28 Days: All Good Things Come to an End

Well ladies and Gents,

My British adventure comes to an end in. I move back in 28 short days. 

Time here has been a learning and growing experience. School has given me a new perspective on my expectations for children. Living in another country has shown me a different way of life. There have been so many people that I am grateful I met. And some people I am wholly grateful will be 3,799 miles away. Both types of people have taught me more about myself than I expected. 

I have learned to trust my instincts and that I am stronger than I knew. Moving to a new country alone took more courage than I thought I would ever have. It paid off. 

I have a lot to do between now and then. I need to sell everything I can't bring back. I need to clean my house and pack. I have to work on my dissertation and a re-submission. 

I have come up with a bucket list of things I want to do before I leave, as it will be a really long time before I will make it across the pond again. 

1. I want to go to Harry Potter Studios

Harry Potter consisted of most of my childhood. I loved reading because I loved these books. The first book came out in  June 1997, I was just over 4. And the last Harry Potter film (of the original series) came out July 2011, which is just over 6 weeks after I graduated from high school. Needless to say it has been a huge influence on my life. Sentimental as I am it made the top of the list

2. I want to go to Rhossili Bay, at Sunset, on my last Sunday here

This was one of the first beaches I went to in Wales. If you haven't been down the Gower make it a priority. This beach has been in the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the WORLD and top in the UK, as of 2014. I would love to take photos to commemorate the end of an era. 

3. Kaspa's 

It is a dessert bar and has been the place I go to celebrate. The local one had some health code issues but maybe I will find a different... or just risk it.

4. Hike Pen-y-Fan 

This is the highest peak  in South Wales. And I want to take a place with the marker.

Time is winding down quickly. 

What am I doing next? 

I don't completely know yet but....

I am ready for my next step and a new adventure!

So now I can say lets adventure and:

  

Croeso i Abertawe| Welcome to Swansea

I made it! After months of prepping and a few mental break downs I am finally here. Wales is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is so green. I am from Ohio, which is a green place, but Swansea just has this energy that I love. The under current motivates me to walk miles every day. 

I have learned a lot in my few days here. For example there is no such thing as Jaywalking.

Rexburg, where I did my undergraduate degree, fines you like $80 if they catch you jaywalking. This has been music to my ears. 

Also, because they drive on the left side of the road, I am learning to look left then right before crossing the street. I probably look crazy with how many times I check the road before I cross but I haven't had incidences with cars so:

Walking is my main mode of transport and it is so nice outside, even with the misty rain, that I don't even care. I have stepped in my fair share of puddles already. I definitely need to invest in better shoes. Flats are not really enough here. Also, I really want to find a bike. It will be faster than walking. And cabs are darn expensive.

Also in traveling, don't use street addresses. The most efficient way to find a place is the post code. Much like the zipcode in the US, but more accurate. Its almost block specific, kind of like a grid system, but British. And is pretty accurate. I have had no problems using postcodes.

Phones are interesting too. All mobiles are 07 numbers. All landlines are either 01 or 02. 03 and 08 are for call centers and marketing things;which makes it really easy to know if its a sales call. Ignore the 03 and 08 calls.

People use the nick name variety of Love, Lovey, my love etc. And honestly, it makes me so happy. If people called me lovey for the rest of my life I would be okay. It is also odd, I think American culture makes us hesitant to use the word love, in any context. It holds significant meaning to us culturally and thus we don't use it that often. So I feel bonded to strangers because they call me love. I know to them it means something different, but it is refreshing.

Something else I have learned is that Welsh people are unbelievably kind. I have had complete strangers help me with my luggage, offer me advice about buses to take and plethora of other things. I hope this continues. They have made quite the impression and it has been a positive one.

I am getting pretty settled in. I already have adjusted to the new time zone. I move into my flat on Friday. I can't wait for this adventure to really start!

LET THE COUNT DOWN BEGIN!

My life is so important that obviously I need to write about it and share it to my friends, family and acquaintances. Over the past few months a lot has happened. The Olympics where Michael Phelps did his things, my family and I had adventures, and I started preparing for my impending travels for grad school. 

There is an entire section of the internet and book stores dedicated to travel and how to prepare for it. The stress has probably given me my first gray hair. I haven't looked, to be honest, I don't really care. Gray can be really dignified and is really trendy right so I would "in".

The visa has been my biggest issue. I had to wait for my CAS.  

C -Confirmation

of

A- Acceptance

for

S-Studies

Basically it is the institution saying"Yes, we are having Sara come study. No, she isn't pretending."

In order to receive a CAS, one must have an unconditional offer from the institution they are planning on attending. My unconditional offer required an FBI background check. It takes forever. 

(If you need one by a certain date make sure you submit your paperwork at least 5 months in advance. It takes 11 weeks before you can even check if they received your application.) After my university processes the background check, the rest of the planning was fairly uneventful... until I had to apply for my visa. 

My school didn't email me telling me the required documents for my visa until two weeks ago. That in and of itself made me anxious. Most visas take a while to process. I complied the documents and went to the post office and mailed them. Upon returning home I found I forgot three pages of documents. The next day I overnight-ed them. Two days after that I had an email that told me I had the wrong type of return label and that I needed to pay for the online PDF return label. I wanted to rip my hair out. 

Today was a glorious day. I have heard back, my visa has been granted. My passport will be returned early next week. My airplane tickets are purchased. Hotel is taken care of for when I arrive.

 

I will be leaving the U.S. for the United Kingdom, where I will be living, in Wales, for the next year. I am so excited for this next adventure.

Cue the Happy Dance: Winning at this Adult-ing thing

It has been a few weeks since I have posted an update for my schooling adventure!

After a months long battle with the FBI, which I won, I was able to move forward with all of the documentation and other hoops to get read for school. Honestly, this is like a mental tough mudder.

For future reference this is how applying for an FBI back ground check goes.

A 12-step program:

1. Spend 20 minutes filling out the form and pay online.

2. Wait in line for two hours to get finger printed like a common criminal

(that ink stains be careful, they give you nifty wipes and it goes away)

3. Mail the envelope to the FBI

4. Wait a grand total of 11 weeks before they can tell you if

you received the documents you mail because its a "security risk"

5. Panic at weeks 3,5,6,7,8, and 10.

6. You call on week 11; they did receive the document.

7. They process the document, by now its about week 13.

8. You call again and they say in the states it takes about 10 days to get to you.

Internationally it can take up to 3 months. (I.E. after your term starts)

9. Major panic

10. Pray for it to get there in a reasonable time.

All the while trying to convince yourself panicking is just aging you.

11. The oh so glorious day where the school emails, you saying your document

was received and to await further instruction!

12. Celebrate

My university has been really amazing about communicating with me. The time change and only being able to communicate through email has made it a semi slow process, but they have been punctual. *point to Swansea*

In order to study in the UK, a student needs a CAS or Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. One cannot apply for a visa, as a student, without this document. That was emailed to me today! I have now completed my paperwork for my visa. It took about 45 minutes. I went to pay and it got complicated. My payment got denied because it was an international transaction.

I appreciate that banks attempt to protect my money. I really do. Bank and computer hackers are among the worst kinds of people. But not being able to do the things I need to, because they are international transactions is driving me nuts!

In other news, I have an apartment for school. Which I paid for with no problem yesterday. So I was a little confused when my transaction was denied today. If the banking system cooperates, I will have my health insurance (full coverage insurance is only $301 (yes, I do mean dollars not pounds) for the whole year) and visa finished today as well.

My dream is becoming a reality!

The last things on my list are relatively simple. Pack up my life, fly to a new country and set up my life there. Where once again, my list of to-dos will explode.

Cheers!