Many questions

hihi
my real name is amber people call me ayumi lol.
and i have a question, wait scratch that i mean i have lots of questions

im 16...i am going to japan when im 19 cuz thats when im going to be graduating high school. and i will be in osaka during the whole summer the reason why osaka is because thats where my pen pal lives :D her name is kahoko and i want to meet her for real.
ok now the questions

1. how much does it cost for a plane ticket during the summer (i know costs change during the seasons) and is first class ok during the long hours of being in the sky? or is second class ok? and wat are the charges for 1st class.

2. how much spending money should i bring? I dont have to worry about a hotel because i will be staying with my pen pal for my whole stay. and i was planning to go to lots of places also.

3. i am learning japanese and i do have a book called "teach yourself beginners japanese" by helen gilhooly" the book is some what ok...but is there any other books that you recommend? highest i will spend would be 65$.

4. what is the currency difference? (between Dollar and Yen)

sorry for lots of questions and
THANKS FOR READING THIS!!!!!!!!

email:
bling_bling_gurl_14@hotmail.com

sry if i have mosted this again, I hate to say this but Im a noob =_=) lol

Hi Ayumi/ Ayaka/ Amber

We don't know where you are, so it is hard for us to tell you how much a flight would cost you. Maybe help us out by giving us an idea of your location? People from all over the world ask questions on this forum.

I'm guessing you're in the US, but west coast/ east coast/ Mid-west etc. also has a bearing on cost, so mentioning the city or state would be good too.

Incidentally the cheapest class of travel is economy class, Business class is next more comfortable and First class is the most luxurious. Business class usually costs at least 3 times what economy costs, and First is around 5 times the price or more, so unless you/ your parents are quite well off you might have to stick to economy/ coach class along with most normal people. I have been on many long flights, 12 hours or more and have survived them okay.

Hi there, I'm also 16 and planning on going to Japan, except in a year :P

Anyways this is a subject I have looked into a lot, and for a normal person flying from west coast Canada in economy class will be expensive enough.
Right now, it would cost $1460 to depart on the 2nd of July - and return on the 2nd of September, but keep in mind prices change a lot and you may be able to find cheaper prices through different places (I used Air Canada)

As for Currency exchange, It's currently at $1.00 Canadian/U.S : 107.10 , right now theres no real difference between the U.S and Canadian dollar, give or take half a cent.
Also, I'm not saying your doing this but make sure you pen-pal is serious about meeting you in person before you make plans, and also make sure you can stay at their house. I would be prepared to stay at a hotel anyways so I were not to intrude, seeing as two months is a long time. The amount of money varies depending on your spending habits and if you plan on going shopping I would bring a fair amount, probably above $1000+. I would suggest trying to join a Japanese class in your school or in a language program, because a language book doesn't always express things correctly.

Anyways Good Luck!

the yen mark turned up as a slash, and I worded the penpal part funny, I meant to say dont jump ahead of yourself and make sure your penpal is fully willing :P

Hello!
Love all your names..be careful on the internet not to give: 1-your real name or the real name of friends,relatives
2-your real age
3-your home town etc.
right now 100 US$ = more or less yen 10 000(there is a banknote of that value. Others are Yen 1000 and Yen 5000)
to give you an idea of costs: a 1 way ticket for a fast train from Tokyo to Kyoto (3 hrs) cost a bit under Yen 20 000 or $ 200
you can have a basic snack, like a big bowl of rice or noodles with various toppings for Yen 600. A full meal Japanese style would be $ 25 but of course could go much higher. 1 ticket for a movie can cost $ 18.
If you check at the top of the site you will see tabs marked Travel, Living, Japan A-Z. click on these, and links related to them, to learn a lot of great stuff about Japan

I live in the mid west boring place
and yes prices do change. D;
I do have a job currently so right now im saving my money and as for the language school and stuff. well at my school we have spanish and thats all cuz i live in a small place also i am teaching my self japanese if i was to rate my japanese speaking abilities it would be 10/100 lol. but i am learning stuff on the net and getting books on japanese wit cds so i know i wont mess up and i since i have been learning it for awhile i know which websites are fake and which are real for learning in case anyone really needs to point that out lol
any ways,,thanks for the great answers :)