Three Weeks To Go

The title of the post says it all-I’m finding myself with rapidly decreasing time left at home.  While this should be motivating me to get ready, take inventory, make sure my computer will actually fit in my suitcase, etc., it’s not having that effect, although I’m getting there!  I thought that now would be a good time to give an idea of what I have done to prepare for my year in England, because while nothing is packed and I still haven’t ordered more contacts, I have done quite a bit of what I’m going to call research.  Hopefully it will lessen the culture shock if I’m prepared. 

That being said, my first round of research this summer consisted of:

• Northanger Abbey
• Mansfield Park
• Persuasion
• Sense and Sensibility

all by Jane Austen, along with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  Honestly, I don’t see how this couldn’t help. 

My second round included (not necessarily in this order)

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• ” ” Chamber of Secrets
• ” ” Prisoner of Azkaban
• ” ” Goblet of Fire
• ” ” Order of the Phoenix
• ” ” Half-Blood Prince
• ” ” Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling.  These may very well prove to be relevant to my ventures in to the British educational system, minus the magic part of it.

Thus far all of the books I’ve listed I reread for the second, fifth, tenth time this summer.  (Seriously, some of our poor Harry Potter books are held together with rubber bands.)  I received Watching the English by Kate Fox for my birthday, which may in all seriousness count as research.  Fox is an English anthropologist who took it upon herself to scientifically study “Englishness”.  Fox is very funny and I couldn’t put the book down.  I’m excited to reread this after I’ve been in Lancaster for a while so I can see whether her statements hold up to my experience!

I would be leaving out some of my favorite research if I didn’t include some of the television I watched this summer.  My family has always enjoyed “Brit Com” on Saturday nights on PBS, with Keeping Up Appearances, As Time Goes By, and so on.  This year Dad received for his birthday a complete collection of Fawlty Towers on DVD, and Mom got The Vicar of Dibley.  With that under my belt, I’m not sure what else I can do to be ready to go, except, of course, for things like packing. 

My host counsellor mentioned that I might like to say in my presentation what I expected about the UK.  I think given these items, I may have some very interesting expectations!

 

The Reality

The reality is that I am leaving in less than two months!  My pre-departure paper work is into Rotary, my visa has been granted by the UK, and I should shortly find out who my host counselor is.  I’ll give my presentation to the Attica-Williamsport Rotary Club on September 3rd (I’m excited for it, although I haven’t started yet). 

Anyway, the real purpose of this post is to share a quote from yesterday that made the reality set in a little deeper.  Plus a little humor is in order!

Katie (my sister):  Did they spell ‘authourised’ wrong on your visa?

Me:  No, they just spelled it British.

 

Update on Life

It’s hard to believe, but it took me over a month to finish posting about my trip to Beijing!  Since I’ve been working on that, I think it’s time for an update on what else is going on.

I haven’t had a job this summer, so my main goal has been to be helpful around the house.  This took the form of stripping all the wallpaper in my bedroom then painting.  I completely underestimated how big of a task it would become.  I thought I would be done in about a week; however, from the time I stripped the first bit of wallpaper to the time I put the last piece of furniture back into my room it had been four weeks!  The job certainly kept me busy, and I don’t know when I (or anyone else in my family) would have had time to wrestle with the wallpaper. 

Just as I finished up that project, I was able to spend two days with my grandparents helping Grandma wash windows and then I received a call from my aunt and I am now babysitting my three cousins a few days each week for the next three weeks. 

In addition to babysitting, I’m also working hard on getting things together for my scholarship.  I mailed in my visa application on Wednesday which is exciting, although trying to get together all of the information they require was a little taxing.  In addition to my visa, I have several forms that need to be filled out and sent to Rotary soon.  It’s hard to believe that I leave in just two months!

Other exciting things include my birthday this Friday!  Plus, a bridal shower for my friend Carrie takes place on Saturday.  I can’t wait to see the bride and start celebrating her wedding coming up this September.   The summer is going both fast and slow, but I’m enjoying it!

 

China!

It’s hard for me to believe that I am home from China already! I’ve had quite the whirlwind adventure.  I’m going to take a few posts to tell everything that happened, starting before I stepped foot on the plane.

May 24th:  Katie’s graduation-hurrah! 

Graduation took place at 1:00 pm, so the morning was spent decorating, touching up the house, and get everything ready for her reception.  Everything was beautiful-from the cake to the tent in the backyard to the photo collages.  After the ceremony, I had quite a bit of fun talking to Katie’s guests, a lot of whom are family or are former teachers.  At six the ‘formal’ reception ended and Dad fired up the grill and the party died down around 9, which is when Mom’s cousin Lisa drove me to Indy to meet up with the marching band who had performed in the Indy 500 parade that day (I had received a reprieve because of Katie’s graduation).  I made it to bed around midnight, exhausted from the busy day.

May 25th: Indy 500

Around 4:00 am, the percussion director went through the halls blowing a whistle to wake us all up.  Breakfast happened, then the bus ride to the racetrack, then we waited…and waited…  Finally we got off the bus, waited a bit more, warmed up as an ensemble, walked to the race track, entered at the fourth turn and marched to the starting line.  We played a bit, then went off the side of the track.  We played…and waited…and played…and waited.  Then I saw my dad, brothers, and uncle.  Let’s just say my dad is my hero for many reasons, but most recently it’s because he brought me a sandwich.  And I was so hungry.  Plus, when we finally went back to the buses after we’d played Back Home Again in Indiana, and the race had started, the boxed lunch provided was kind of gross.  Good job, Dad!  You rock!

 The band left the track before the race ended, and headed back to the dorms to get our stuff and check out.  This is where the China trip really started, because we had just enough time to drive back to Purdue, grab some fast food, and rest for about 30 minutes before we reported to the indoor practice field for the football team to have one more rehearsal before we went to China.  The rehearsal was nuts-not in the fact that there was too much or that it was overwhelming, but that we all had been up since four that morning, had spent a remarkable amount of time in uniform, and were pretty tired. 

Rehearsal ended at 9 and at that point four of the girls in my section and I headed to my grandparents house to take showers and hang out until it was time for our 2:45 am call time the next morning.  Some how we manage not to sleep-it rather hard though.  Special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for their hospitality and all of the food!

 

 

Spring Break 08

Spring break took place several weeks ago, but one notable event that I haven’t been able to post about yet (oh, college), is the tour I took of Rotary International Headquarters in Evanston, IL.  Mom and I went up the night before for a night on the town, then we met up with Suzann, Knowledge (Ambassadorial Scholar to Purdue from Zimbabwe), and a group of people from Missouri, including an Ambassadorial Scholar from Kenya named Patience, her husband, and members of her hosting club. 

The tour itself was really interesting.  We were able to meet lots of people and eat lunch with several scholarship coordinators.  We even met the current president of Rotary, and had tons of pictures taken.  My favorite part, hands down, was meeting with my scholarship counselor.  I’m glad to have had the chance to meet him, and ask him all sorts of questions about my trip.  Most importantly, he helped me prioritize everything I need to be doing for the scholarship.  It’s very comforting to know that I don’t have to fill out any more papers to send in until after school is out!

The tour made for a very long day, and I came back really tired, but it really gave me a whole new perspective on Rotary.  I had no idea how many people Rotary employs, and their jobs are all pretty neat, like helping students who are traveling all over the world with Rotary, or coordinating matching grants to support things like water sanitation and poverty relief. 

On a non-Rotary note, rehearsals have begun for the marching band trip to China!  It’s super great to be back with the band, playing some of the best songs from the past two seasons.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t stop smiling through the entire practice on Sunday.  The atmosphere is electric from everyone’s anticipation.  Next Sunday we will have a culture briefing.  Jay and Max (our directors) went to Beijing around Spring Break and will be sharing with us some travel tips and etiquette.  I’m looking forward to everything except the flight. 

They shared the schedule with us, and it’s pretty crazy.  People begin reporting to the Indy 500 for practice and a parade on Saturday, May 24th.  Breakfast on the 25th starts at 5am then we are out the door by 6am for the race.  When we get home to West Lafayette that night we’ll have a three hour marching rehearsal for China, then maybe some sleep.  Depending on the flight I’m on, I’ll be on a bus to Chicago at 3 or at 6, then all of the airport stuff and finally the plane.  I’m tired just thinking about it, but hopefully it means I’ll be able to sleep during the flight.

All in all, it’s pretty exciting.  I only have about two weeks of class left, and only four weeks until I officially graduate.  It’s sad and amazing all at the same time!

 

Accepted!

I’ve finally received word from Lancaster and I’ve achieved ‘conditional acceptance’ into the education program in grad school.  My eyes bugged a little when I saw the word ‘conditional’, but after reading down a little ways, all it means that I have to actually graduate from Purdue and maintain my GPA (not a big deal).  So hooray!  I’m going to grad school! 

Things are finally starting to sink in a little bit.  It helps when everyone seems to be asking you what you’re doing after you graduate and you have to tell them.  Next on the list is figuring out housing, which is kind of overwhelming when you are an ocean away from the place you’ll be living.  Soon (hopefully)  I’ll be put in contact with a Rotarian from the area and they’ll help me find a place to live.

School is at a slight lull this week before Spring Break, and I’m really glad.  It’s nuts to think that after I return from Spring Break I’ll only have six weeks of class.  That makes it ten weeks until I graduate and something like thirteen weeks until I go to Beijing with the Purdue “All-American” Marching Band.  Exciting times!  I’m sure the weeks will fly by!

 

Phase…two?

My application to Lancaster University is finally submitted in full!  I turned in my part via the internet two weeks ago and yesterday, after some crazy e-mail glitches, I picked up my second professor recommendation.  I made a trip to the post office, and after a long talk with an employee about the pros and cons of each envelope and sending methods, my application is now on it’s way to England!  I’m very relieved to have that complete.  Now I just have to wait and see…

There are “backup plans” through Rotary if I am not accepted into the program, and I do have a vague idea of what I could do if it comes down to not being able to attend Lancaster.  However, I just have to wait to hear back from the university before I get too worked up about anything.

School is going well this semester.  I’m taking an English class on King Arthur which is getting me very excited about my upcoming year abroad, as well as giving me ideas of places I would like to visit!

 

Orientation

I just returned from Nashville, TN where I attended the Multi-District Ambassadorial Scholar Orientation (that’s more or less what it was called, anyway).  I went down early yesterday with Steve, my counselor on this side of the pond.  Exciting points included actually receiving my appointment letter, meeting a former Ambassadorial Scholar to Lancaster University, and meeting a lot of other scholars going places both near and far to where I am going.  Hopefully they’ll blog about their experiences and I’ll link to them here. 

We spent a good deal of time in seminars, learning about Rotary (it’s history, how it functions, programs they do), as well as hearing former scholars speak about their experiences, give presentations like they would in their host country, and give the outbound scholars general tips for a successful year abroad.  It was really fun to talk to the other outbound scholars about what they where they will be going and what they will be doing during their scholarship year.  I enjoyed making connections with people who will hopefully let me sleep on their couches when I have the chance to travel!

Another exciting part of the weekend was the General Secretary of Rotary International, Ed Futa, giving a speech to us.  He is quite the dynamic speaker and definitely has a passion for service.  He touched a little on the Gates grant.  To describe it briefly, , the Gates Foundation put forth $100 million that Rotary will match in order to continue their mission to eradicate polio.

Applying to Lancaster is underway.  Part of me feels very presumptuous talking in definites about going there, since it really isn’t one-hundred percent certain until I’m actually accepted to the program; however, I continue to move ahead, particularly now that I’m on vacation and don’t have homework or finals to prevent me from working on scholarship things.

 

Assignment!

It’s official!  I’ve been placed at Lancaster University in England next year.  I’m really excited about my assignment-it was my first choice.  When I checked my e-mail and saw several e-mails from Rotarians, I actually had a pretty tough time breathing.  I called my mom and she thought something was wrong because I couldn’t talk very well either. 

Next up is orientation in Nashville this Friday and Saturday, plus applying to the school, organizing housing, making lots of lists and planning.   All this on top of finals taking place tomorrow and the day after.  I’m trying to limit my time on Lancaster University’s website, since I really do need to study.

 

Anticipation

I’m still waiting to hear about where I’ll be studying next year.  I should find out within three weeks, but I really hope that it’s today.   I’m taking the GREs tomorrow, although I don’ t think I’ll need the scores, it won’t hurt to take them.  Also coming up is a conference in Nashville at the end of finals week to prep me on how to be a Rotary Scholar.  Worst-case scenario is that I haven’t recieved my appointment letter yet.  Somehow, I don’t think I will really belive that I’m going abroad next year until they actually tell me where I’m going.