A Cartoon Experience of Unfortunate Events

I'm going to be so honest and say I wrote this post a couple minutes prior, and an error went through, and it all disappeared so forgive me if this post isn't as juicy.

The First Strike: Extended Immigration Check Stay

Three extra hours. I was held three extra hours at the immigration line and check for reasons still unknown to me. The plane flight to Japan had been smooth sailing. The staff were beyond helpful, and the food was pretty good considering it was airplane food. It was when I got to the nitty gritty immigration line where things got a little chaotic. I started out like everyone else and got into the visitor's line. Then I got to the front and my passport didn't go through, the staff tried to scan it again and still nada. By this point I was sweating wondering what I would have to do. Soon enough another staff member came over and guided me to a bench with a few other people around the same age as me. Assuming we were all international students, we sat and wait as we were told. The waiting quickly turned from 15 minutes to 30 minutes to almost a full hour when eventually the staff came back and beckoned us to follow. Wanting this to be over we all follow quickly and see we are taken to a line for "long stay residences", how interesting. The main notice of this line was that it was excruciatingly slow, like snail pace slow. Tacking on the minutes to the hour I watch the time tick down to later and later till I finally reach the front and pass with no problems. Eh? That's it? No check no nothing just a waste of time in a long line. The moral of this story being just follow directs as best as you can and don't panic because it will be okay.

The Second Strike: International Roaming is a SCAM

The internet can be very helpful when traveling, and when it's not at the tip of your fingertip's things can get a little stressful to say the least. I for one felt my hairs greying just not having the capabilities of GPS or contact outside of free Wi-Fi areas. Being able to contact people is very important in case of emergencies and I was basically unreachable. See there are multiple international contacts available for travelers to use, International Roaming, Sims, eSims, and Pocket Wi-Fi. My family and I decided to go with international roaming not understanding its vast majority of limitations. I quickly came to the realization that without data support I was unreachable and could not travel effectively by myself. The international roaming plan from Metro by T-Mobile was/is the most useless plan I have ever used in my life and I highly recommend you stay away from it because there are some many more cost-effective plans out there.

1. International Roaming is only good for call and text.
2. It will not give you access to data and connecting to Wi-Fi is less than stellar.
3. It gets expensive very VERY quickly.

Now that you know most international roaming services are either very expensive or just not at all worth it let's cover the other options that are available to you! 

The first option is a classic physical Sim, this is a small chip that you insert into your phone and allows you to connect to your carrier's network. You can then make phone calls, send messages, and use mobile data through your carrier.  

The next option is the eSim, which basically offers the same amenities as the physical Sim but can be more convenient as it is all online (no physical Sim required). Beware though, you should check if your phone is UNLOCKED or can be UNLOCKED. If it is unable to be unlocked than an eSim or Sim will not be usable for your phone. Though this may be different from carrier to carrier so you may want to check yourself. I made the mistake of getting an eSim after I figured out my international roaming plan was useless only to find the eSim wouldn't work on my phone either because it was LOCKED. 

This brings me to the last option of international connections and data. The Pocket Wi-Fi or mobile hotspot in a sense, it allows you to connect multiple devices at once and supplies you with a hotspot almost anywhere. Though it is probably the second most expensive option it was best suited for my individual situation. The Pocket Wi-Fi is a physical device you carry around with you to supply Wi-Fi and data. Depending on your situation it is best to look at various companies to see what kind of plans they offer,

1. Sim: Physical, access to data and Wi-Fi (go for phones that won't accept/take eSims)
2. eSim: Electronic, access to data and Wi-Fi (cheapest option)
3. Pocket Wi-Fi: Mobile Hotspot, connects to multiple devices (Good for multiple travelers, more expensive for solo)

The take away? Don't use international roaming because its a big waste :)

The Third Strike: Wrong Room Luggage

This, this right here was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. After the airport issues and connectivity problems not receiving the rest of my clothes after almost a week had me at my wits end. Luggage drop off was from 7 P.M.-9 P.M. a good amount of time, I stayed in my room as instructed to wait for the delivery. Close to 8:45 P.M. my luggage had still not arrived, so I went down to check. There I ran into another student who said they tried to deliver it to her room instead of mine, prompting them to just repack it up and take it back with them for redelivery. What. The. Heck. There was no way I was getting compounding bad luck week one of my stay in Japan, but alas it was what it was. I will say amongst this chaos all the people were very sweet and helpful in my time of dire need and break down. I was almost immediately offered other clothes and toiletries, which I didn't take but accepted the gesture and care. 

The immediate empathy and kindness really helped make the whole situation a lot better for me personally. The fix to get my luggage was easy enough as I contacted my program coordinators and asked them if they could help me get this situation sorted out. They were all more than willing to support me in getting assistance and helped re-arranged a delivery date. From this I hope you take away the fact that you shouldn't be afraid to ask for support or help. Many people are more than happy to at least offer their support and take some of the emotional stress off your shoulders. I know the group I had was a big reason I didn't completely lose it after everything happened. So please if you find yourself struggling in anyway ask for help, or even just take the time to step away from the mess and breathe. 

I hope this post gives comfort to those who find themselves in a similar situation of unfortunate events. Coming from someone who went through everything above it can and will get better even if it feels like everything is caving in at the moment. Make it through the storm to see the rainbow on the other side :)