[pixisticks]

Okay, here's the deal. I'm planning to study abroad in Japan sometime in this upcoming school year. I only have enough money for one term over there (I'm about $4000 short for the whole year), and I'm trying to decide if I should go in the fall term, or if I should go in the spring/summer term.

With the fall term, I'd be going from September 10th to December 3rd. My visa would probably last longer than that, so if I could stay with a friend, I could bum around for a little longer, but not studying. From the people I've talked to over there, it probably wouldn't be too terribly hard to find a job over there (be it teaching English or whatnot), even with my limited credentials as a student. The thing is, I'm only allowed to work part-time (I think it's like 26 hours or something), and I'd probably have to wait at least a month to get a job in the first place. So unless I could find a job that would pay me at least $100 a day for over a month, I wouldn't be able to make enough money to cover the difference. I'd make SOME money, but not enough.

If I stay here in the U.S. during fall, I could take classes at my local university and online ones at my regular one (I'm out of state, home for the summer), and continue searching for a job here to make some money. I would go in the spring, and since the program is three terms, I could stay through summer (from March to July). The only problem is, I've been home for two months and I have had absolutely no luck in finding a job at all. If I stay here during fall, I'm writing away the chance of staying for the entire year, even if it's an unreasonable chance. I COULD stay longer than the fall term because the spring and summer terms are combined under one payment, but I don't know if I'd be able to find a job at ALL, which would kind of make staying behind... pointless.

It's basically "do I go over and risk not staying very long in the hopes that I can make some money, even if it might not be enough" or "do I take the opportunity to stay longer than a few months, but lose the chance of making any money at all?". And the catch is that I only have four days to decide, because my fall tuition payment is due, and I'm not sure if I want to drop all my classes or not yet.

And no, it wouldn't be cheaper to stay in the U.S.. The dorming costs at my university are about a thousand bucks more expensive than the program in Japan.

So... what should I do? I'm leaning towards going in fall just to try my possible chances at getting the money to work for the year, I just... don't know if my mindset is too caught up in dreamland.