"I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

Don't know when I'll be back again..."

Yup, that pretty much sums it up. All I have to do is put everything I'm taking back in my bags. Everything else is set.

It's really weird to think that in 48 hours I'll be living in another country. I was driving to Target yesterday thinking that it's so relaxing because I don't have to think about it. Well, if I do get to drive in Russia (which I most likely won't) even that would be different. Simple things I take for granted, like being able to understand everything, being at ease around other people, walking down the street without a care in the world. All of that is going to be different, not just the actually different things like taking the metro, dressing up to go to class, not having internet at home, etc. Even something as simple as getting some water to drink is different: you either have to buy bottled water or boil tap water before you drink it.

I'm warning you now: I will complain about Russia. I will get frustrated with everything there. I will ask myself why I decided to go. I will get homesick.
My advice to you: Ignore it; ignore it all. Remind me that I'm experiencing something amazing, and that things will get better as my command of the language improves and I grow accustomed to the culture. This is the easiest way for us both get through it.

I can't guarantee that I'll have access to the internet the first couple of days I'm there, but I will try and let you know I made it safe as soon as I can. Once school starts, I'll have access to the internet regularly, so you can expect lots of posts then. :-)

Wow. It's really, seriously happening. Here goes nothing...

Moving...

Tomorrow is the last full day I will spend in Ann Arbor. It's the end of an era. To commemorate the occasion, I wrote a haiku. ;-)

Ann Arbor
While I was in school
Your bubble protected me
You're not the real world

I'll update more after I move, but I did add some pictures. Check them out! (Click the album titles on the right! -->)

50 days left!

Even though I know there are 50 days until I leave on August 29, it seems like less than that! I move out of my apartment and leave Ann Arbor on August 16, which is more like a month from now. Weeeeeeird!

I'm mailing out my passport and HIV test results in order to complete my application for my visa! Yay! The final preparations are almost complete! ...I think I might jump out of my skin...

There's a couple of things that I am going to send out in an email, but I thought I should post them here, too:
--I just realized there's an option for you to receive an email whenever I update my blog. If you would like to receive an email whenever I post a new entry, please let me know!
--If you would like to send me letters while I'm in Russia, they are delivered faster if they are written in Russian. I'm going to print some address labels with my address in Russian. If you would like to send me letters while I'm in Russia, let me know and I'll send you some address labels for faster delivery!

Well, I have lots to do for my last class at U of M... 50 days! I'm almost there!

The last hoop...

I've finally got everything together to apply for my visa—the last hoop! All I have to do is send in my paperwork! Yay!

I've also got my loans together for next year. It amazes me how easily they give away money. I'm very happy about that, though, because I'm taking all I can get.

Things are coming along nicely. Eventually I have to get rid of some of my stuff, put some of it in storage, and buy some more appropriate traveling things. However, for right now I have to study some Russian and take my class during the second half of the summer. I've actually gotten a native speaker who's studying abroad here to be my conversation partner, and then a graduate student from the Russian Department is tutoring me in grammar. My economics class is going to be very difficult, especially working 30-40 hours a week at the bank and all the Russian stuff. Oh well, it will get done, even if my grade in econ isn't the greatest.

It's weird to think that this is the last class I'll take that the University of Michigan. After Russia I'll graduate, so it's really the end of an era. However, it's the beginning of a new, different, Russian one...

Ohhh, I'm so impatient! 65 days to go!

Is anything getting done?

My temptation is to immediately say, "NO!" However, I feel like I'm kind of at a point where there's nothing I can do but wait.

I sent of a whole bunch of stuff to Middlebury, including my visa application, a copy of my passport, my course request, and my housing survey. I guess stuff is getting done, but it's definitely not getting done by me. I think Middlebury is probably in the process of
getting me an invitation letter by the Russian State University for the Humanities, but all I can do is sit here at wait!

I have to wait until at least May 30th before I can get my HIV test. And without my HIV test I can't actually submit my visa request. I don't find out what classes I have or what family I'm living with until I get there.

Right now the only thing I can do is keep getting rid of my crap (it all has to fit into 2 suit cases + 1 5'x5' storage locker), and get enough money to go there. I can't get rid of too much because I need stuff to live for the summer, and I can't get loans until I know how much to get. That means knowing how much financial aid I'm getting. And THAT means meeting with the ONE person in the WHOLE university that does study abroad financial aid! AND HE ONLY HAS 12 APPOINTMENT HOURS PER WEEK! How can I meet with him if I have a class and a job and he's barely ever available??? Grrr...... *Head explodes!*

I guess what I could be doing is worrying about tomorrow now and worrying about 3 months from now later. Tomorrow I have a midterm in Money and Banking. I should go study... I guess I'll update again when I have something more exciting than "nothing's going on right now..." :-)