Thursday, October 29, 2015

Working on the next item on my list.


I am working towards another one of my carpe diem list items...one of my flat mates and I went to a pub close to campus (The King's Tun) for the welcome reception for international students the Wednesday after we arrived.  It is a really great pub, everything was reasonably priced, and the atmosphere was great. I've already been back a few times.

Pub number two (The Spring Grove) is just a short walk from campus.  Let's just say it's where everyone from my department goes after we have a guest speaker/lecturer.  They have great service, and a gorgeous outdoor seating area, but it is a little pricier than pub number one.  :)

So, that's two pubs down, two more to go!  I know it was supposed to be in the first four weeks after I arrived, but I'm working on it. :)

On Saturday we have plans to go to a pub just a ten minute walk from home to watch the World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia.  I still don't understand all of the rules of the game, but it's still fun to watch.

Anyway, it's back to work for me!

Ashley


Monday, October 26, 2015

Well, that was easy...

Well, I apologize for the length of time between updates!!!  My first week of class...well, let's just say that it was one of the most intense weeks of my life.  We were assigned a group presentation on Monday that we had to give Thursday morning!  It was a really great project, but we got almost no sleep, and then after it was all over, my body shut down, and I immediately got a cold...followed a week and a half later by the flu.  And to top it all off?  My computer died, which made it extremely difficult to put together posts on Blogger.  BLECH!

So...Before I left the US, a number of people were like, "Oh, make sure you ride a double-decker bus while you're there!"  (It's also on my carpe diem list here on the blog.)  Little did I know just how easy that would be.



You see, that picture?  It's taken from my bedroom window.  That double-decker bus?  It's the route that I get to ride every day to and from school. :)

So, one thing has already been crossed off the list!  I'm sure my tiny list will grow exponentially while I'm here, but that's okay!  I want to see and do all sorts of things while I'm here.



As you may have seen on Facebook, I attempted to make white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies...let's just say, they were less than stellar.  It's not that they tasted bad, but they just weren't the same as when I make them at home, and so their flavor also brings along a sense of sadness that I can't replicate them.

Anyway, I have lots more updates on their way!  My new computer should be arriving on Wednesday or Thursday, so I should be able to write LOTS more often!

Ashley

Thursday, October 22, 2015

I'm so sorry!

I want to HUGELY apologize for leaving you all hanging!  I've been sick, and overwhelmed with classwork.  And to top it all off, I'm still in the middle of editing one of the books in The Debut Collective Anthology.  (If you haven't heard me talking about it, you should check it out here: https://thedebutcollective.wordpress.com/about/  )

And after all of that, my computer died, so I'm surviving on my iPad, which does not play well with Blogger.  I promise I'm working on multiple posts for y'all!  I'll get them up as soon as possible!

To tie you over, if you didn't see it already, here's a picture of two of my flatmates and I visiting Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross!



Ashley

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Honey, I'm Home!


(My last on-the-ground view of the United States, pulling away from the terminal in Orlando.)

So, my flight experience wasn't TOO bad getting to London.  When we landed in Iceland, we found out straight away our flight had been delayed for 20 minutes.  We were waiting for passengers from other incoming flights that had been delayed.  This turned into us getting off the ground an hour late, and therefore not landing at Heathrow until almost 1PM.  But that's okay.

Then we had to walk what felt like MILES from our gate to customs.  But I still can't complain, because the border agent I worked with was awesome, and double checked that I knew that I had to go to my local Post Office to get my Biometric Residence Permit.  (My entry visa is only good for 30 days.)

When I FINALLY got through the airport and into a taxi, I made my way to New Malden, where I stayed with a phenomenal family, courtesy of Airbnb (which is an AMAZING site/app to look for a place to stay when you're traveling).  The next morning, my hostess even drove me to my new flat building.  (It was only 1.2 miles away, and would have cost me like 10 pounds to take a taxi.)  When I arrived, one of my flatmates was also right there, waiting to get into the building as well.

After bringing all of our belongings up the stairs to our new home, we spent a lot of time unpacking our things.  An hour or two later, our next flatmate arrived.  We found out or last flatmate would't be in until Saturday or Sunday.

A few hours later, Cindy and I decided to take our first trip to Tesco, the local 'big' grocery store, similar to a Walmart in the States.  Needless to say, it was an experience!  We traveled up and down every aisle, looking for things we needed for ourselves, and for our whole flat.  Even after being through the entire store, we're still not sure we understand how everything is organized in the aisles!  :)

Last night we had our first meal in our flat...peanut butter and Nutella toast, with apple juice and a banana.  :)  We haven't purchased any meat yet, as we wanted to make sure whatever we bought everyone would eat, and we didn't want to overfill our little fridge/freezer until everyone was here.

Anyway, here are some photos of my new room in my flat!  (Sorry the pictures are a little shakey, as I took panoramas.)  :)

 
 

As you can see, we have tiny little bathrooms, but that's okay, because we don't have to share them with anyone else!  The only thing that's been hard to deal with (if you can even call it that) is the bathroom lights don't have a switch, they are sensor controlled.  I've jumped a few times when the light turned on when I walked by the bathroom door, and the light shut off twice while I was in the shower, and I had to stick my hand back out the door to turn it back on.  :)

There is only one major complaint we have about our flat: the kitchen door HAS to stay shut at all times.  If it's open for more than a minute, an alarm sounds off in the kitchen.  But we'll all get used to it.  

I think today we will be heading to our local train station...and perhaps even heading in to Kingston to have a look around our campuses, and to see what there is to do, and what there are for dining options and shops.

I'll catch you all later!

Ashley


Monday, September 7, 2015

Packing is the hardest part...

Ugh.  I have had one of my bags packed for MONTHS.  My second bag has been packed for WEEKS.  My third bag was started around the same time as my second, but still isn't full, and my fourth bag will be the things I NEED in my carry-on items.

My two check bags, and one carry-on are ready to go!  (And they're a lot bigger than they look!)


However, I recently purchased a few more needed items of clothing.  And my bags that are packed are really awkward right now.  And I'm still making some last minute decisions about what has to be in my bags, and what can be shipped in a box or two.  (Or four.)



And to top everything off, I still had to finish packing everything that is STAYING here, instead of coming with me.  And the hardest part of that has been deciding how to store all of my books.  

So, I got a little creative.  All of my signed books are still on the shelf, and will be taken care of by my wonderful mother.

                                   

Then, I packed ALMOST all of the rest of my books into plastic totes like these:

                                   

(There are 3 more totes just like these under my bed.)  And when I ran out of those, I found a different tote that I had laying around:

                                   

And there are still like 15 books that my very kind mother is going to find a tote for.  :)
 
  
When I got to the airport, my two check bags, total, made it onto the plane without extra charges by ONE pound!  Needless to say, it was a little nerve wracking for a minute or two.  I also am wearing LOTS of layers...this was the only way my sweater and light leather jacket were going to make it to London with me.  :)

Anyway, I'll be boarding my plane in about eight minutes, so I'd better wrap this up!  Talk to you all when I'm on the other side of the pond!

Ashley

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

My Visa is Being Issued :)

I got the email this morning!  I cannot even begin to explain the weight that was lifted off my shoulders when I read these words:

Dear Applicant, 
We are happy to inform you that your visa has been approved and has been queued for printing.



GAH!  I'm just so happy!  Now, to wait for it to be printed and shipped back to me...


Ashley

Friday, August 14, 2015

It's getting so close!

It's getting so close...and I'm kind of freaking out.  I've already got a plane ticket, and a place to live.  But you know what I don't have yet?  A VISA.  Who knew I would have to wait until August to finish my application?

Well, first things first, it actually took until the beginning of August to get all of my financial aid 'go ahead's so I could get my CAS from the school I'm attending.  Then I was able to finish my visa application online.  Once I finished the application (and paid the fee) I had to go in for a biometrics visit at my 'local' (read: hour away) Application Support Center...which I had to wait days for.  And last, but certainly not least, that elusive 45mm by 35mm UK passport size photo.

I kept digging, and digging, and digging online to find somewhere that could take and print a photo this size.  As some of you may know, a US passport size photo is 2 inches by 2 inches.  I read through online forums, and through the UK visa website information over and over, but could not figure out how to take care of this.  One forum I found said that as long as *I* didn't cut the picture down, the British Consulate could.  (Like, send them a US size picture, and *they* can cut it.)  But this idea made me CrAzY nervous, because it costs at least $515 EACH TIME you have to send an application through, so if it failed the first time, well, I'm not made of money.

Then I emailed the International Student Advisory Centre on campus to ask about the photo.  They sent me the same website link with the photo requirements I looked up in the first place...

So what's a girl to do?  She drives her happy hind end down to Walgreens.  And guess what?  They have a UK Passport Photo setting on their photo machine.  Although it is not EXACT by any means in its measurments, it is pretty dang close.  And since it's in metric measurements, there isn't anything else I can do about it.

And now, it's shipped off!  Of course, I paid extra to one-day air my documents both directions, and I paid the extra fee to put my application at the front of the line when they receive it.

I promise, this post is not to say that I'm angry with any party mentioned in this post.  I'm not.  Mostly, I just wanted to document what happened in case there are other people out there going through the same struggles.  Although Walgreens worked for me, I also have heard that CVS may have a UK Passport Photo setting as well, so if you are looking to have one done in the US, those are the two places I would recommend contacting.

And now?  We wait.

Ashley