I went to Largo yesterday to go to dinner with my mom and I decided to get my passport while I was in town. I went to the Clerk of Court, which I did not need an appointment for. So it was perfect.
I got there around 12:45, took a number, and sat down. There were only two people in front of me. Side Note: The Clerk of Court even on a Monday afternoon can be a scary place, full of minor traffic offenders to angry dirt bags having to pay back child support. Anyway, I get up to the desk and realize I have to pay with a money order. I was sent to an Amscot across the street.
I get to Amscot. Let me remind you I have never had to get a money order before in my life. I hand the man my debit card who looks at my like I am crazy. Then proceeds to tell me you have to have cash for money orders and directs me to the ATM in the corner of the room. So I get out $140, pay for my two money orders, one for $110, and one for $26. I am not sure why they are split up this way but they are.
I go back to the Clerk of Court and wait in line again. This time there were about six people in line. It went by a little slower this time. But I finally made it up there. The woman that was helping me was very nice but I have a feeling she was not exactly sure of what she was doing. She went to the other woman for help a few times, but we finally finished everything. The only thing that made me nervous was that fact that they stapled my birth certificate to the passport application.
I will be stressing out until I get my birth certificate back in the mail, but at least I have officially applied for my passport!!!!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Study Abroad Meeting #1
Thursday, October 21st was the first study abroad meeting. All study abroad students are now required to go to meetings in order to prepare us for the experience. It felt more like a “Lets Scare the Study Abroad Students into Staying in America ” meeting.
We were told that as soon as we get to the country we will be staying in we should go to the embassy and formally introduce ourselves. Which is a good idea but it is scary to think that if we need anything or we get into trouble we will be relying on people at “the Embassy” it sounds so official, and therefore, scary.
We were told to find as safe place. Like if we felt endangered or anything were to happen we should go there. Most of us assumed that would be the embassy the response we got was “what if the embassy is under attack?” Okay so SCRATCH that idea.
Then the advisor told us that once we land we are probably going to experience some serious shock. He is probably right. I will be in a foreign country. I will not know what any of the signs mean, I will have no idea where I am going let alone how to get there, everyone around me will be speaking German, it will be a huge time difference and I am still clueless about the euro and how it works. I am starting to stress just thinking about it.
Next question was “What makes you uncomfortable?” someone said when people are fighting around me, either arguing or physically fighting. I instantly thought, how am I even going to be able to tell when people are arguing. It is a totally new culture. Half the time I don’t even know if Americans are about to fight or if they are kidding. I have a feeling I am not going to know if people are fighting until someone gets punched in the face.
“What is something you do everyday can you do it in the foreign country? If not, how are you going to adjust?” What do I do everyday? I work and I walk my dog. I have been thinking a lot lately of how I am going to handle not working. I have had a job since I was 16 yrs old and for this last semester I have been a full time student and a full time employee. Luckily, I do not think this will be a hard change to adjust to, the hard part will be coming back to work after having a six month vacation.
Now Tucker, lets talk about Tucker.
I have had him since he was two months old.
I took care of him when he had kennel cough,
I fed him from my hands when he didn’t want to eat,
I brought him to a pool for the first time,
I potty trained him,
I take him to the vet when he doesn’t feel good,
I take him to the dog park to make him happy,
I sleep with him every night (even though he hogs the bed),
He makes me laugh,
He warms my feet,
He takes care of me when I don't feel good,
And I love him soo much!
So much that I even pick up his poop on a daily basis. When I go away for a week and my father puppy-sits, I think about him constantly, and can’t wait to come home to see him again. What the hell am I going to do without him for six months? I’m pretty sure this will be the hardest part of going abroad for me. When I have a bad day, or I am stressed out, or I don’t feel good, or I just need to cuddle, Tucker is there. ALWAYS. My mom will be watching the handsome pup while I am abroad and she should be prepared to send me a picture everyday and be an expert at skyping so Tuck doesn’t forget about me. I know it sounds a little crazy but lately he is the only part of my life that is consistent, and I won't have that in Europe.
So as of right now objective numero uno is to find a pet shelter in Innsbruck to help deal with the void that will soon be in my life!
After the meeting I started thinking about EVERYTHING that will be different. What do I eat and drink now on a daily basis?... Will they have sweet tea? They don’t even have sweet tea at most restaurants in Florida I can probably forget about it in Europe. Will anyone have ranch dressing? How do I say ranch dressing in German? How will I know what kind of shampoo to buy? Will they have Bed Head TIGI Self absorbed Mega Nutrient Rich Shampoo? Wait, what if they have something better? What if I can’t get that once I come back to the states? My mind is still racing but I will spare you the rest of my insane illusions.
So as of right now I am starting to get nervous. I know the experience will be worth it and I am excited to go but this is the first time I am actually considering how difficult all of this is going to be.
We were told that as soon as we get to the country we will be staying in we should go to the embassy and formally introduce ourselves. Which is a good idea but it is scary to think that if we need anything or we get into trouble we will be relying on people at “the Embassy” it sounds so official, and therefore, scary.
We were told to find as safe place. Like if we felt endangered or anything were to happen we should go there. Most of us assumed that would be the embassy the response we got was “what if the embassy is under attack?” Okay so SCRATCH that idea.
Then the advisor told us that once we land we are probably going to experience some serious shock. He is probably right. I will be in a foreign country. I will not know what any of the signs mean, I will have no idea where I am going let alone how to get there, everyone around me will be speaking German, it will be a huge time difference and I am still clueless about the euro and how it works. I am starting to stress just thinking about it.
Next question was “What makes you uncomfortable?” someone said when people are fighting around me, either arguing or physically fighting. I instantly thought, how am I even going to be able to tell when people are arguing. It is a totally new culture. Half the time I don’t even know if Americans are about to fight or if they are kidding. I have a feeling I am not going to know if people are fighting until someone gets punched in the face.
“What is something you do everyday can you do it in the foreign country? If not, how are you going to adjust?” What do I do everyday? I work and I walk my dog. I have been thinking a lot lately of how I am going to handle not working. I have had a job since I was 16 yrs old and for this last semester I have been a full time student and a full time employee. Luckily, I do not think this will be a hard change to adjust to, the hard part will be coming back to work after having a six month vacation.
Now Tucker, lets talk about Tucker.
I have had him since he was two months old.
I took care of him when he had kennel cough,
I fed him from my hands when he didn’t want to eat,
I brought him to a pool for the first time,
I potty trained him,
I take him to the vet when he doesn’t feel good,
I take him to the dog park to make him happy,
I sleep with him every night (even though he hogs the bed),
He makes me laugh,
He warms my feet,
He takes care of me when I don't feel good,
And I love him soo much!
So much that I even pick up his poop on a daily basis. When I go away for a week and my father puppy-sits, I think about him constantly, and can’t wait to come home to see him again. What the hell am I going to do without him for six months? I’m pretty sure this will be the hardest part of going abroad for me. When I have a bad day, or I am stressed out, or I don’t feel good, or I just need to cuddle, Tucker is there. ALWAYS. My mom will be watching the handsome pup while I am abroad and she should be prepared to send me a picture everyday and be an expert at skyping so Tuck doesn’t forget about me. I know it sounds a little crazy but lately he is the only part of my life that is consistent, and I won't have that in Europe.
So as of right now objective numero uno is to find a pet shelter in Innsbruck to help deal with the void that will soon be in my life!
After the meeting I started thinking about EVERYTHING that will be different. What do I eat and drink now on a daily basis?... Will they have sweet tea? They don’t even have sweet tea at most restaurants in Florida I can probably forget about it in Europe. Will anyone have ranch dressing? How do I say ranch dressing in German? How will I know what kind of shampoo to buy? Will they have Bed Head TIGI Self absorbed Mega Nutrient Rich Shampoo? Wait, what if they have something better? What if I can’t get that once I come back to the states? My mind is still racing but I will spare you the rest of my insane illusions.
So as of right now I am starting to get nervous. I know the experience will be worth it and I am excited to go but this is the first time I am actually considering how difficult all of this is going to be.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Passport Photo Failure
If you need to get a passport you have to call the post office, make an appointment and obviously, go to your appointment. This would be easier if the Sand Lake Post Office, Located on Turkey Lake Rd, Orlando, would actually answer the phone.
So If you need to get a passport, go stand in line at the post office for 30 minutes and make an appointment to come back the following week to get your passport.
I did this.
Then I went to my appointment and the line was out the door, again. I was faced with a dilemma. I knew if I waited in line I would be late and miss my appointment. So I took the chance and called the passport number again to let them know I was there. The woman on the phone said she did not work there and to just go stand in the front of the line and the lady on the end would know what I was there for. I said "You want me to go get in front of 20 people who have been waiting in line for 30 minutes? To get the attention of one of the two people assisting them to take her into the back and bring the help down to one person?" She said "Yes, do you understand?" I just hung up the phone and left the post office.
I went home and googled to see if I could find another place to get it done. I am going back to Clearwater on Monday for a doctors appointment so I looked there. There are quite a few so I called, no one answered. SURPRISE! But I left a message and lucky for me I got a call back two minutes later! The woman was so nice. They did not have any spots available on Monday but she told me I could go to the traffic court without an appointment. She was very helpful. So that is my new plan. To get the passport in Clearwater, on Monday, at Traffic Court.
I thought it maybe easier if I went ahead and got my pictures done.
I had two done already but I had to send them in with my MCI application. My first set were done at Fedex/Kinkos, but i heard they are cheaper and Walgreens. So I stopped by before class.
I ent straight to the back where the photo department is located and no one was back there, except a girl stocking shelves. She looked at me and said
"What do you need?"
"I need passport photos"
"ASSOCIATE TO PHOTO DEPARTMENT!"
five minutes later:
"ASSOCIATE TO PHOTO DEPARTMENT"
Now two people come over at once I tell them I need passport photos she says "stand here, how many you need? okay its finna take 15 minutes" I then asked if i could pick them up later she said ya.
I went to class and got back to Walgreens about four hours later. Again, no one was in the photo department. But I found someone and she grabbed my photos I asked if I could see them, they were horrible. She asked if I liked them and I said no but I will just go somewhere else and pay for them again. She said no no I can take more.
We then had about a ten minute photo shoot in the back of Walgreens because they use a 12.2 megapixel digital camera that has a lot of trouble focusing on anything. We finally get one and print it and realize it is still blurry.
We take another and print that one. Then a guy comes back, who clearly is the person who should be working the photo department and asked what we are doing. He looks at the picture and says it is too far away that we have to take another. So we do and look at it on the computer and he says okay that one should be okay.
"Should be okay?"
"Yes, should be okay."
"You know, I think I would just be more comfortable going to the post office to get them done."
"What?"
"The post office, they send off for the passport they should know what will work so I will just go there. I do not what to get charged twice for photos because you did not know how to do them correctly."
"So I just printed three of these for nothing?"
"Yes, yes you did. Have a good night."
And I left.
It was a completely unsuccessful day. No passport. Not even photos.
Can we all agree Walgreens is not competent enough to print passport photos?
So If you need to get a passport, go stand in line at the post office for 30 minutes and make an appointment to come back the following week to get your passport.
I did this.
Then I went to my appointment and the line was out the door, again. I was faced with a dilemma. I knew if I waited in line I would be late and miss my appointment. So I took the chance and called the passport number again to let them know I was there. The woman on the phone said she did not work there and to just go stand in the front of the line and the lady on the end would know what I was there for. I said "You want me to go get in front of 20 people who have been waiting in line for 30 minutes? To get the attention of one of the two people assisting them to take her into the back and bring the help down to one person?" She said "Yes, do you understand?" I just hung up the phone and left the post office.
I went home and googled to see if I could find another place to get it done. I am going back to Clearwater on Monday for a doctors appointment so I looked there. There are quite a few so I called, no one answered. SURPRISE! But I left a message and lucky for me I got a call back two minutes later! The woman was so nice. They did not have any spots available on Monday but she told me I could go to the traffic court without an appointment. She was very helpful. So that is my new plan. To get the passport in Clearwater, on Monday, at Traffic Court.
I thought it maybe easier if I went ahead and got my pictures done.
I had two done already but I had to send them in with my MCI application. My first set were done at Fedex/Kinkos, but i heard they are cheaper and Walgreens. So I stopped by before class.
I ent straight to the back where the photo department is located and no one was back there, except a girl stocking shelves. She looked at me and said
"What do you need?"
"I need passport photos"
"ASSOCIATE TO PHOTO DEPARTMENT!"
five minutes later:
"ASSOCIATE TO PHOTO DEPARTMENT"
Now two people come over at once I tell them I need passport photos she says "stand here, how many you need? okay its finna take 15 minutes" I then asked if i could pick them up later she said ya.
I went to class and got back to Walgreens about four hours later. Again, no one was in the photo department. But I found someone and she grabbed my photos I asked if I could see them, they were horrible. She asked if I liked them and I said no but I will just go somewhere else and pay for them again. She said no no I can take more.
We then had about a ten minute photo shoot in the back of Walgreens because they use a 12.2 megapixel digital camera that has a lot of trouble focusing on anything. We finally get one and print it and realize it is still blurry.
We take another and print that one. Then a guy comes back, who clearly is the person who should be working the photo department and asked what we are doing. He looks at the picture and says it is too far away that we have to take another. So we do and look at it on the computer and he says okay that one should be okay.
"Should be okay?"
"Yes, should be okay."
"You know, I think I would just be more comfortable going to the post office to get them done."
"What?"
"The post office, they send off for the passport they should know what will work so I will just go there. I do not what to get charged twice for photos because you did not know how to do them correctly."
"So I just printed three of these for nothing?"
"Yes, yes you did. Have a good night."
And I left.
It was a completely unsuccessful day. No passport. Not even photos.
Can we all agree Walgreens is not competent enough to print passport photos?
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It has hit the fan.
I received my first e-mail from Maureen stating that we need to get our application in. Meaning we have to pick our classes for Austria, and submit the application and learning agreement, along with two passport photos, to MCI.
Amanda and I went and saw Maureen at main campus about two weeks ago just to talk to her in person. We realized that she has her hands FULL. She is responsible for all study abroad students. Which is about 85 students at main campus. Josh is supposed to be in charge of the study abroad students from Rosen but he is busy as well.
So when it comes to some of the questions I have I am a little in the dark. I have so many people I can ask but it just takes time for people to get back to me. I wish there was more of a structured outline or to do list or even a timeline, to keep me on track.
The most confusing thing for me was picking out classes. Their credit system is structured different from the ones in the states. I am still not even sure how it works I just know I am still one credit short so I need to change a class but my application was submitted anyway, knowing full well it would have to be sent back and edited. Oh well, at least its a start I guess.
I tried to go and get my passport on Monday but no one at the port office answers the phone so I had to go by the post office, to schedule an appointment for next week. After that I believe the next step is applying for my visa.
It is also time that I start emailing my study abroad advisor at MCI, she is going to be my main go-to person over there so I should probably start getting to know her now.
I really need to find a place to live but it is so expensive, I will be paying the same price if not more, than I am paying now in my apartment but I will be in a little dorm with a tiny window. But it is all about the experience, right?
My travel plans have also changed I will be in Florida until mid February, meeting up with Julia and Amanda in Boston, and then we will fly to London stay for a few days and then continue on to Vienna. Then take a train from Vienna to Innsbruck. We decided this should work out better because it gives us a week to get used to Innsbruck and find out where some things are located.
I found this amazing website: www.StudentUniverse.com which has student airfare at a discounted rate, it is awesome!! I also was told about www.RyanAir.com, which has some amazingly cheap flights throughout Europe as well.
As of now my to-do list includes:
*Getting Passport
*Getting Visa
*Finding a place to live
*Making sure my health insurance is valid in Austria (And covers skiing accidents)
*Opening a USAA Checking account and verifying they do not charge exchange fees
*Talking to financial aid about scholarships/loans
*Apply for scholarships
*Start booking flights
*Figure out more creative ways to get free money! haha
So I have a lot to do on top of school and work and I feel like every thing has hit the fan all at once. I need to get on track and start sorting things out before I am too late. Its like I am in the final leg of the race and I can see Austria in the distance!!
I think that sums it up for now!
Oh wait! I also decided to start taking Rosetta Stone to learn German, or at least attempt to learn German. I work for Marriott and they will pay for me to use it, I just need manager approval. I spoke to my manager today and he said go for it that I just need to stick with it. They say if I spend 30 minutes a day on it I should be done in four months. I am going to start hopefully after my midterms are done this month.
Wish me luck!!
Amanda and I went and saw Maureen at main campus about two weeks ago just to talk to her in person. We realized that she has her hands FULL. She is responsible for all study abroad students. Which is about 85 students at main campus. Josh is supposed to be in charge of the study abroad students from Rosen but he is busy as well.
So when it comes to some of the questions I have I am a little in the dark. I have so many people I can ask but it just takes time for people to get back to me. I wish there was more of a structured outline or to do list or even a timeline, to keep me on track.
The most confusing thing for me was picking out classes. Their credit system is structured different from the ones in the states. I am still not even sure how it works I just know I am still one credit short so I need to change a class but my application was submitted anyway, knowing full well it would have to be sent back and edited. Oh well, at least its a start I guess.
I tried to go and get my passport on Monday but no one at the port office answers the phone so I had to go by the post office, to schedule an appointment for next week. After that I believe the next step is applying for my visa.
It is also time that I start emailing my study abroad advisor at MCI, she is going to be my main go-to person over there so I should probably start getting to know her now.
I really need to find a place to live but it is so expensive, I will be paying the same price if not more, than I am paying now in my apartment but I will be in a little dorm with a tiny window. But it is all about the experience, right?
My travel plans have also changed I will be in Florida until mid February, meeting up with Julia and Amanda in Boston, and then we will fly to London stay for a few days and then continue on to Vienna. Then take a train from Vienna to Innsbruck. We decided this should work out better because it gives us a week to get used to Innsbruck and find out where some things are located.
I found this amazing website: www.StudentUniverse.com which has student airfare at a discounted rate, it is awesome!! I also was told about www.RyanAir.com, which has some amazingly cheap flights throughout Europe as well.
As of now my to-do list includes:
*Getting Passport
*Getting Visa
*Finding a place to live
*Making sure my health insurance is valid in Austria (And covers skiing accidents)
*Opening a USAA Checking account and verifying they do not charge exchange fees
*Talking to financial aid about scholarships/loans
*Apply for scholarships
*Start booking flights
*Figure out more creative ways to get free money! haha
So I have a lot to do on top of school and work and I feel like every thing has hit the fan all at once. I need to get on track and start sorting things out before I am too late. Its like I am in the final leg of the race and I can see Austria in the distance!!
I think that sums it up for now!
Oh wait! I also decided to start taking Rosetta Stone to learn German, or at least attempt to learn German. I work for Marriott and they will pay for me to use it, I just need manager approval. I spoke to my manager today and he said go for it that I just need to stick with it. They say if I spend 30 minutes a day on it I should be done in four months. I am going to start hopefully after my midterms are done this month.
Wish me luck!!
Monday, September 6, 2010
What is Next?
So it has been a while and I have a lot to fill you in on.
Right after we were accepted we were all set on fundraising and getting all the money we needed through donations. None of us want to take out loans but as time approaches it looks like that is what we will have to do.
We wanted to do a car wash, e-mail our high schools, stand outside of grocery stores with a bell, everything. But we are all work full time and are full time students so it is hard for us to plan things together.
Now here we are less that 176 days from the start of our classes in Europe with no money saved up. We seriously need to step it up.
But we have had time to plan what we want to do! We have to be out of our apartment on February 7th, then we want to fly to Boston to see Julias family, Dublin from there to spend a week, then to London to spend a week, then on to Vienna or Innsbruck, where ever we can get a direct flight into and then classes begin March 1st!
I have also been trying to get a hold of the woman in charge of all study abroad students at UCF because we have heard nothing since we recieved our acceptance letters and paid the first $250. We have not applied to MCI, no one has told us what we need to do next, no one has tried to help us find a place to live while we are there, absolutely nothing.
So I do not have much to blog about on that side of things because even we have no idea what is going on.
But I have gotten into contact with the guy that is going with us, Matt Hendrix, and the two girls that were just in Innsbruck in the spring. We all planned on going to breakfast but only Me, Julia, Amanda, Matt, and Caitlin (she was in Innsbruck spring 2009) were able to make it.
Caitlin was very informative, and told us about couchsurfing, what to carry and not carry with us at night, she suggested we get bikes the second we get there, and no to buy train passes because they are a waste of money. Oh and that little old ladies go out onto the moutains in the middle of the night with their hogs in order to find mushrooms. Cant wait for that! haha She also told us that Italy is only a 20 min train ride from Innsbruck! As Amanda put it "I cant wait to update my fb saying.. 'Italy for dinner tonight'".
Hopefully we will meet up with Katrina and Holly soon so we can get a better idea of how much we will spend and where is the best place to live.
Amanda and I still do not have our passports but we have officially set a date! I will post again soon to explain how that proccess goes!
Wish us luck!
Right after we were accepted we were all set on fundraising and getting all the money we needed through donations. None of us want to take out loans but as time approaches it looks like that is what we will have to do.
We wanted to do a car wash, e-mail our high schools, stand outside of grocery stores with a bell, everything. But we are all work full time and are full time students so it is hard for us to plan things together.
Now here we are less that 176 days from the start of our classes in Europe with no money saved up. We seriously need to step it up.
But we have had time to plan what we want to do! We have to be out of our apartment on February 7th, then we want to fly to Boston to see Julias family, Dublin from there to spend a week, then to London to spend a week, then on to Vienna or Innsbruck, where ever we can get a direct flight into and then classes begin March 1st!
I have also been trying to get a hold of the woman in charge of all study abroad students at UCF because we have heard nothing since we recieved our acceptance letters and paid the first $250. We have not applied to MCI, no one has told us what we need to do next, no one has tried to help us find a place to live while we are there, absolutely nothing.
So I do not have much to blog about on that side of things because even we have no idea what is going on.
But I have gotten into contact with the guy that is going with us, Matt Hendrix, and the two girls that were just in Innsbruck in the spring. We all planned on going to breakfast but only Me, Julia, Amanda, Matt, and Caitlin (she was in Innsbruck spring 2009) were able to make it.
Caitlin was very informative, and told us about couchsurfing, what to carry and not carry with us at night, she suggested we get bikes the second we get there, and no to buy train passes because they are a waste of money. Oh and that little old ladies go out onto the moutains in the middle of the night with their hogs in order to find mushrooms. Cant wait for that! haha She also told us that Italy is only a 20 min train ride from Innsbruck! As Amanda put it "I cant wait to update my fb saying.. 'Italy for dinner tonight'".
Hopefully we will meet up with Katrina and Holly soon so we can get a better idea of how much we will spend and where is the best place to live.
Amanda and I still do not have our passports but we have officially set a date! I will post again soon to explain how that proccess goes!
Wish us luck!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Study Abroad
I decided to make this my official blog about studying abroad from beginning to end.
So Lets catch up.
Julia and Amanda told me they were going to apply to study broad and I have always wanted to but I never thought I actually would. Julia suggested that I just go sit in on the information meeting to see how it was. I walked out and knew I had to apply!
The three of us decided we wanted to go together. And we wanted Australia but there were only two spots available for Australia so our next shot was Surrey, England. We knew we had to make a list of all of the places so it went as follows:
1. Surrey England
2. Innsbruck Austria
3. Vienna Austria
4. Australia
5. France
6. Hong Kong
Then came the application process. I had to fill out the actual application online, write a 500 word paper on why I deserve to go, get two references, attach a resume, and a degree audit.
I was the most nervous about the 500 word paper. I have never been confident in my writing ability. But I got it all in on time!
The next two weeks were the longest of my life. I did a ton a research on Surrey England hoping that was where we were going. Finally it was the first day after spring break so Amanda and Julia went to the person in charge of Study Abroad and we were told we would find out on Friday.
That Friday morning Julia and I went to the Study Abroad person again and he had still not heard anything from the board that makes the decisions, but that we would know by 5:00 pm that day. Around 6:00 pm we received an e-mail saying that we would find out by Saturday morning at the earliest and Monday night at the latest. Saturday came and went. Sunday came and went. Finally it was Monday, I called Study Abroad around 3:00 because we had still not heard anything. I was told we would find out by 7:00 that night.
I got a text message from Julia around 8:15 saying we got MCI. I told her this was not a time for jokes. She assured me she was serious. While she was texting me I got the e-mail stating we did in fact get MCI, which is located in Innsbruck, Austria!
I think this was THE most bittersweet moment of my life. I was so set on England because my great grandfather was from there and I really wanted to see and experience London. But we did get our second choice, we were going abroad, and we were going together.
I made some phone calls and let everyone know. Everyone was very excited and Innsbruck was slowly growing on me.
My mom would send me random text messages like "The Sound of Music was filmed there!" or "Remember it is 311 in Austria, not 911" and "They have one of the lowest crime rates of all the countries in Europe"
A few weeks later I bought a book to help me learn german, it is filled with little phrases and a mini translation dictionary.
I do not think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. I think you would have to be here when it takes place but hearing me, Julia, and Amanda trying to pronounce random phrases in German or should I say Deutsch?
Like for example:
ich bin an-fenger or I'm a beginner
Schinken or Ham
sprechen Sie Englisch? or Do you speak English?
All in all I am really looking forward to this. It is expensive and I will be away from everything I know (except Julia and Amanda) for four months but it is going to be amazing!
So Lets catch up.
Julia and Amanda told me they were going to apply to study broad and I have always wanted to but I never thought I actually would. Julia suggested that I just go sit in on the information meeting to see how it was. I walked out and knew I had to apply!
The three of us decided we wanted to go together. And we wanted Australia but there were only two spots available for Australia so our next shot was Surrey, England. We knew we had to make a list of all of the places so it went as follows:
1. Surrey England
2. Innsbruck Austria
3. Vienna Austria
4. Australia
5. France
6. Hong Kong
Then came the application process. I had to fill out the actual application online, write a 500 word paper on why I deserve to go, get two references, attach a resume, and a degree audit.
I was the most nervous about the 500 word paper. I have never been confident in my writing ability. But I got it all in on time!
The next two weeks were the longest of my life. I did a ton a research on Surrey England hoping that was where we were going. Finally it was the first day after spring break so Amanda and Julia went to the person in charge of Study Abroad and we were told we would find out on Friday.
That Friday morning Julia and I went to the Study Abroad person again and he had still not heard anything from the board that makes the decisions, but that we would know by 5:00 pm that day. Around 6:00 pm we received an e-mail saying that we would find out by Saturday morning at the earliest and Monday night at the latest. Saturday came and went. Sunday came and went. Finally it was Monday, I called Study Abroad around 3:00 because we had still not heard anything. I was told we would find out by 7:00 that night.
I got a text message from Julia around 8:15 saying we got MCI. I told her this was not a time for jokes. She assured me she was serious. While she was texting me I got the e-mail stating we did in fact get MCI, which is located in Innsbruck, Austria!
I think this was THE most bittersweet moment of my life. I was so set on England because my great grandfather was from there and I really wanted to see and experience London. But we did get our second choice, we were going abroad, and we were going together.
I made some phone calls and let everyone know. Everyone was very excited and Innsbruck was slowly growing on me.
My mom would send me random text messages like "The Sound of Music was filmed there!" or "Remember it is 311 in Austria, not 911" and "They have one of the lowest crime rates of all the countries in Europe"
A few weeks later I bought a book to help me learn german, it is filled with little phrases and a mini translation dictionary.
I do not think I have ever laughed so hard in my life. I think you would have to be here when it takes place but hearing me, Julia, and Amanda trying to pronounce random phrases in German or should I say Deutsch?
Like for example:
ich bin an-fenger or I'm a beginner
Schinken or Ham
sprechen Sie Englisch? or Do you speak English?
All in all I am really looking forward to this. It is expensive and I will be away from everything I know (except Julia and Amanda) for four months but it is going to be amazing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)