Visa and Update

Alright, so in my last blog post I received my host family information, and was days away from my visa appointment.  That feels like forever ago, because getting a visa has been the most complicated thing ever.  AFS Italy couldn't get some of the documents that we needed to us in time for our Dec. 13 appointment, so that didn't happen.  Months ago, I made an appointment in Chicago for a visa appointment. (If you don't know, I live in Hutchinson, MN, which is about 8 hours away from Chicago.)  That appointment was a last case scenario, in case things went bad.  Well, things went bad so we ended up going to Chicago this last weekend.  The actual appointment only lasted about 15 minutes, which was nice but also kind of annoying.  It had taken weeks to gather all of the documents to get the visa.  That plus an 16 hours of driving, all for a 15 minute conversation.  As long as I get my visa, I will get over it I guess!  The lady said that everything looked good as far as paperwork went, so I don't think there will be a problem.  

My domestic flight to New York is booked now.  I will arrive in NYC at about 10:30 a.m. on January 28th.  I think that we will have an orientation that night, then a longer orientation the next day.  The next night, we depart to Italy!  Then we will have another orientation in Rome, and then head to our host families!

The next month will be dedicated to learning Italian.  I have owned all 5 levels of Rosetta Stone for almost two years, and I've only done like one level...  I am done with school until I get to Italy, so my days are pretty open to learn it anyways.  I have a local orientation on the 18th, which will be cool because I can meet some of the other people going abroad.  It's more than just Italy people too, so hopefully I meet a lot of people.  (If you are going to be at the orientation, find me on Facebook! Colin Gran).  

That's about it for now.  Hope you all had a good Christmas.  More than likely, I'll forget to update again before I leave, so my next post may or may not be from Italy!

Host Family!!!

I got my host family information today!  WOOHOOO!  Their pictures make them look like the happiest people in the world.  The father is ALWAYS smiling.  I am not sure if they want me sharing anything personal, but I can tell you some stuff I guess.  The father is named Tiziano, and the mother is named Stefania.  The have a 17 year old son named Giorgio as well, which is awesome!  At least I will know 1 person at school. Haha!  They live in Francavilla Al Mare, which is right on the Eastern Coast!  Their house is only 200 meters away from the beach, but they are also by some mountains it looks like! Couldn't have been better placement.  I wish I could describe this feeling.  It's like I am so excited, but I am so unbelievably terrified. Everything is so real now that I know where I am going. At first, I had a little panic attack, but after I calmed down a bit, I realized how perfect everything is.  I have been talking with Giogio, and he seems really cool.  They live a different lifestyle than I do, but isn't that part of why I'm going? (it is)

Today I received my Rosetta Stone information as well.  I already own all five levels, but I haven't done very much, so this will be good.  My goal is to finish all five levels before I go, but I'm not sure if that will happen.  I'll try, but it's gonna be a lot of work.

My flight information came as well.  I need to be in New York City on January 28th for the pre-departure orientation.  Then, I fly from NYC to Zurich, Switzerland on the 29th.  We have a layover in Zurich for a few hours, then we fly to Rome on the 30th.  We will have our arrival orientation, then go our host families!

I have my visa appointment in Minneapolis on December 13th.  I am busy trying to get everything organized for that.  Do you know how impossible it is to have passport pictures copied?  IT'S IM-FRICKEN-POSSIBLE.  It took three and a half hours today to get some freaking copies of my picture!  I ended up just having to retake them.  I think I have everything figured out now, but it wasn't without some frustration. (PS, I hate you Walmart.)

I'll try to keep this updated more (it took me about a week to write this post by the way). Everything just kind of happened at once, so I'm not sure what I will have to update.  I'll let you know! Peace.