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!!

PASSPORT

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!!!!

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.