End of Year Important Announcements for Students

**Announcements from the Office of International Affairs (OIA)**

1. Holiday Schedule
Our offices will be closed for the winter holiday with the following schedule.
– OIA Counseling Room: from Tuesday, December 24, 2013 to Friday, January 3, 2014

– International Student Support Desk: from Monday, December 30, 2013 to Friday, January 3, 2014.
– OIA office: from Monday, December 30, 2013 to Friday, January 3, 2014.

Please note normal office hours will resume on Monday, January 6, 2014.

2. Don’t forget to pay your rent over the holiday season!
It happens very often that many students forget to pay rent during a vacation time. Be sure to pay rent before you leave to travel for a long period of time.

3. Prevention of water pipe freeze-up
Over the very cold Hokkaido winter, in the event you stay away from home for a few days or even one night, water pipes can burst. To prevent this, you should drain the water pipes before you go to sleep or go out, particularly when the temperature falls below minus 4℃. Please ask your landlord or the management company and learn the way to drain water pipes.

***For those International students living in private apartments***

Have you renewed your insurance since moving in your current apartment (Comprehensive Renters’ Insurance for Foreign Students Studying in Japan, Fire Mutual Insurance, etc.) Make sure it has not expired.
If the pipe bursts and your whole room is flooded, you will be required to pay the entire amount of the repair fee by yourself if you do not have any insurance. If the notice concerning the insurance renewal from the company did not reach you for some reason, please be sure to check the expiration date on your current insurance.  If it has expired, please renew it immediately.