this process will likely differ between individuals, but there may be enough similarities to use this as a guide. 

After I arrived at my school, I went to their office, conveniently located on the first floor. Once someone was available to talk to me, I went to the desk, and they began processing me. The information my school wants: 

standard personal information - name, birth date, address in my home country, address here, phone number from my home country, *phone number for here (i haven't set up a cell plan yet), etc. 

Japanese exposure information - have i been to japan before, how much japanese have i studied. they asked me some questions in Japanese and I answered back to the best of my abilities. 

important documents - copy of my residence card, copy of my passport, *copy of my national insurance card (just got it today, so when i go to school on tuesday, I'll have to update my info. hope to have my cell phone sorted out by then as well) 

then they asked me when i wanted to do the written placement test - by then my jet lag was starting to set in, so i said the next day. then they told me my orientation was on thursday at 10am and sent me to the 4th floor to speak with the housing company. 

(with regards to my placement test - I wasn't able to answer everything. I've lost quite a bit of what I learned, but I'm not too concerned because any class I take will help me so much. with regards to orientation - it went well. we went over the school rules, found out about some cultural opportunities, got our ID cards and found out what classes we were put in. Mine is A1a, which is an afternoon class. I don't know how they are classified, so no matter what tuesday will be a surprise. I also found out that for some reason they were shorted 2550yen when i transferred my tuition, so I paid that. so far the teachers and staff all seem very nice.) 

I went up to the 4th floor, and along with another new student, learned about our (different) housing arrangements. they gave me a nice information package and went through most of the information. ie. how and where garbage is disposed of, how to get to school from home, what issues are our responsibility to deal with, etc. I also found out that I pay rent directly to them, in cash. 

after we went over the details, we signed our contracts. they wanted some documents - copy of my passport, copy of my residence card, copy of my proof of enrolment (which nihongo center sent with my certificate of eligibility) and a copy of a credit card (from my home country) just in case I don't pay as I'm supposed to. then I paid my contract fee, my fire insurance, and my first months rent (note, the required up front fees differ by residence and company). 

after everything was sorted out, one of the company workers drove me to my new house and I met my new room mates - claire and mignon, both from france, both females, and both very nice. mignon had an unfortunate accident and is living with a cast on her leg for the next month or so. they've been helping me adjust to life here, and they're going out of their way to show me around and help me find the places I need to go to get set up, including school, the nearest grocery store (LIFE), the ward office (to register my address and get national insurance), and a convenient shop to get a cell phone in. 

after I got into my room on my first night, claire took me to the circle k convenience store (which is pretty much right next door) and I got something to eat. unfortunately the jet lag and over-stimulation caused me to feel a bit ill, so i wasn't able to eat much and went to bed early. as a result, i was awake at about 6:30 the next morning, but i still felt much better after a good night's sleep.