It Just Gets Better

I mailed my visa to Hollywood, Florida and a few days later I received an email stating that I forgot to sign one section (oops), my medical documentation was not good enough, and I was missing the $132 money order.

Prior to this I had always been informed that the student visa was free, it even says so on their website so I was not concerned about they, they probably just made a mistake. I could fax them the page I was missing so that wasn’t a big deal either. Now the insurance. Ah TriCare, your coverage is great but dealing with you sucks.

I called the DMDC and told them I had to have something that said I am covered for at least $50,000. They transferred me to TriCare overseas, which was the wrong number, so I was then transferred to another number. They told me they could not write anything, that the DMDC must do it. Or I could fax a letter to a number and they would take care of it.

So I wrote a letter, faxed it (around 4 pm), and then the wait began. The next morning at 11 am nothing had been sent to me. So I called the DMDC again and asked to speak to a supervisor. Would they connect me? NO not without be explaining my long drawn out story. I finally got to a supervisor who told me what everyone else had been telling me, that they cannot write any dollar amount. She connected me to Tricare and we had a three-way call. Tricare said I have unlimited coverage as long as it is medically necessary.

I then called the Austrian Consulate in Hollywood, Florida to explain this to them. They answered the phone in GERMAN! Ahh it made me so happy haha. But I answered them in English. the man I spoke to was hilarious. I told him my name was Megan Saunders and he said "Ahh, yes, you live in Orlando and you go to UCF, correct?" "CORRECT!" he explained to me that my visa did have to go to Washington to get approved so he sent it there for me. SO I needed to call Julia Ontewager. he had trouble finding her number but made jokes the entire time about how typical it was for the government to be transferring me all over the place. Oh if he only knew.

At this point it was around 1:00 PM, he finally found Julia's number but it was too late. "They are the real diplomats in Washington so they only work three hours a day, sucks for the rest of us", in his super thick accent. I was dying. hahaha

So I called Ms. Ontewager the next day. I explained to her the whole Tricare shenanigans and she said she must have something, even for them to write "unlimited coverage" would be fine. I called the DMDC again and told them to write it down. The supervisor said, don’t you remember the Tricare woman said the consulate can call her. I said "So TriCare knows how to speak but they don't know how to write? Why cant they just write it down?" She did not like this response and I hung up the phone and called back Julia. She then looked at my repatriation coverage and told me to just send her a link and it would be fine.

I then asked her about the fee. To which I was then informed that on January 4, 2011 the rules changed and student visa's are no longer free. So basically had I not been worrying about other people and done what I wanted to do on my own time I would have saved $132. Lesson learned. I will never rely on people for anything important ever again.


On Saturday I moved out of my apartment and now all of my belongings are in a teeny tiny 5x10 storage unit. I feel homeless. I have a room at my moms house and at my dads house but nothing in either of those rooms really belong to me. I guess I should get used to this feeling though because I will not feel "home" again for about six months.

In the meantime I am really happy. I am still nervous to leave and lonely because I don’t have a place of my own but I have been spending quality time with my dad and soon I will be spending time with my mom and brother, which I haven’t done in a while. It is long over due.


tschuss!

Visa

Thanks is now going to Matt!

Apparently I did have the wrong visa form. Matt sent me everything I needed basically gave me a step by step how to, and now I have everything I need!

Photos
Passport
Completed Visa Application
Proof of Accommodation
Proof of Health Insurance
Proof of Sufficient Funds
Acceptance Letter
Copy of Plane Tickets

I will be mailing all of it tomorrow, I plan to over night it but we all know when I plan something it changes. I was going to fed ex it but I could only put a regular stamped envelope in there and I would rather put a certified return envelope so I can track it on the way back to me. I am not sure yet if I can do that but I will find out tomorrow!

Everything is moving so quickly now. Only 11 days until I move out, 13 days left at Harbour Lake, and 37 days until I board my flight to Innsbruck!

tschuss!

AHHHHH!!!

I would like to start this post of by thanking Katrina Deem. If it were not for her answering my 1000 facebook messages I would be even more of a mess than I am now.

Today I received my housing confirmation!! I never actually got an email from whoever I sent three emails to at the housing office. Then yesterday I emailed Margarethe, at MCI, asking for her help and apparently she took care of business because I received my confirmation from the OeAD this morning.

So good news... I have housing. Bad news... I have to share a room with a stranger. I guess I just need to get over it. My first thought was omg all of my things are going to be stolen, I have never shared a bedroom with anyone in my life. Then I started thinking of the worst possible roommate I could get, which wasn’t hard to do considering my experiences thus far, but she will be in the same room as me, not just an apartment!

Then I messaged Katrina, she studied in Innsbruck last year, she helped a lot and reminded me that I could be rooming with an Austrian girl who will introduce me to tons of people, take me places, and teach me things. So my hopes were up.. then I reminded myself that I have the worst luck of anyone I have ever met. Well maybe not everyone I have met, but definitely everyone at the Front Desk at Harbour Lake, for those of you that don't know, that means something.

She also answered a ton of my questions! Apparently this is a nice place with both Austrians and International students and the "nightline" bus runs there until 3am (great news! haha).

Here is the link to the place I will be living in: http://www.housing.oead.ac.at/01_housing_folge_e.asp?RECORD_KEY[Housing]=id&id%5BHousing%5D=64

Another thing I had to work ridiculously hard for was to get coverage for Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains. I have been calling my insurance company for four months trying to see if they cover me for that, I spoke to Tricare, Deers, Tricare Overseas, and every Tricare department in the US. I never got a clear answer or the paperwork I needed. Turns out they mailed it to my father instead of me. They sent a letter saying I am covered medically overseas but nothing about evacuation or repatriation.

I called again yesterday, FUMING. This was the first and only time I got a man on the phone and I hate to admit this but next time I need to call an insurance company I am only talking to men. It took him three minutes to tell me what I needed to know, something that six women couldn't do in five months. I am ashamed to be a girl right now. haha

Anyway! They only cover Emergency Evacuation if it is required by a physician. They do not cover Repatriation of Remains. So if I died while overseas I would be staying there forever! Although it is required that I be covered for both of these things so my next mission was to get covered!

This was simple, I dug up an old email from Maureen and all the information was there, I emailed a woman at the insurance company and sent her my information and my overseas insurance card is on its way and I only paid $42 for six months!!

Now I need my visa. I heard it only takes two weeks but I want it ASAP. Much easier said than done. The visa form I found is absolutely insane. There are multiple areas in which I have no idea what to put like "member state of destination", "member state of first entry", and what do I submit as a valid US visa, I don't have a visa, I AM A US CITIZEN! They also need two passport photos, copies of my plane tickets, three months of personal bank statements (proving I can afford to go), a letter of continued employment (I have no idea what this is for or what I should use for it), housing confirmation letter, medical insurance letter for coverage overseas, and copies of my freshly paid for emergency evacuation and repatriation of remains coverage.

Now once I get all of this information together, what do I do with it? I have no clue. Do I mail it? Do I drop it off somewhere? Do I have to pay for this? If I do, do I send a money order? A check?

I wish someone knew. It is now Friday and if I email anyone at UCF I know I will not have a response until Monday and I would much rather take care of this tomorrow. But I guess I do not have a choice.

For some reason I feel like I am making these things out to be much more difficult than they are but what am I supposed to do? I wish there was a how to guide. If it were not for Katrina every thing would be a disaster!


tschuss!

Life, Study Abroad, and All the Dark and Sunny Sides.

I have not posted in a while so I have a lot to fill you in on.

I finally got my housing application in. The form was really simple and I picked my top three places and listed three types of housing I am willing to live in. Like a single room with bathroom, with a shared kitchen, or a single room with a kitchenette, etc.

The next step was to wire over 650 Euro. I figured this would be easy, just go to the bank and transfer it. NOT! The housing company sent me a confirmation email and gave me all the information of the bank I needed to transfer it to. So I went to my credit union. Where i was told they could not tell me what the exchange rate was. So I pulled out my Blackberry and googled it. NOTE: she had a computer sitting right in front of her. Apparently she doesn't get paid to help clients.

I was charged a $45 transfer fee and sent over $851 USD. I received a confirmation email from the housing office saying they received my transfer a I was confirmed but they only received 619 Euro. Now I am lost, I was confirmed so do I still need to send 31 additional Euro? Or is that it? Will they take that?

I emailed the housing director for answers. I got an automatic email saying he was out of the office until January 10, 2011. Considering the money was due December 31, 2010, I was already anxious because was the 4th of January. I called the bank and asked them if they could fax me the form to sign so that I could wire more money. (I am in Orlando and they are in Largo) They could not do that. So it is now the 6th and I will transfer more money first thing in the morning.

I am still nervous. Matt was already told which apartment he will be in and I havent heard anything from them lately. Four more days until the 10th! Hopefully housing returns my email then before I die of anticipation.

Now on to the bad news! I will try to keep this as non-catty as possible. This journey began with three of us going together. At this point I am still in the dark. Things have not been great between the roommies lately. I was hurt by someones actions and when I was open with them it sparked a huge argument that revealed someones true colors to me. I put it behind me and pretended like nothing was wrong that night. I then realized that since the began of our relationship I have always been the one saying "What are we doing tonight?", "Where are we going", "When are we doing this?", and so on. It is not a great feeling when you realize if you weren't there they probably wouldn't even notice. I convinced myself I was overreacting and decided I would stop being the one asking the questions. I would just go to my room and mind my own business and see how long it takes for one of them to say something to me.

This was two days before Christmas. That night they went out, no one said a word to me, next night same thing. It took eight days for one of them to text me. I did not respond because it was clear it was a drunken text and I still have not heard a word from either of them since that text. Total number of days now: 14. CHEERS to living with people that don't care about you.

This started out as my own stupid little game to prove to myself I was crazy but it back fired. I ended up resenting them for leaving me out, not caring to say a word to me, and making a ton of noise at 2:00 am in the process. Its clear I need to be out of that environment as soon as possible.

Why is all of this relevant? Well rumor has it they are no longer studying abroad. And yes, rumor. I was told by multiple people that I am now going alone. Which is fine, I am actually okay with it. I will probably meet more people and be totally thrown out of my comfort zone. I am even more excited/nervous/anxious than before and I love it. I am just even more exasperated that the people I live with and considered friends do not have the decency to come to me and tell me themselves. Nope, I had to find out from people at work.

On the plus side, all of this has shown me people that will always be here for me regardless. I will miss them terribly while I am over seas. In the meantime I plan to spend as much time with them as I possibly can. You all know who you are and I LOVE YOU!

Next subject!

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

JA!

I have been working on Rosette Stone like its my job. I feel like I am slowly making progress. I cannot have a conversation with someone and I already forget to say "My name is" but if you say words to me very clearly and slowly I may be able to figure out what you are talking about. Ali and Andrew are also helping by writing German quotes on the sides of moving boxes (complete with Michael Jackson "HeHE!!'s") and google translating everything into German before posting it in facebook. Thanks guys! haha

Well until next time!

tschuss!!