I guess I should introduce myself. I'm a second-year BA Japanese/History of Art/Archaeology student at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, or SOAS.
I've just had it dropped on my toes that I need £10,000 on a bank statement at the end of January, or I can't undertake my third year, a year's exchange with a Japanese univeristy - in Japan!
Apparently this is a Japanese government stipulation to show that you have sufficient funds to pay your way in an emergency (just what kind of emergency warrants a fallback of £10,000? Having your apartment fumigated for Mothra?). There are no exceptions. Apparently, this isn't a problem, you just borrow the money from your friends and relatives, then pay it back to them.
I haven't got any friends and all my relatives are dead. In the face of this, I've done the only logical thing I can think of. I've started a blog to chronicle my attempts to go from £0 to £10,000 in three months.
