Countdown Continues

Dear London,

I wish I had more exciting things to say than I am focused on packing, and that I hope I can fit all my shoes in one small suitcase, but the days are numbered. Now that my visa is done, loans are finalized, courses are signed up for, plane tickets are purchased, enrollment step one is completed, and Rebecca has been started, I have nothing left but to pack while that countdown to run outs.

Once in England my list is not so big - find a flat, find a bank, enrollment step 2, organize courses and, most importantly, remember how to cook. After my summer of accomplishments and busy work, this will be nothing - fingers crossed.

For the moment, I am left staring at two open suitcases with neatly piled clothes, a backpack and purse waiting patiently for their own undecided contents, and a laundry basket full of 'stuff' that must somehow be fit into my luggage.


The limit is 50lbs per suitcase. 


The challenge is packing for a year. 


Any advice?

Kochanie the last time I packed up for England, 2009 - BOY could I use her now!

xx, Kristin


PS: if anyone wants to play with spacebags and help me pack, just let me know when I can expect you - I've got hot coca!! 

Pushing On

Dear London,

Visa - Heard back from the Consulate and apparently they do not send your photograph from the biometrics appointment to the city - so, that is a definite note for the future. I had to send a photograph down with a $12 money order so that they would send it all back again. It seems that you only get one free shipment home.

Housing - Still have not found a place to live, but I am still invited to live with a friend until I can find a place. I believe that the easiest thing to do now would to put up an ad searching for two others to search with. The best options for flats I can find at the moment are wanting groups of 4 to 5 students. These flats are close to the campus and Kingston center. I would not mind living with more than just Stacey.

Courses - I have now received an email about my courses, but I have a thought that I can do no more for this until my visa is complete. I am not even sure what courses are offered yet, and how I would find out all my options. Also, it is a mystery to me what the best order to take the the courses in, or if something acts as a pre-requisite for something else. I am going to need to spend more time on that, but I have no clue when that will be able to happen - hopefully soon. I feel like every time I read that email, I am missing one important piece that has all the answers.

Other than that, I have nothing really to worry about other than packing. The riots in London have moved on, which is great news - even though the destruction still remains behind. The days are swiftly counting down till L-Day and I soon expect to have a giant slap in the face of reality shortly.

I am certain that I am not the only one who will get that slap either.

Wales: 2009, Photographer: Kristin Bergene

xx, Kristin

What Now?

Dear London,

If anyone actually reads this blog they are going to think I need to get checked for bi-polar disorder. My mood and stress levels are so connected to this process of becoming an international student. I should probably chill out, but I cannot let go because I am so afraid that the moment I let loose it will come crashing down around me and - dream over.

I never wanted to be the person so affected by money, but that is who I am becoming. I cannot have or be what I want without it, and therefor its importance has been realized. Now, I am faced with finding a good chunk of dollars with little time and little savings. Why? I have to pay for a plane ticket and 4-6 weeks of rent without the support of my loans that I took out to support my graduate school and living expenses... WHAT?

Without thinking of what will happen if I cannot find the money, I am continuing to fight against the waves crashing into me. Right now I am searching for the way, using my bank as a pretty huge resource. There is the option of taking out a loan and / or there is the option of increasing my credit card maximum amount. The only catch is that I have to convince my manager to sign a paper saying how much I get weekly, which is now on tomorrow's growing to-do-list.

Tomorrow: I also have to finish my Visa application, and wait to hear from Patrick with my huge list of questions about disbursement. We will see how my mood will be by 8:30am and hope it turns out well. I am also having a skype date with Stacey and Ruth tomorrow night, which will be good to sort out housing and when to land in London.

I did receive a lot of help from my parents today, which I am really grateful for. Hopefully, everything will be worked out from their help today. It was really refreshing to not have everything be on me and my shoulders.

Wales: 2009, Photographer: Kristin Bergene

xx, kristin

Visa - Yet Again

Dear London,

How many posts can I create in one week about Visas? I should win an award for most confused international student ever. Again I took the time to slowly reread everything and I have the best post as of yet in this visa process: Step-by-step instructions and understanding.

Here they are:

1. Get CAS = CHECK
2. Apply for Visa online
3. Make appointment for biometrics in Latham
4. Mail everything to British Consulate in NYC.

As far as I can tell this is it, and I do not want to believe it will be anymore complicated than this. Hopefully when I fill out my application for the second time, there will be more details on the four steps I have laid out, especially steps 3 and 4.

In the future I will put up a post that sums up everything about the visa process.

Italy: 2009, Photographer: Allie Harcharek

xx, Kristin

A Post to Vent

Dear London,

This is all getting quite stressful for me. Where I am on the scale - which is basically off the charts - a weaker person would quit and walk away. I am really afraid of being that person, I have never been that person before.

I will not walk away.

I cannot walk away.

I refuse to walk away.

But, I am about to lose my mind.

I have divided what needs to be done for Kingston into three different categories and each one is weighing on me in an impossible, crushing pressure. While it is possible I am making this more difficult then it actually is, the problem is that I am lacking anyone on this continent and in local area to talk things through with. Constantly, I am making mistakes and missing details and I really believe it is because this is the first time I am doing anything remotely like this on my own. I am missing and needing the support that I used to get from the offices at Oneonta State or from my own advisor.

Right now the categories stand like so:

LOANS

• Applied for, and I believe will get the loans.
• Today, I found out the first disbursement is not till Oct 3rd, which puts difficulties on plane ticket, housing and just enough money for a little food in the first few weeks
• Also, last disbursement is not until the end of June, which is also unfortunate because I should be home then. I am taking out the loan for school not after school, not for after I have graduated.
• CONCLUSION: This seems like an impossible situation, and it does not make sense that the disbursement schedule would work like this. How do they expect us to pay for anything? Like tuition? I just have to think that there is a piece of information I am missing.

VISA

• Need to apply for.
• Need CAS to apply for - which I think came into my email this morning.
• For this, I think it is enough to say I have messed up once on applying for my visa already. I am afraid to get this going again and mess up... again. Also, it seems my knowledge of what I need to get this accomplished is different from what others understand.

HOUSING

• find a flat... in another country, separated by an ocean
• find funding for flat - down payment & few months rent

I honestly cannot see how all this adds up. In fact, I cannot see anything anymore with all the pressure. My life is asking for far too much from me right now, I need six of me to even bite down on the building to-do list in front of me. Logos, websites, book, illustrations, two jobs, all of this graduate stuff and probably other things I am forgetting due to stress. I have not even had the time to write, which is what I am going to graduate school for. I will be uselessly rusty when it comes time to actually write well for my courses, this will be horrible if I cannot get a moment to exercise my skills.

For now, I can only think of the day I sit on the plane and head off for across the ocean. That day, all of this will be behind me, and my only worries should be finding a part-time job and doing my course work. AND, I vow I will not put more on my table than I can handle, as I always do. I will learn to say no - not to experiences - so that I will be able to focus on me and my needs.

Italy: 2009, Photographer: Kristin Bergene

xx, Kristin

Order of Events

Dear London,

I now believe I know what order I need to do things in, I just need deadlines. Hopefully tomorrow several emails will arrive and give me dates - and perhaps a checklist - of what I need to accomplish. For now though, here is what order I believe things need to be done in...

1. Student Space - I need to log onto Student Space so I can check the daily listings on flats. This cannot be done until I hear from the tech office and they give me a new password into my account - which should be tomorrow morning.
2. Find a Flat - Something that Stacey, Ruthie and I agree on and fits our needs. Phillipa said she would look at a falt for us, if we found something we really liked. This is also needed for the CAS and the Visa with a UK address.
3. Get Loans - Have the money safely place in my account, or at least okay through the university. There is little I can do before I have the money in my bank.
4. Put Payment on the Flat - Which I need the loans for, and the location.
5. Pay for Tuition - At least 50% of my tuition, but I think I will pay in full. This way it is out of the way and they can include that on my CAS.
6. CAS - Apply for my CAS, which I can do after June 20th, once I have a UK address and my tuition is paid.
7. Visa - Apply for Visa, which I can do after I get my CAS.
8. Appointment for Visa - Schedule an appointment, which comes at the end of the Visa application. This is where I bring in my biometrics, which is the paperwork and identification that complets the application process.
9. Buy Plane Ticket - This is going to depend on a few things, like whether or not I want to wait for my visa to come through. One thing I know for certain is that it will be a one-way ticket, because I literally have no idea when I will be coming home. AND, while I was aiming for September 4th, I think I will have to wait for the following weekend... which is September 11th. Though, I don't know how I feel about that either, maybe I will do September 10th instead?
10. Shopping Trip - I am also planning a shopping trip where I find several new outfits that can interchange. This is so I can pack a little amount of clothing. I am also planning on donating most of my clothes before I head overseas, after I go shopping.

That is the plan, but like I said before I have no dates for anything. Somewhere in between I hope to have time to work on my writing abilities, so I can start the year strong. Also, I would like make time to see my family before I move to London for 10-ish months.

AND this is yet another boring post by me and this process, only made better by the following SURPRISE picture...

Amsterdam: Fall 2009, Photographer: Kristin Bergene

xx, Kristin

Prepare.

Dear London,

Unlike last time, I thought I'd keep track of the process before I leave the country - even though I've yet to announce the existence of this blog. It would have been really helpful if past me had left a checklist or guide of what to do in order to become an international student. All I remember from that time, is loads of paperwork and the assistant of a great home base at Oneonta State and a great foreign base in the Study Abroad International Student office at Kingston University. Now, I have very little paperwork - other than the stuff I've printed on my own which is generally useless - and no support from a home base. It is very difficult for me to figure out the right questions to ask to see if I am on the right direction, but I might start with...

Hello, I am looking for a giant checklist to make sure my international student process goes smoothly. You know, a list of when and what I have to do before I am allowed to come to your University. For example, this whole Visa business... you know, I didn't need one last time.

But beyond Visa's - note: I am applying for Tier 4 - I am trying to work out FAFSA and loans. I have no clue how much I am going to need for 10 months abroad. The numbers I have crunched and the numbers they have crunched differ by $20,000, which is a huge difference of opinions. My mom says to pick the middle, so that's what I am planning on doing... but I don't know how.

My biggest problem at the moment, is that I don't have time to figure out and charm the system. After quitting my job at The Freeman's Journal because of my hours being cut, I now have more hours than I know what to do with - which is great for a piece of the loan situation. Ah well, there are worse things I could complain about. So, for my own benefit, the following is a list of what I need to accomplish...

1. apply for Visa - appointment, CAS letter, biometrics, etc...
2. figure out FAFSA - how much to take out, how to take out, how soon I can take out, etc...
3. find housing - which is just a bunch of questions - live with Phillipa again still I can find a place, live with Ruthie/Stacey, live on campus, live off campus, how much???
4. buy plane ticket and transportation to the airport - do I buy one way, just in case?
5. packing - need my drugs, clothes, toiletries, etc to fit in one suitcase and last 10+ months...

... And all while keeping up my writing ability, finishing my book, illustration, working, working, working, and trying not to explode from overwhelming stress. BUT HEY, in early September I will be somewhere between here and there, traveling to my home for the next - almost - year and that only 3ish months away. I am planning on leaving work two weeks before the end of August, so that I can go on a little vacation with my sister and hopefully other family, then have one week off to pack, think and get stuff done and then head out to LONDON-TOWN.

With optimism in mind, I will now post a random picture, that I have allowed computer to select, from my last experience as a token of my ambition and a moment of remembrance.

Abbey: Wales, 2009. Photographer: Kristin Bergene

Also, I leave you with this thought: When you leave many behind to achieve what lies ahead, remember that we are all striving for success, but only the individual can declare when success has been had. Do not let others prevent you, as much as you would not attempt to prevent them.

xx, Kristin