Hello, it's been a while. In fairness, I had those pesky things called exams and then had post-exam freelance data entry work and a lot of iPlayer to catch up on. Maybe I should do a list of all the different Canada-related things that have happened in the mean time... I'm going to number it in different languages to incorporate my current multi-tasking of blogging and watching the second Eurovision semi-final.
One) Pre-depature meeting
In the shiny new Alumni Auditorium in the shiny new Forum which is no longer followed by 'project' but is now an actual, living, working thing. It was an interesting meeting. Fell in love with the founder of thirdyearabroad.com and discovered that the Cornwall campus are full of rude, arrogant, disengaged muppets. (Disclaimer, obvs they're not all like that, just the ones going abroad...). Sue O'Hara was definitely the most memorable speaker at the meeting, although I can't actually remember a huge amount of what she said apart from not being too sarcastic and making us all stand up and jump up and down, which did not go down well. Not a lot did go down though, because we pretty much refused to jump. There was a minor heart attack moment when someone who's applied to Ottawa asked why he hadn't received his acceptance email - this is still a mystery. But it leads to point number...
Zwei) Ottawa communication
Bless them, they're very chilled. Some might say too chilled. Some might. I say nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. Basically, whilst Ottawa contacted me to tell me I was accepted, they neglected to tell Anne Worth, the person at Exeter who needs to know this too.
Also, they do start all emails with "hi" or "hello". It won't be long before one will begin with "hey". It's unnerving; especially after two years of Gorringe emails where he seems to have a competition with himself to use as few words as possible to communicate with his students. I think I prefer it when he feeds back on my wide thighs to the uber-pithy 'Good, 70. Tim.'
Tre) Post-Ottawa communication
Having received my log in details to my Ottawa account, I logged in. It didn't work. So I tried again. And again. And again. And kept trying until I was informed rather abruptly (considering previous Canadian communication) that my account had been disabled. Anyway, I burst into tears and had to write through the curtain of salt water in front of my eyes back to Ottawa to ask for help. They didn't reply, so after a week I emailed again, Facebooked and then made an international call. I was loathe to get on the phone because of the cost, but then the mother pointed out that she pays my phone bill. So I rang, I got a "hello, bonjour" which was the right way round for my liking, contrary to their emails. Anyway, after being told to try logging in again in 48 hours, I received an email today informing me it was sorted. AND IT WAS! JOY JOY JOY JOY JOY! WOO!
Fyra) To-do list
My current to-do list is long. I need to get a study permit, insurance, accomodation (help help help), flights, a suitcase, a bank account, contact student finance. I don't know where to start; it's overwhelming and it won't go away. And the fact that my year-abroading housemate is going off to forgeign lands (deepest, darkest Germany - ok, Berlin) in one month only compounds the fear that is rising in my stomach. If it's only one month until she disappears off for what is supposed to be the best year of her life, it means it's only three months until I have to go to what is practically the other side of the world. This is insane. Even more insane than the Serbian entry into the Eurovision Song Contest.
Vijf) Hyper-advanced homesickness
That's my self-diagnosis: hyper-advanced homesickness. I first discovered I suffered from such an affliction in about October 2009 when I started to feel homesick despite it being an entire 11 1/2 months before I was leaving home to go to uni and then feel sick. I'm a worrier. And a meticulous planner (over some things). And I enjoy autonomy over the minutiae.
Sometimes, I surprise myself with my delicious phrasing. Authonomy over the minutiae. Wow.
Anyway, that's it for me for now. I'm sure I've missed off things to tell you but never mind. It's my blog and I can post whenever I want to. Yes. Although I do aim to be less bossy and precious than my tone may suggest.
Au revoir. (Yep, I can cope at a bilingual university!)
poster le manuscrit That's a literal French translation for post script, so it's probably not right, Mme Rennetau always told me off for being literal when translating in A Level French. Anyway, I got all my module choices, thus ending the module selection saga!
No comments:
Post a Comment