteed with the entrance fee in the park, that you just have to park your car near a water point and wait. Except that there are dozens of cars, full of tourists armed with telephoto lenses, hungry for thrills, screaming and restless. So? We meet herds of giraffes, impalas, slender springboks who ignore us.

Bushman’s paradise

Already, it is necessary to set out again towards Damaraland and the formidable basalt concretions of Spitzkoppe. Kilometres of arid earth pass in front of the cabin window, houses with sheet metal roofs, motionless silhouettes on improbable tracks. The sky is signed Turner, the show is breathtakingly beautiful.

Getting there

Kuoni. The agency offers a tour aboard the “Shongololo Express” from Windhoek, Namibia to Cape Town, South Africa. Among the highlights of the itinerary: safari in Etosha Park and crossing the Namib Desert. 16 days/ 13 nights, from 7 750 euros/person, flights, transfers, 8 nights aboard the “Shongololo” in the Elephant category, 5 nights in 2 to 4 star hotels and lodges, half board, some lunches, excursions and bus tours included. 01.55.87.80.54.
“Shongololo Express. Very nice but strict service on the schedules, very comfortable cabins (some of which are suites) with nice little Art Deco shower rooms and toilets, neat restaurant with wild meat – ostrich carpaccio, springbok steak with port… – and delicious desserts. The only downside: you have to travel kilometres by bus to see the most interesting sites.

Accomodations

Mirage Resort and Spa. Near the dunes of Sossusvlei, planted on the sand in the middle of nowhere, a group of buildings in the shape of a castle with swimming pool. Large rooms nicely decorated. Dinner is served in porcelain and glasses on foot in front of the sunset. Disconcerting. From 184 euros/pers. the night on half board.

For those who wish to go to Costa Rica to study, here are the conditions and formalities that must be respected. Follow your guide!

Nowadays, many young people do not hesitate to pack their bags to spend some time abroad as part of their higher education. Apparently, the course does not happen without respecting conditions and formalities. When applied to the letter, the journey becomes an unforgettable human and rewarding experience on the resume.

Studying legally

If you have been admitted to a university in Costa Rica, you must prepare to take the administrative steps that are essential for a successful expatriation from the beginning to the end.

To be able to study lawfully in Costa Rica, you must be able to present a passport valid at least six months after your departure from the country, but also a student visa, issued so that you can study in the country of the “Pura Vida.”

Visa

The application is initially made to the Costa Rican embassy or consulate in the applicant’s country. Please note that if the applicant is resident in a country other than the country where the applicant was born, the visa application must be made in his / her country of origin.
Also, note that students whose country is without a Costa Rican consulate or embassy can apply for a visa directly to Costa Rica by transferring the US $ 200 to account 242480-0 at the Banco de Costa Rica. This amount is a penalty, which will allow the applicant to return to Costa Rica with a tourist visa, which he will exchange for a student visa.

Student housing in Costa Rica

Several options are available to you as an international student in Costa Rica. You will be able to choose between dormitories, university campuses, roommates and host families.

Foreign students are given a chance to benefit from structures specially designed for their use in Costa Rica and named “Posada Universitaria,” leaving room for low-income local students places in the university residences proper.

If you want to play the independence card, you can also opt for the roommate. Costa Rica is no exception for this type of rental, do not hesitate to turn to the “Oficina de Relaciones Internacionales” of your establishment for contacts.

You can finally be accommodated in a host family. Apart from immediate immersion in Costa Rican life, this option is widespread enough for your university to be able to put you in touch with a family in this sense.

Many students return from studying abroad on fire with new insights and new perspectives. There’s a place for fresh ideas gained from unique vantage points—the op-ed pages of local, regional, and national newspapers.

If you’ve ever worked for a student newspaper, you know that the search for good copy—for solid, interesting, unique stories about the news and about other subjects—is neverending. Editors of major newspapers must fill many pages each day, and they hold even more articles in reserve in case a big story falls apart or events shift in a new direction. Professionals write most of these articles, but on the op-ed page (the page opposite the in-house editorial page) guest writers deliver brief opinion pieces on topics they know better than anyone else. The expansion of news on television and on the Internet has only increased the vitality of this part of the newspaper—the page where debate and controversy reign.

Did your study abroad experience prepare you to be one of these guest writers?

For an editorial to be successful, the writer must have a compelling perspective that transforms mere opinion into informed insight. Residence abroad is a wonderful starting point for such insight: you’ve lived, studied, perhaps worked in another culture, learning its outlooks, understanding its particularities, and absorbing its rhythms. Whether the issue is an international one involving your country or a local one specific to your village or town that has larger implications, you will have a perspective that most readers won’t have, an outlook that will expand most Americans’ view of the world. Everyone knows that there has been tension between France and the U.S. over the invasion of Iraq, for example, but someone who has lived in a French town where there is a large population of Muslims might have a very original way of looking at this controversy. That story could become an editorial.

A unique perspective or a clear opinion is only a starting point for an op-ed piece. The goal of an editorial is to persuade readers to change their minds on an issue, or to take action, or both. Mere opinion is unlikely to lead to those results, however; editorial writers must hone their knowledge of the situation, making sure that they have assembled facts and other concrete evidence to back up their main ideas. An editorial essay presents opinion, but it is always informed opinion—clear arguments that spring from solid facts. Your ten months in Seoul will give you an angle on relations between North and South Korea, but don’t forget to find out what’s happened since you left and to corroborate everything you learned while abroad. Once you’ve thoroughly studied the topic you want to write about, think about aiming your essay at one well-defined part of the problem. It’s tempting to blurt out everything you think about healthcare in Ghana, for example, but more reasonable to focus on one health issue.

Are you ready to join the debate?

Editorials tend to follow a fairly standard structure. Unlike research or other types of papers required in most college courses, editorials build from beginning to end toward the most dramatic and complete version of their main point, which is usually stated in the last paragraph. The first paragraph of an editorial announces and defines the problem and suggests the direction of the main argument. Subsequent paragraphs present supporting points and refute key opposing points, building a convincing case with the best argument saved for last. The concluding paragraph makes the clearest and most eloquent statement of the author’s point of view: ideally, readers should look up from the editorial with those last powerful words echoing in their minds.

Another expression of opinion, letters to the editor respond specifically to an article, an editorial, or even another letter published in the newspaper during the previous week. Cite the earlier piece in your letter’s first or second sentence: the letter should spring from that reference but move on to present its own well-defined perspective. Letters are shorter than editorials, of course, and since newspapers publish lots of them every day, letters offer the best chances for breaking into print. To insure that your letter is current, send it by email and include a phone number; if your letter is chosen, the editor may call you to confirm your identity and finalize the agreement to publish.

Start by studying the op-ed page for several weeks. What are the characteristics of the best work? Most newspapers are looking for editorials of about 700 words and for letters of about 100 words. Check the paper’s Web site or call the editorial office for guidelines. The closer your work adheres to the published form in length, structure, and format, the more likely it is to be accepted.

Putting your ideas out there in published form is a bold but very satisfying step that usually generates responses. While you are likely to hear from people who agree with you, you might also inspire others to write letters or editorials that attack what you’ve said. That dialogue is what makes an op-ed page great. Turning you study abroad experience into an editorial or a letter to the editor creates an opportunity to reflect on what you learned and to engage others in discussion. It’s also an exciting way to bring your experiences home.