Looking for America
Hello. I'm Tom:
Hi! So I'm twenty, live in the middle of Middle England, study American and English Lit at UEA, and on August 16th I'm going to San Francisco. This is a little scary.
The last few months have been pretty manic, busy and exciting. The next few promise to be all these things, multiplied by approximately seventeen thousand, two hundred and thirty-one.
So I've gone through Visa applications, course registrations and the eternal frustration of sorting out financial details, and I'm almost out the other side and ready to go.
I had a brief moment of panic at the American Embassy when, after waiting for an hour already, I realised I'd forgotten to bring details to prove I can actually, like, afford to live in America for a year. Huh. Apparently they didn't care all that much.
Another moment of frustration when I found out that the day I was due to register for classes was slap bang in the middle of my week's holiday in Greece, the one week in the whole summer I had off from working my arse off in my local pub. What do you know, internet cafes do have a purpose!
Still trying to sort out financial stuff. Nationwide is great because they don't charge anything on withdrawals abroad, but first you have to get the account. Apparently, because I've been a Nationwide customer for years but have been using a Natwest student account for the last two years, I'm not eligible for an upgrade to get an overdraft or debit card. And Natwest seem kind of reluctant to give me a student credit card. Jesus, am I that untrustworthy? So I'm relying on balance transfers and paying for expensive things really really slowly. The only major expenditures for a while will be a laptop (cheaper than the UK- score!) and rent. Hmmm.
Fortunately I'm gonna be staying with a friend for the first couple of weeks. While everyone else crashes in a motel and desperately pores over Craigslist trying to find a place to live, I'll be living in luxury on the floor of my friend Charlie. See, SFSU are pretty cheap, so they apparently want their exchange students put up in the cheapest accomodation. I'm pretty cheap too, and good ol' Waveney Terrace (RIP) brought us together. So I've got a friend in San Francisco, which is going to make everything slightly easier. Sure, I could be thrown in at the deep end, knowing no-one, nothing and being completely and utterly lost, and for some that's the appeal of having a year abroad. But I figure I'll save that for when I graduate and have to, y'know, get a proper job.
Also there's Sam. We went to high school together, we did our A-levels together, and when I told him about the UEA Am.Lit course, well the bastard just up and followed me to UEA to! And now he's going to San Francisco AS WELL! I mean, he's one of my best friends and I love the guy but Damn! sometimes you just want to get away from people like that...
So that's me and my situation for the next year. in 15 days I will be getting up at 1 in the morning, going out to Birmingham, flying to Amsterdam and from thence westward ho!
California here I come!
Hi! So I'm twenty, live in the middle of Middle England, study American and English Lit at UEA, and on August 16th I'm going to San Francisco. This is a little scary.
The last few months have been pretty manic, busy and exciting. The next few promise to be all these things, multiplied by approximately seventeen thousand, two hundred and thirty-one.
So I've gone through Visa applications, course registrations and the eternal frustration of sorting out financial details, and I'm almost out the other side and ready to go.
I had a brief moment of panic at the American Embassy when, after waiting for an hour already, I realised I'd forgotten to bring details to prove I can actually, like, afford to live in America for a year. Huh. Apparently they didn't care all that much.
Another moment of frustration when I found out that the day I was due to register for classes was slap bang in the middle of my week's holiday in Greece, the one week in the whole summer I had off from working my arse off in my local pub. What do you know, internet cafes do have a purpose!
Still trying to sort out financial stuff. Nationwide is great because they don't charge anything on withdrawals abroad, but first you have to get the account. Apparently, because I've been a Nationwide customer for years but have been using a Natwest student account for the last two years, I'm not eligible for an upgrade to get an overdraft or debit card. And Natwest seem kind of reluctant to give me a student credit card. Jesus, am I that untrustworthy? So I'm relying on balance transfers and paying for expensive things really really slowly. The only major expenditures for a while will be a laptop (cheaper than the UK- score!) and rent. Hmmm.
Fortunately I'm gonna be staying with a friend for the first couple of weeks. While everyone else crashes in a motel and desperately pores over Craigslist trying to find a place to live, I'll be living in luxury on the floor of my friend Charlie. See, SFSU are pretty cheap, so they apparently want their exchange students put up in the cheapest accomodation. I'm pretty cheap too, and good ol' Waveney Terrace (RIP) brought us together. So I've got a friend in San Francisco, which is going to make everything slightly easier. Sure, I could be thrown in at the deep end, knowing no-one, nothing and being completely and utterly lost, and for some that's the appeal of having a year abroad. But I figure I'll save that for when I graduate and have to, y'know, get a proper job.
Also there's Sam. We went to high school together, we did our A-levels together, and when I told him about the UEA Am.Lit course, well the bastard just up and followed me to UEA to! And now he's going to San Francisco AS WELL! I mean, he's one of my best friends and I love the guy but Damn! sometimes you just want to get away from people like that...
So that's me and my situation for the next year. in 15 days I will be getting up at 1 in the morning, going out to Birmingham, flying to Amsterdam and from thence westward ho!
California here I come!