today things started to feel real & feel good. first ill back track... i got here thursday & slept most of the afternoon & evening. even though i slept for something like 12 hours on the plane. friday i went to school, tried to get some stuff done, didn't achieve much since i have to pay them first. i tried to get a phone w/o luck and then i ate at some veggie place across the street from kristy's. had some jasmine rice, mixed 2 curries and a mango drink. about 30 min later i started to feel sick. i attempted to go out friday nite but came home at like 10 because i was having severe stomach cramps. basically it felt like someone was taking my intestines & pulling & tieing them into knots. great. i also felt that way saturday, enough that while i made it out to town during the afternoon, there was no way i could go out that nite. this am (sunday) i still felt bad but at least i was able to eat something (other than drink ginger ale). i had a slice of toast & then attempted small bites of the bfast kristy made.
since it was a beautiful day today (mid 30s/90s i guess), i wanted to go out. clare & i took a walk, hung out in the park & then went to see a movie downtown tonite. i managed to drink a banana honey frozen yogurt shake which ultimately (i think) made me a lot better. it was 31 degrees when we arrived at the outdoor theater, when we left, at 1130pm... it was 28 degrees. yeah baby. this is what im talking about.
it was great sitting out under the stars, watching films, wearing a tshirt & skirt and finally feeling better. the city was kind of off to the side of the screen so u could watch the neon. i forgot that melbourne neon is mostly blue. it makes the city look cool. i could like this.
i'm leaving for melbourne today. this has been such a short trip to LA and an interesting one. the airline or security busted one of my suitcases (w all the shoes) and broke some of the stuff inside. wonderful. and when i got to BWI, i found out i'd have to pay for the extra baggage twice (a domestic rate & an int'l one because my stop in LA was more than 4 hrs). since they broke the bag i decided to mail the stuff to myself but that ended up being only slightly less expensive than taking it on the plane w a new suitcase. i hope it all arrives. moving to australia is a LOT more expensive than moving to london. (duh)
had dinner w some transplanted friends last nite @ this greek place in long beach which is really good (though the service sucked last nite). i have a list of things i need to do today though i feel like if i dont get to it, oh well. i didn't want to sleep last nite, wanted to be good & tired for the airplane but i finally went to bed at 5a PST. wanted to sleep 2 hrs tops but it was 4. i feel like i should run around the block or do something to tire me out. i have melatonian but that only goes so far on a 17 hr flight.
in approximately 4 hours i'll be leaving for the airport for LA & then MELB. i've packed and repacked. taken stuff out & repacked. i'm not done packing. i was stressing this afternoon but now i'm ok. i have 2 large bags, 1 smaller one & 1 carry on. not bad for 18 months. of course 1 of the large bags is filled with almost nothing except shoes.
sunday afternoon i took the bus to DC so i could show up at the australian embassy bright and early monday morning and beg for my visa. the forms claim it takes up to 3 weeks to get your visa and the price to fedex the forms was the same as the bus ticket (really... $42.50 for the ticket and fedex overnite priority was like $41). i stayed with a friend, we went out drinking sunday & it got a little messy but i was still ready to walk out the door at 815am to get there by 9. since i was about to hand them a form where they could charge the fees, i figured i'd check and make sure everything was fine with the card. good i did because my checks hadn't cleared yet. the charge would have been rejected. so at 830am i run ouf of an apartment in a town i don't know to find a bank & a post office (money order). not a good way to start the morning (but then neither was the pounding in my head). luckily i found both & made it to the embassy at 930 (they opened at 9). the woman at the counter asks when i want this and i start my story re: my supposed to be there tomorrow n going to LA & such. i ask if i can wait. she says there's several people waiting but if i could come back in the morning it would be ready. um, what? take 1 day?! um, YES! she looked over all my paperwork, said everything seemed fine & said come back any time in the am.
this morning i got there about 10am. stood in line for a while and then told this other woman that i had stuff to pick up. she reaches in a drawer right next to her, flips thru some passports and hands mine over. HOLY FUCK. there's a visa in there!!!!!!!
wow. now it's real. or rather it still doesnt feel real.
since i was in DC, i also met my coordinator, krista @ idp. we've been talking for months so it was great to meet her.
im still in shock even though i've now booked my flight and i have to finish packing tomorrow.
after my incredibly productive day yesterday, i feel like such the slacker today. i managed to go pick up the doctors forms and that's really it. made a few calls. the loan company has to send me this paper to confirm the loan which i need for my visa paperwork. when i called them the other day they said they could fax it BUT it would take 24-48 hours to fax it. um, ok, great. i called tonite and the guy said there was no record of that so he'd request it again hence another 24-48 hours. great. so then a few hours later i get a fax. but of course the fax isn't for the full amount of the loan. so i still need more paperwork. argh!!!!
back to watching the bachelorette
as soon as i heard my student loan had come thru i had these really mixed feelings. i'm really glad it did since my backup plan was kind of crap (hang out in germany & kentucky) and since i'm really excited about this new professional direction. i'm also having massive doubts. i love nyc so much that i don't really want to leave. can i really deal with being a full time student, not being able to work much & being really poor? can i just deal with being a student again (gonna be really weird)? am i going to like melbourne? how am i going to feel the first time i see boy? and what am i gonna say? what am i supposed to do with these feelings i'm starting to have for zurich boy? do i really want to be 14 hrs away from all my friends? grrr. i mean, i'm definitely going, just having a lot of butterflies. i can't remember if i was this shaken when i moved to london or not. my stress level was at an all time high then which it's not now but i don't remember having a lot of "shit, is this the right thing to do" type feelings.
with the loan issue worked out (w/o it, i wouldn't have been able to afford to go to school), it's time to apply for my visa. this entails lots of paperwork & sending everything to the embassy in DC for up to 3 weeks while they process it. i don't have 3 weeks. in fact to get there on time i should leave THIS saturday so i'm gonna go to DC and supposedly it can be issued that day.
i spent today doing the medical bits of the application. i found a place where i could get the physical for free since i'm unemployed & have no insurance. spent 2 hours there waiting & doing the physical. they were really nice & helpful & it was FREE! i couldn't believe it. I didn't even have to show ID, i could have lied about everything. Then they gave me a referral sheet & sent me to the hospital to get my chest xray done. again, it was all FREE and it took an hour from the time i walked in til i left. AND instead of taking 3 days like i was originally told, the hospital was so confused over the visa form that they did the paperwork right there & handed it to me. since the physical paperwork needs to be signed by a MD & the clinic had some sort of nurse type person i had to deliver the paperwork to the doc for a signature. of course he was already gone when i got there at 4pm so i'll pick that up tomorrow.
i need to double check but i think that completes the visa xcept for the fax confirming i received the loan.
with the help of my coordinator krista @ IDP, i applied to Educaid for my loan. They seemed to understand the situation of dealing with a school abroad vs in the states. And I had an actual coordinator person on that end instead of a nameless 800 number to dial. i guess i sent the paperwork to cali (they won't accept faxes of the MPN form) and got confirmation that it was submitted on fri jan 24 (estimate). was supposed to take 5-7 biz days and i hoped to have heard by fri jan 31 but when i called Ron @ educaid, there was no word. Yesterday... i found out i got the loan!!!!!!! YEAH BABY! and the full amount i wanted, even partly subscidized (sp)!!! i was told the check was gonna go out today but ron told me today the loan company screwed up & sent the check to australia instead of to me. oops. i hope they get another check sent in the next few days.