Yesterday, after weeks of forgetting about needing to it, I finally went down to the Study Aboard office and told them I’d like to sign up for the Germany trip in August. There were open spots so I think I’m most likely going to Germany and not Japan this summer. (I didn’t have to pay another deposit or submit another health clearance this time!) Now to look online for well-priced plane tickets…

I read recently from an article in Kansai Scene magazine that Düsseldorf has many Japan-influenced places, the center of which is Immermannstrasse - about three miles from the university I’ll be staying at. I’ll try to stop by that part of town if I have time and check out manga shops and food offerings.

Although I am glad I can use my recently acquired German in an environment in which it’s spoken, I feel bad about the current exchange rates. As it stands (as of 10:20 PM PDT 3/17/07):

100 USD = 11676.00 JPY (116.76 “Japan dollars”)
100 USD = 75.086 EUR

My money’s worth much less in Europe than it is in Japan! *sigh* I hope the situation gets better in the next 4 1/2 months…