I GOT MY VISA.
Seriously I haven't been this excited since the last Harry Potter book came out.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Title change!
So, I've changed the title of this thang from Yours truly, xox to Gauffre-a-gogo because
1: I always thought "Yours truly, xox" was REALLY corny
2: My friend has decided that Belgium shall be referred to as "Waffle-a-gogo Land" (it's a long story), but in Belgium, waffles are called "gauffres" (gohfr) and "Gauffre-a-gogo" sounds better than "Waffle-a-gogo" because of the alliteration
So that's that! I might change the layout while I'm at it. Not really fond of the green birds, man.
I've finally gotten EVERYTHING in the mail to the Consulate General of Waffle-a-gogo Land (except the Almighty Background Check)! This is super exciting for me, because that business was my main cause of stress about all of this. I did a lot of running around on Friday; I went to the Study Abroad office (which is on the 4th floor and Clemson stairs are WICKED; srsly those things are VERTICAL) and the university post office, but they only accept cash or checks there and I never have cash, so I had to walk/run downtown to the city post office (which closes at 4) so I could express mail everything to Atlanta. I definitely had a nightmare last night that I left out my passport and found it in a sale bin in the mall, only it turned out that it wasn't my passport, it was somebody else's and then I was relieved. In the same dream, I bought a watch whose face looked like a record player. I really want to find that watch now and actually buy it, because it was really cool.
It's actual exam week, so I'm INFINITELY perkier than I was last post (can't you tell?) because the anticipation is ALWAYS worse than the actual event. Now if I only I could realize this about airplanes, we would be golden.
I'm starting to get nervous/excited about all this biznass. I'm nervous 1: because I hate airplanes, and 2: because I'm starting to worry about communication. Don't get me wrong, I speak French (rather well, I might add) and it's good that I have such a strong accent (so say my professors, anyway), but I've come to learn that my accent is a Parisian accent, and sometimes, like in English, I get REALLY southern because I put a lot of emphasis on the last syllable (yup; they have different accents just like we do!), and Parisian accent ≠ southern French accent ≠ Belgian accent. WHAT IF THEY CAN'T UNDERSTAND ME AND MY PARISIAN/SOUTH CAROLINIAN SELF?
And I know y'all are probably all thinking, "Fool, they speak ENGLISH in Europe too!" but I don't WANT to speak English. What's the point of me even going abroad if I'm going to speak English the whole time? I'm one of those weird Americans that actually sees a benefit in learning a language that isn't English, and that would actually like to use said language if I'm going to go through the trouble of learning it in the first place.
I'm sure I'm just being silly.
1: I always thought "Yours truly, xox" was REALLY corny
2: My friend has decided that Belgium shall be referred to as "Waffle-a-gogo Land" (it's a long story), but in Belgium, waffles are called "gauffres" (gohfr) and "Gauffre-a-gogo" sounds better than "Waffle-a-gogo" because of the alliteration
So that's that! I might change the layout while I'm at it. Not really fond of the green birds, man.
I've finally gotten EVERYTHING in the mail to the Consulate General of Waffle-a-gogo Land (except the Almighty Background Check)! This is super exciting for me, because that business was my main cause of stress about all of this. I did a lot of running around on Friday; I went to the Study Abroad office (which is on the 4th floor and Clemson stairs are WICKED; srsly those things are VERTICAL) and the university post office, but they only accept cash or checks there and I never have cash, so I had to walk/run downtown to the city post office (which closes at 4) so I could express mail everything to Atlanta. I definitely had a nightmare last night that I left out my passport and found it in a sale bin in the mall, only it turned out that it wasn't my passport, it was somebody else's and then I was relieved. In the same dream, I bought a watch whose face looked like a record player. I really want to find that watch now and actually buy it, because it was really cool.
It's actual exam week, so I'm INFINITELY perkier than I was last post (can't you tell?) because the anticipation is ALWAYS worse than the actual event. Now if I only I could realize this about airplanes, we would be golden.
I'm starting to get nervous/excited about all this biznass. I'm nervous 1: because I hate airplanes, and 2: because I'm starting to worry about communication. Don't get me wrong, I speak French (rather well, I might add) and it's good that I have such a strong accent (so say my professors, anyway), but I've come to learn that my accent is a Parisian accent, and sometimes, like in English, I get REALLY southern because I put a lot of emphasis on the last syllable (yup; they have different accents just like we do!), and Parisian accent ≠ southern French accent ≠ Belgian accent. WHAT IF THEY CAN'T UNDERSTAND ME AND MY PARISIAN/SOUTH CAROLINIAN SELF?
And I know y'all are probably all thinking, "Fool, they speak ENGLISH in Europe too!" but I don't WANT to speak English. What's the point of me even going abroad if I'm going to speak English the whole time? I'm one of those weird Americans that actually sees a benefit in learning a language that isn't English, and that would actually like to use said language if I'm going to go through the trouble of learning it in the first place.
I'm sure I'm just being silly.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Owl humor, only I'm not laughing.
Technically this is my second post for today. That's intense.
The good news is, I got everything done last night that I needed done for today EXCEPT (of course there's an except) the kanji assessment for Japanese class, but compared to the econ test, oral exam, poli.sci quiz and cultural presentation, all of which also happened today, it's not such a big deal.
In "holy gracious I'm going to hurt someone" news, Clemson is 1 snarky email away from me walking over to the president's office, ripping out my brain and going "Here. You keep it. You've earned it." because these people are driving me loony tunes. Srsly. There was a misunderstanding about notarization, and no one has gotten back the all-important background check yet, but they're sending our visa requests off anyway. Wheredeydodatat? Apparently this is being done so that most of the work will be done already and when the bg checks come in all the school has to do is scan them and email them in, but seriously? What the heck, guys.
I just left the Study Abroad office talking to our SA advisor lady, and she goes, "Well, now we're starting to worry about getting everything back in time."
You guys have been doing this program for HOW MANY YEARS and you STILL haven't gotten it right yet? Slap yourself. Slap yourself and go home.
Honestly.
Pinky promise, I'll be happier after exams.
The good news is, I got everything done last night that I needed done for today EXCEPT (of course there's an except) the kanji assessment for Japanese class, but compared to the econ test, oral exam, poli.sci quiz and cultural presentation, all of which also happened today, it's not such a big deal.
In "holy gracious I'm going to hurt someone" news, Clemson is 1 snarky email away from me walking over to the president's office, ripping out my brain and going "Here. You keep it. You've earned it." because these people are driving me loony tunes. Srsly. There was a misunderstanding about notarization, and no one has gotten back the all-important background check yet, but they're sending our visa requests off anyway. Wheredeydodatat? Apparently this is being done so that most of the work will be done already and when the bg checks come in all the school has to do is scan them and email them in, but seriously? What the heck, guys.
I just left the Study Abroad office talking to our SA advisor lady, and she goes, "Well, now we're starting to worry about getting everything back in time."
You guys have been doing this program for HOW MANY YEARS and you STILL haven't gotten it right yet? Slap yourself. Slap yourself and go home.
Honestly.
Pinky promise, I'll be happier after exams.
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