Tuesday, August 31, 2004
NEW FEATURE: VisaWatch '04
I still don't fucking have one.
But I just got off the phone with Agnes, who confirmed that she received my messages but not whether or not they meant anything to her. She told me to call her back this time tomorrow. She sounded pretty cheerful about it, though, which sounds promising, unless she was in the middle of stamping "NO" on my application when I called and is totally getting off on leaving me hanging. But I don't really want to believe that because Agnes is Scottish and therefore she is, like, family. She wouldn't do that to me.
Would she?
But I just got off the phone with Agnes, who confirmed that she received my messages but not whether or not they meant anything to her. She told me to call her back this time tomorrow. She sounded pretty cheerful about it, though, which sounds promising, unless she was in the middle of stamping "NO" on my application when I called and is totally getting off on leaving me hanging. But I don't really want to believe that because Agnes is Scottish and therefore she is, like, family. She wouldn't do that to me.
Would she?
Friday, August 27, 2004
This sucks
The plot continues unnecessarily thickening , as the last I heard from the British consulate, my visa application cannot be considered complete until I prove I have enough money to pay for my tuition. The problem is that I actually don't.
My parents pay my tuition as it's due, but it's not like there is some pile of money set aside for it -- it's just added to the "to pay for this month" list. The British consulate wants proof of that pile of money, though. It being the end of the month, it's just not there. It will be on the 1st of the month, but it's not there now.
I leave on the 7th of September. The soonest I can send proof of funding is next Wednesday, the 1st -- a week before I leave. If I fax it, count on speedy processing on the consulate's part, and promise the good Lord that I'll never kiss a boy again if he does me this one favor, I might have my passport, immigration certificate, and visa before I'm supposed to leave.
So once again, the only thing for me to do is sit around and wait. The thing is, I know everything is going to work out, but just barely, and in the meantime my insides will be eating themselves away with stress. That's just the way these things work with me. Remember the first time I went to Europe and wasn't issued a passport until an hour before my flight? Yeah. Flashbacks, dude.
On the bright side, I received a length email from Marianne, written from our new apartment in Aberdeen, although less of it dealt with details about the flat and more of it dealt with her horrified reaction to my get-up for the recent Fergie-themed celebration that took place at my house. I don't mean to sound conceited, but I would totally do me.
My parents pay my tuition as it's due, but it's not like there is some pile of money set aside for it -- it's just added to the "to pay for this month" list. The British consulate wants proof of that pile of money, though. It being the end of the month, it's just not there. It will be on the 1st of the month, but it's not there now.
I leave on the 7th of September. The soonest I can send proof of funding is next Wednesday, the 1st -- a week before I leave. If I fax it, count on speedy processing on the consulate's part, and promise the good Lord that I'll never kiss a boy again if he does me this one favor, I might have my passport, immigration certificate, and visa before I'm supposed to leave.
So once again, the only thing for me to do is sit around and wait. The thing is, I know everything is going to work out, but just barely, and in the meantime my insides will be eating themselves away with stress. That's just the way these things work with me. Remember the first time I went to Europe and wasn't issued a passport until an hour before my flight? Yeah. Flashbacks, dude.
On the bright side, I received a length email from Marianne, written from our new apartment in Aberdeen, although less of it dealt with details about the flat and more of it dealt with her horrified reaction to my get-up for the recent Fergie-themed celebration that took place at my house. I don't mean to sound conceited, but I would totally do me.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
How I learned to start worrying and hate the prof
For the last six months, I've been under the impression that I was going to spend the upcoming school year studying at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Most of you have been under this impression as well, mostly because I will not shut up about it. And I guess also because the title of this blog is "The Adventures of Eric in Scotland." Whatever. The point is, a several weeks ago I discovered that I had not actually been offered a place at the University of Aberdeen. We'll send you a letter of offer, they told me, as soon as you forward us a second letter of recommendation.
Excuse me?
It appeared that the man who had agreed to write my second letter of recommendation, well, he never got around to it. I wish I could at least confirm this excuse, but he has stopped responding to any of my attempts to contact him. What the hell? Did someone show him my criminal record?
This is probably my own fault. The first time I approached him, it went something like this:
Eric: I was wondering if you would write me a letter of recommendation.
Professor: Sure, I would love to!
Eric: Great! Do you want to know my name or where to send the letter?
Professor: [has left the room]
I needed a second letter of recommendation fast -- one letter was good enough to apply for the UW study abroad program, but the University of Aberdeen itself required at least two. As soon as they received a second letter, they would officially offer to let me study at their school. So I went through my mental files on the various film professors I've had and discovered that the only one I didn't think was an idiot was, in fact, the author of my first letter.
So this professor wasn't my favorite, but I thought he would do it. And he said he would, which was promising. But I can't put "promising" in an envelope and send to Aberdeen and expect to get a letter of offer in return. And as it turned out, the situation became less and less promising with each passing day. Before the lecture, as he came to my name in the roll call, he would say, "Eric, see me after class. I need the address to send that letter of recommendation." Each day I would email it to him. The next day he would pull me aside again and tell me he received my email, but accidentally deleted it, could I send it again? This went on for two weeks. Eventually I tacked the address to his office door, right at eye level, so he couldn't miss it. He didn't ask for the address again after that. I foolishly took this to mean that he finally had it.
The last time I spoke to him, he told me the letter was sitting on his desk and he would mail it first thing the next morning. I believed him, because I was assuming he wasn't SATAN. I stopped worrying about it and resumed fantasizing about living in a flat with Marianne and eating pie until we vomit. And, you know, all the other stuff I'm going to do there.
Cut to a few weeks ago. I have my plane ticket, my international student ID, the UW has me registered for foreign study next year, I've arranged for a place to live in Aberdeen, all of it. I'm happy and excited, I'm saying goodbye to everyone and I'm even starting to pack a little. Just the warm clothes for now. I happen to email someone at the University of Aberdeen, and she tells me they're still not going to let me study there until I send them a second letter of recommendation.
And that's where this entry started.
All of a sudden, I have to take care of a million things everyone else took care of months ago. I have to arrange for a second letter of recommendation, wait to receive a letter of offer, send my letter of acceptance of their offer, wait to receive their letter of acceptance of me into their student body, then forward this letter to the British consulate in Los Angeles, which is the closest one that will give me a visa, which I need to get my ass into the UK at all. And all this has to be done before I leave the country on September 7th.
The good news is that between then and now, I've accomplished most of this stuff. I found another professor to write me a letter, and after a series of speedy exchanges with the University of Aberdeen (with a lot of help from UPS) I overnighted my visa application to the British consulate last week. It should take two weeks to process, and ought to reach me about a week before I leave.
Plot twist: Instead of sending me a visa, someone at the consulate left a message saying they needed to speak with me. And now they're not returning my calls. Who knows? Maybe someone showed them the same stuff my professor saw.
Excuse me?
It appeared that the man who had agreed to write my second letter of recommendation, well, he never got around to it. I wish I could at least confirm this excuse, but he has stopped responding to any of my attempts to contact him. What the hell? Did someone show him my criminal record?
This is probably my own fault. The first time I approached him, it went something like this:
Eric: I was wondering if you would write me a letter of recommendation.
Professor: Sure, I would love to!
Eric: Great! Do you want to know my name or where to send the letter?
Professor: [has left the room]
I needed a second letter of recommendation fast -- one letter was good enough to apply for the UW study abroad program, but the University of Aberdeen itself required at least two. As soon as they received a second letter, they would officially offer to let me study at their school. So I went through my mental files on the various film professors I've had and discovered that the only one I didn't think was an idiot was, in fact, the author of my first letter.
So this professor wasn't my favorite, but I thought he would do it. And he said he would, which was promising. But I can't put "promising" in an envelope and send to Aberdeen and expect to get a letter of offer in return. And as it turned out, the situation became less and less promising with each passing day. Before the lecture, as he came to my name in the roll call, he would say, "Eric, see me after class. I need the address to send that letter of recommendation." Each day I would email it to him. The next day he would pull me aside again and tell me he received my email, but accidentally deleted it, could I send it again? This went on for two weeks. Eventually I tacked the address to his office door, right at eye level, so he couldn't miss it. He didn't ask for the address again after that. I foolishly took this to mean that he finally had it.
The last time I spoke to him, he told me the letter was sitting on his desk and he would mail it first thing the next morning. I believed him, because I was assuming he wasn't SATAN. I stopped worrying about it and resumed fantasizing about living in a flat with Marianne and eating pie until we vomit. And, you know, all the other stuff I'm going to do there.
Cut to a few weeks ago. I have my plane ticket, my international student ID, the UW has me registered for foreign study next year, I've arranged for a place to live in Aberdeen, all of it. I'm happy and excited, I'm saying goodbye to everyone and I'm even starting to pack a little. Just the warm clothes for now. I happen to email someone at the University of Aberdeen, and she tells me they're still not going to let me study there until I send them a second letter of recommendation.
And that's where this entry started.
All of a sudden, I have to take care of a million things everyone else took care of months ago. I have to arrange for a second letter of recommendation, wait to receive a letter of offer, send my letter of acceptance of their offer, wait to receive their letter of acceptance of me into their student body, then forward this letter to the British consulate in Los Angeles, which is the closest one that will give me a visa, which I need to get my ass into the UK at all. And all this has to be done before I leave the country on September 7th.
The good news is that between then and now, I've accomplished most of this stuff. I found another professor to write me a letter, and after a series of speedy exchanges with the University of Aberdeen (with a lot of help from UPS) I overnighted my visa application to the British consulate last week. It should take two weeks to process, and ought to reach me about a week before I leave.
Plot twist: Instead of sending me a visa, someone at the consulate left a message saying they needed to speak with me. And now they're not returning my calls. Who knows? Maybe someone showed them the same stuff my professor saw.
