thunder rolls in
i'm home and the countdown begins. twelve days.
i've been considering the things i could say about australia, and i've decided to begin exposition with a little timeline. hold on to your hats (it's not that exciting).
end-of-summer 2006: i toy with the idea of a semester abroad. my mom will say that it was always in the plans, but i honestly can't remember. i find myself on the lookout for different programs.
somewhere in september/october: i get some kind of mailing in my campus mailbox advertising best semester programs with the cccu. i flipped through the booklet, mostly uninterested, until i reached the last page. australia studies centre. it featured studies of arts, culture, history, and service. um, hi there.
november: mom visits me in wheaton while on business. i make what i think of as "the pitch" to her. she's heard me talk about the program before, but always as a hypothetical. this time, it was for real, and she was on board.
november-february: conduct semi-casual research, including reading other asc student's blog and copious google mapping. seriously. my google bar got some real work.
january- (i know, out of sequence)- i go out to coffee with a friend, and tell her about my plans to be gone in the fall. she raises her eyebrows, asks for more information, and within the half hour, decides to apply too.
february- finally finish my essays and turn in my appliation. mom helped lots.
march- i find out that both myself and my friend have been accepted to the program via email--less than a day later i spend a week in london for spring break. let's just say that lead-up week was high-stress.
late march- re-apply for my passport, as my current one expires a few months too early. (apparently it needed to last at least for six months after the end of my trip. it was about three months shy.)
march-may: fill out manymanymany forms for both wheaton and the asc to make sure everyone knows where i'll be in the fall and what i intend to do when i get back. it's amazing how many signatures, sheets, and copies need to be made.
may- a whole slew of things fall into place. i recieve my new passport, a new set of instructions from the asc. i apply for a visa, register with the state department, and generally get more things underway.
june- after a month and a half of back and forth with visa complications, everything works out. i find out where i'm living, start reading the required book, in a sunburned country. recieve the basic information guide (aka, the "big"), and recieve word that some other information is coming--but it was sent to the wrong address. i'm still waiting for that. so yeah.
july-stilil waiting for last piece. but everything else is in place, and that's a very weird place to be. i've felt like any piece coudl fall through and not work out and oh, i wouldn't be going. but they're all here. i think i know what's in the last piece, and it's not a huge deal. all the big stuff is underway.
i have strange hopes that future asc students will be able to look at this blog and find answers to questions, the same way i wanted answers last fall. i realize that given the lack of depth in this post would have frustrated me as a prospective, and might just clutter the casual reader's page--so i'm not sure all this was really worth it. sorry.
to those who have stopped by and left love, thanks! it's reassuring to know that someone's reading. really. leave love.
