Snaily Paperwork and the Disappearing Stress

Hi Friends!

I've been quiet, I know. Lo siento para mis suckiness. 

I am here to give you some updates. 

July was a wonderful and stressful month. On one hand I had a fabulous 4th with family and crazy fireworks. There were over fifty people in our house and a giant cake. Fun times ensued including my uncle lighting a bag of fireworks on fire and literally lighting the entire street on fire and almost killing the whole family in one go. 

I felt incredibly humbled that they all came to see me off and I got the normal overwhelming feeling of all of us together at once. It was amazing. 

The stress came from paperwork. And MORE paperwork. August was the month of hurry up and wait for school things. It was a bit of a challenge not to lose my mind with the time difference but I guess that's just a part of the "studying abroad" territory. 

I had to really stay on top of the financial aid and CAS people to be sure I didn't fall through the cracks. The waiting was the worst. I would get up at 7 my time, 3pm theirs, and get the paperwork to them as quickly as I could and spend 24 hours waiting to see if I screwed it up. So exciting (/s).

Once I got that done and I fixed a snafu with a letter that had to be the original for my visa application I did my fingerprints and got the whole application together. It was a confusing process but at the end of the day I sent off the application, appendix 8, my passport, biometrics confirmation, a passport photo, CAS number, transcripts, and proof of my bank account balances. 

I waited in trepidation for a week and just got the confirmation that my visa has been approved! So if it wan't official before it is now. Plane ticket: Check. Housing: Check. Visa: Check. School Paperwork: Check. Space Bags: Check. Blasting RENT and singing at the top of my lungs: CHECK. 

So when I woke up this morning and was greeted by that fabulous email saying my visa has been awarded it was like a big bucket of "holy shit this is really happening" was dumped on me. My excitement ratcheted up and all of my anxieties and stress from getting all of this perfect evaporated. Everything is ready.

In other news:

Didn't get any scholarships (boooooo!). Now I'm just kind of sitting around and thinking about what I need to to pack and/or buy before I leave so I'm not stressed when I arrive.

New Blog layout!!! Simple and a lot cleaner. I also added some music on the side. An eclectic mix of craziness... Just like me! Will probably change when I get there. 

The plane doesn't have any electric plugs. Disappointment. Guess the little folks in economy don't matter. Double boo. Buuut I do get some free booze. Dunno how I feel about getting intoxicated at 40,000 feet but we shall see. 

School will be picking me up from the airport. Super snazzy. We will also have a bunch of events including seeing WICKED (for 15 pounds!) and seeing Midsummer at the FREAKING GLOBE (for 5 pounds). Excuse me while I freak about that. Holy smokes. 

Figuring our mobile providers and which bank to go with is so ridiculous. So is the life of an adult I guess. 

I'm staying at a dorm that is close to the center of Kingston and literally is right on the Thames (that I have to cross every day). There is a pub across the street and a Chinese food place down the street. 

And last but not least, I get to take a foreign language course for free since I'm a postgrad. Should I parle français? or sprechen in Deutsch? I am thinking parlare italiano or يتكلم العربية.

Decisions, decisions.

Until next time,
Amanda