It’s been a month since my last post—way too long.

Here's a quick summary of what's happened:

September 17th: London cultural studies field trip! This was pretty awesome, we did a walking tour of a bit of London, saw the Tower of London, and went to Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe Theater! I really liked London. It's sort of like New York City, only the architecture is older and prettier and more people wear suits.
September 18th: The math teacher took students on a hike of the area. East Sussex is gorgeous. There was also a bonfire that night.
September 23rd: My 18th birthday! I went to London with my friends Maria and Stephanie and my roommate, Rachel, after classes ended that evening; we walked around Piccadilly Circus for a bit before going to our hostel (in a sketch-ass neighborhood) and then back out. We went to the "American Automat Brasserie", I think it was called, where I celebrated being legal with a milkshake. Good stuff.
September 24th: Went to Oxford Circus and was slightly late to an art history trip to the British Museum. Oops.
September 25th: Went on a tour of the BBC Centre, and returned to campus.
October 1st: Art History trip to the National Gallery! That was really cool. I got to see some Van Goghs close up, a lot of Spanish painting (Spanish pride~), Titians, da Vincis, and a bunch more cool stuff.
October 2nd: Went on a Music trip to a KRS-One concert. I'm not the biggest fan of hip-hop, but it was still pretty cool. Especially because KRS-One is from NYC (the Bronx). I'm more of a New Yorker when I'm elsewhere...
October 8th: Saw House of Games at the Almeida on a Drama field study. It was all right--I couldn't get over the (purposely) bad acting at the beginning, couldn't see the upper levels because I was in the very back row... Not the best experience.
October 10th: History trip to the Portsmouth dockyards! Basically, I went to a museum and wandered around on a couple of huge ships. My friends and I then went to Portsmouth's outlet mall and were basically late for the buses because we stopped at Pizza Express to get garlic bread. Totally worth it though.
This Saturday, I'm going to Canterbury. I'll try to actually remember to update after the trip!

I'm also starting to upload photos to a MobileMe gallery for easier viewing. I'll put up links when that's all done.

Orientation is officially over! Well, it has been for a day, but I forgot to update last night.

The first day was arrival and tours of the dorms--my roommate was on my coach bus so I met her right away. The second was tours of the castle and grounds, as well as medical registration and a computer seminar. The third was pretty much a lecture--just a lot of people talking for a few hours--followed by academic registration (which I didn't even need to do). The fourth day was an intro to student services, followed by a Castle 'fate' (fête) and karaoke--which turned into a dance party and was so much fun! On the fifth day--yesterday--we travelled to Pevensey Castle, Birling Gap, the University of Sussex, and Brighton. I got a ton of awesome photos and two candy bars for one pound. It was great.

Today was my first day of classes. I had drama at 8:30 am (sob) and a double period of film in the afternoon. Both were great, although I was somewhat overprepared for both--my friends and I wore our studio clothes for drama but didn't need to, and I brought my camera and tripod to film, and while I am one of the few students with equipment (and the only with a tripod), I also didn't really need any of it today. Oh well. Better to be overprepared, right?

I'm already making friends, which is wonderful, and I am really loving this so far. I'll update again soon! :)

I'm in England!

I arrived early yesterday (around 6:30 GMT), waited around for the coach bus, and went to campus. It's small, nice, really fields-y; it reminds me of upstate New York, except less hilly. I've mostly been doing required stuff: tours of things, medical registration, a computer seminar, hall community meetings... That sort of fun thing. It's also been nice meeting and getting to know people (like my roommate, Rachel, who seems pretty cool so far!), as well as finally meeting people in person as opposed to on facebook.

The view from my window is awesome; I see fields and cows (they get pretty close to my room...) and sometimes rabbits and yeah I really love it. It's a nice change of scenery from the city.

So as of Day 2, I'm enjoying this.

I got an email from the border agency today informing me that my letter from the bank did not supply all of the necessary information about my account, and that they didn't receive the letter of consent from my parents (which was sent with the application). The email also informed me that if the agency didn't receive the new information within seven work days, my visa might be refused, and if the resent information was also incorrect, my visa would definitely be refused.

Things are going just fine.

(We're going to get another letter from the bank tomorrow and try to get everything sent out Tuesday at the latest.)

I'm officially done applying for my student visa. I filled out the required forms and got together the documents I need. I got my biometrics done yesterday. The application went in the mail today.

Wish me luck!

It's been a while since I last updated, huh? Here are some things that have happened in bullet form:

• Opened a bank account at TD Bank so that I can prove to the British that I have sufficient means of self-support.
• Waited 28 days, as the money has to be in the account for 28 days.
• In the meantime, I went up to Canada for SOAR--academic registration--where I met a lot of people going to the castle next year! They were all lovely and it rocked. I also signed up for classes: British art history (FW), history (FW), drama (FW), social history of popular music (F), film before 1970 (F), astronomy (W), and, after some phone calls to get it changed from Spanish, philosophy - moral issues (W).
• I also graduated from high school!
• Discovered that in order to get a laptop through Apple's student deals, I had to go through the Canadian store, because my university is Canadian.
• Discovered a few weeks later that I'm ineligible for the student deal in both stores because the Canadian store has to ship it to a valid Canadian address.
• Went to TD Bank yesterday to get a letter about my bank account for the visa application, only to discover that there's another department in the bank that has to handle it, and they're only open M-F. Also learned that it would be better to open a bank account in the UK, for various reasons.
• Got pictures taken for the visa application.

So now I'm just waiting for the letter, really. We're going away for a few days next week, and once we get back I'll finally get started on the actual application, since everything should (finally) be ready.

The CAS certificate came today!

It's a pretty, very official-looking (durr) document. A letter from Queen's came with it about what I need to apply for my student visa--my passport, a passport-sized photograph, "evidence of sufficient funds for personal maintenance for the period of your program", original of Bursary or Award letters (neither of which I got; I'm not getting any financial aid), original of educational diplomas, most recent high school transcript, letter of admission, and the certificate itself.

Basically, I can't apply yet for the visa--I need my actual transcript, and the bank account with the 'sufficient funds' has to be set up and contain said funds for at least 28 days before applying. Also, I need to actually graduate, since I need my diploma. The bank account thing gives me time to gather everything together before I apply, which is convenient.

In other words, this is going to stagnate until I graduate.

So things I need to do: email college guidance counselor about the transcript, email someone at Queen's about seeing if my College Now classes can get me any credit there, open a bank account...and wait.

Still no CAS certificate. I guess I shouldn't expect it so soon, but it'd be nice to get my visa taken care of!

I RSVPed for orientation, which is cool! I'm excited to go pick all my classes. I'm not sure what I'm going to take--so many good classes urgh--but we'll see when the time comes, right?

Not an interesting update, I know. Sorry.

My CAS has officially been received. Next step: getting the certificate. Then I can apply for my student visa!

Yeah, not much news, but the closer I get, the more excited I am.

I was sent the CAS (Confirmation for Acceptance of Studies) form to fill out on June 3rd. It’s a PDF file with a bunch of fields to fill out—last name, given name, passport number, passport expiry date, sex, Queen’s student number, birthdate, country of citizenship, birthplace, address, name of home university…not necessarily in that order, but you get the idea. Sending in the form means I’ll be sent back a CAS number when it’s been processed. The number is important because it’s issued in the form of a certificate from the BISC, which I need before I can apply for a UK student visa. The certificate also comes with extra info about applying for the visa—which I’ll need, because the student handbook makes this all seem really, really, REALLY confusing.

Of course, I had issues with the PDF; sex and home university were supposed to be drop-down menus that didn’t actually exist. So finally I was asked to just type everything up and send it that way, so I did yesterday. Of course the guy is out of the office until the 8th, so I have to wait.

I’m excited despite the CAS issues, though. I feel very cool about applying for a student visa. I’m not entirely sure why, because it’s shaping up to be a long and complicated process… Oh well. I’ll deal.

Packing Checklist (more to be added here as well)

• Hiking boots
• Running shoes (two pairs)
• Pair of lightweight gloves
• A hat
• A scarf
• Light clothing for warmer temperatures
• Slippers or house shoes
• Waterproof sandals
• Backpack/rucksack
• Camera
• Small flashlight
• Plug adapters and voltage converter for the UK
• Plug adapters and voltage converter for Europe
• Travel guides to Britain and Europe
• Personal items to make your room feel more like home (another checklist)
• An umbrella
• Portable MP3 player with headphones.
• Prescription medication
• Battery-operated travel alarm clock
• Calculator
• A small supply of stationery (writing utensils, tape, ruler, etc)

Checklist (which will undoubtedly be added to)

• Accept offer of admission
• Pay deposit
• Ensure that my passport is valid for at least six months past my "expected date of return"
• Fill out CAS
• Open a bank account with "sufficient funds"
• Obtain high school transcript
• Apply for UK student visa
• Enroll in Emergency Support Program through QUIC
• Ensure health insurance
• Pre-register for courses (at SOAR)
• Pay BISC fees in full
• Read the Student Handbook
• Read the handbook again
• Obtain NY ID card
• Obtain International Student Identity Card (ISIC)
• Buy airplane ticket to London
• Teach my parents how to use iChat and/or Skype
• Buy a laptop
• Pack (this gets a checklist of its own)
• Leave!