12 Days!

Well, everyone. Twelve Days. There is so little time left! I feel like everything is going in slow motion though, even though I'm positive it is going to fly by!

Stacey asked me if I would draw the winning ticket for the booze wagon raffle on Thursday. They printed off 1,000tickets and they are basically gone. I'm so excited to see who wins! I hope it is someone I know, not that I am prejudice against the other people who bought tickets. Honestly, I want to buy tickets, too, but I can't really afford the be spending money on alcohol. Lmao. Maybe some generous soul will donate it if they win...or even just share the wealth!
Also on Thursday, grandma is dying my hair red again. I don't think being a brunette is for me.

This weekend Denny, Mom, Garet, and I are supposed to go to this place called Cajun Connection. Mom and Denny have been there before and said it was really good. I love Cajun food and I can't wait to go. Also this weekend, Mom and I are supposed to go get manicures and pedicures! I have never had a pedicure before and I don't really like people touching my feet, but I and going to give it a shot. It might be worth the few minutes of suffering to let someone else paint my toes.

I'm pretty sure Garet has a game and a race this weekend too. I would really like to get a chance to go to one of each before I leave. Unfortunately, all of Garet's games have been on Saturday when I'm at work so I haven't been able to go. And all of his races have been canceled because of rain, so hopefully this weekend it isn't.
Stacey and Shawn are having people over out at the farm and I guess Mom and Denny might be going Friday night, but Denny has to work Sunday, so I will miss out.

Because of the 4th of July I have Monday off and we are going to have a small cookout at the house so I can say goodbye to the people I probably wouldn't get a chance to otherwise.

Then, I have two days of work, then I am off. I will have a ton of stuff to do in the two days I have off before I leave. That Thursday I have a check up with a doctor I have never been too before. And at some point I want to get my eyes checked before I leave so I can get a new pair of glasses.

Then Saturday I leave. My mom was thinking she might just get me a plane ticket from Peoria to Chicago instead of driving me up because she didn't really have anyone to go with her. But it is looking like my Aunt Mary and Jordan want to go, too, so I'm not really sure what is happening there.

So much to do, so little time. Everything is basically ready. All I have to do is pack and get on the plane=) <3

Suprise, Suprise.

Well, as everyone is aware, my financial aid department has been approximately 100% unhelpful in this whole venture. So today, Alicia calls me crying because they told her that her parent plus loan had been denied. She isn't sure why because her parents have been approved for more than this amount before. I believe she asked for $10,000, and was turned down. So she isn't sure how she is going to come up with the money to go.

I called to talk to Paula, the lady at the FAO that handles study abroad financial aid, and she told me that I shouldn't call her anymore. Which pissed me off becuase I thought she was the only one in the office who knew what she was talking about and wasn't jerking me around. But apparently she was because when I called to chek up on my parent plus loan to make sure that it had been approved, she old me that it had been looked at but not approved or denied. This pissed me off even more because she told me weeks ago that she was going to set it on the top of the pile to be looked at and approved before anyone elses. Clearly, she didn't do that.

The reason I called and asked he to check on it for me was because my financial aid online had changed and showed an amount that had been approved. It used to say the amount was esimated and now it says how much I have accepted and when that amount is set to be disbursed. So I called and talked to her and she said that that was wrong, and they haven't approved anything yet. I think this bitch is just as clueless as everyone else in that joke of an office.

So basically, I am panicking about money and so is Alicia. I am just so tired of everyone telling me something different there. Why is it so difficult to be straightforward with someone? They are pretty much telling Alicia and I three weeks before we leave that we aren't going to have the money to go after messing with us for literally about 6 months.

God, I'm just so tired of nothing working out. In my opinion, studying abroad is something every student should get the opportunity to do. In order to become a well rounded individual, you should leave your comfort zone and experience how people different from you live. It's like no one is being supportive...like the school doesn't care, nor think this is important...nd thats such bull. I'm getting fed up with fighting people for this opportunity. I'm starting to become under the impression the only people who can study abroad are those who can afford it. And God knows I can't.

I just called the FAO again and talked to someone else and they said that what is showing online right now is not true. That that approved loan amount has been sent off for a credit check. So no way and I getting that much. I won't find out until the end of the week what the real approved amount is. Great.

I will keep you guys updated. Thanks for reading.

20 Days!!!

Well, howdy, everyone!

So, not much has gone on in the past couple of days. Saturday morning I got all three of my wisdom teeth removed. What a story! I am a mostly healthy person, so I got my first IV. The nurse had to bring in another nurse to hold my arm down. Haha. The room was in was really small so it was a feat when the surgeon came in and put the anesthesia in my iv and the last thing I remember was him walking around the end of the bed. That stuff knocked me out pretty darn quickly! The next thing I remember is the nurse putting me into a wheelchair to take me to the recovery room. I haven't been in too much pain. The nice dentist gave me vicodin. lol. The only thing that is giving me any trouble in the one tooth that was on the bottom. It was completely in the bone and they had to cut it out. But I should be fine in a couple of days.
On another, happier, more exciting note-20 days until I leave!!!!!!!!!

AHH! 24 DAYS!

AHHH! It's getting so close to my time to leave! 24 days!

*Just an update, I ended up not having to pay all that money yesterday! Woo! I will have to eventually but not so soon. That was a fantastic suprise! Now I hope I won't have to borrow money to pay anything.

*Also, I am getting my wisdom teeth out this Saturday. I'm terrified. I have never had an IV before or had any kind of surgery. I hope I'm not in a ton of pain and I hope I don't get sick or anything.

*Aaaanndd, the list of things that can kill me just keeps growing! I'm starting the list:
1. Sharks (Great White specifically.)
2. Cars
3. Funnel Web Spider
4. Box Jelly Fish
5. Blue Ringed Octopus(Apparently they have more venom than an adult King Cobra!)
6. Stone Fish(Most venomous fish in the world.)
7. Taipan (Most venomous snake in the world. Can kill 100 adults with ONE bite.)
8. Salt water crocodile
9. Brown Snake
10. Red Back Spider
11. Tiger Snake
12. Irukandji (Smallest animal capable of killing a full grown person. Jellyfish.)
13. Scorpion Fish
14. White Tail Spider
15. Barrier Reef Cone Shell

*Of the ten most venomous snakes in the world, eight reside in Australia. Christ. I'm gonna die.

*I have also been wondering what on Earth I am going to do during all this travelling? I am going to be so freaking bored!

*I have been reading the books that Stacey got me and I am getting to excited to go live in Melbourne! The city sounds amazing! (If pretty darn expensive.) For instance, you can walk from one end of this one street to the other and go from Chinatown to Paris! It sounds like there are alot of really cool things to do there. I'm sure after being there for 5 months I still won't have been everywhere.

*I would like to post a thank you to everyone who has been trying to help me out! I am writing thank you cards now, and I plan to send post cards to eveyone, too, at some point. I want to say a special thanks to Stacey and Shawn for going above and beyond to raise money for me! Thank you guys so much! I love you!

*Okay well I had better get back to work. I'll write more later!

30 Days!!

Listen people,

You don't even know how excited I am right now. Aside from money problems-which are a constant these days-everything is going great! Stacey bought me two books from Amazon and they are on their way! One of them was one I was about to buy anyways. I was literally online trying to buy it when I realized my Cefcu savings card couldn't used to make online purchases. lol.

Everything is moving right along. I got an email from the RMIT Village about where I would be staying. They couldn't give me a room number, but they did tell me I was in a 2-bed studio with an Australian. Unknown Roommate: Take 2. Let just hope we can get along this time. And...I HAVE A BALCONY! Well, I'm pretty sure anyways. The website says that most of the 2 bedroom studios have them. And wouldn't they want to make a good impression? haha.

Also, my grandpa is FOR SURE coming to visit me!!! I can't wait to share everything I have learned and my new city with him! It has been so long since I was on a vacation, and with family coming to see me it will feel more like one. I haven't heard about whether Uncle Daren isstill considering it. I know he has got alot of mouths to feed, and tickets aren't cheap, by any means. I wish my mom could come, but I guess she has used all her vacation days and the only ones left she is using when she goes to Sturgis. Oh well, one out of two ain't bad. (P.S. I HATE the word ain't. I only used it because it would have messed the expression up if I hadn't.)

So I am kind of freaking out about all of this money. It is just such bad timing. I owe the balance on my Australearn account by June 15th ($4,048.00) I am going to be about $800.00 short. I blame this on the financial aid at Southern. If they would approve my financial aid, I wouldn't owe anything. Also, they are putting my housing on there, so then I have another 30 days to pay THAT balance or RMIT Village won't hold my room. I have to wait for my parent plus loan to be approved so I know how much I have to come up with. Hopefully, my housing will be billed as housing without meals, $5,880.00, and my other financial aid will be approved by then and I won't have to pay anything....but I doubt it. No one seems to have their shit together except my coodinator, Jalyssa. Thank god for her, even though 9 times out of 10 the poor girl is the bearer of bad news.

I am looking at cell phones and cell phone plans and I'm thinking about going with a company called Global Gossip. I can send texts anywhere in the world for .15 and I receive free incoming calls and texts. So, basically, whoever calls me will be paying an arm and a leg, but it wil be freeeee for meee! =) Which is what really matters! lmao.

I hope that I have money to get a season or two of a tv show to keep me occupied on the flights and in airports. I calculated how much time I will spend in a plane from Chicago to Melbourne and I will have been flying for 21 hours and 45 minutes! That is really going to suck. Just the flight from LA to Brisbane is 13 hours and 50 minutes. The weird thing is that because of the time zones I will leave LA at 11:30 p.m. July 10th and arrive in Brisbane at 6:20 a.m. on July 12th! Crazy. It looks like I will have actually been flying for 30 hours and 50 minutes, but nope. Time zones are tricky things.

Okay well I had better get back to work and make some money! Love you!

Just Some Links!

Hi=)

Here is where I will be staying in Melbourne:
http://www.rmitvillageom.com.au/site/html/the_pics.php

^^I can't wait to get there and see my room! Most of the rooms have balconies! Fun fact-It used to be a hotel and was renovated to become apartments.

And here is a link to pictures of Melbourne with a little bit of information:
http://www.ozshots.com/melbourne/

Bye!
Alysha<3

The Fight...(Continued)

Okay so when I first decided I wanted to study abroad all of the SIU representatives I talked to told me that my financial aid would cover the cost. LIES! When I filled out the form and took it to the financial aid office, they told me that that was not true. I would only be getting like 1/6 of my normal financial aid. THEN the lady (who, by the way, tells me something different everytime I talk to her) told me that my total, for fall only, would be $26, 963!!!! I immediately burst into tears and left. HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO COME UP WITH THAT?!

Next, I started getting all of these deadlines from the company I am travelling through, Australearn, for money I owe. They wanted $400 the day my application was approved and I was accepted into the program. Next, they wanted $1,500 (with financial aid-without they would have wanted $5,000). Then I had to buy my planes tickets with were almost $2,000. Then I had to buy my visa, which was $540. Last I had to buy my adventure day which was $130. So I need money fast. I had to get a loan for $4,500!

Because I was so strapped on money, I decided to only pay the things I absolutely had to, and that dropped my price down to $19,242.50. Which is no better. After I did that and subracted my financial aid and my scholarships I calculated that I would need to come up with $6,757.50 this summer. We are still waiting to find out how much my mom will get in her parent plus loan. I am hoping for $3,000. That would be fantastic because then I will only need to come up with $3,757.50. I feel like that is much more manageable.

I have a summer job my cousin Tommy gave me working in one of his loans centers. I'm so grateful because otherwise I would have no chance whatsoever to earn this money I need. I also decided to write family and ask them for help. I didn't want to do it because I know everyone is basically broke right now, but I did, and I have already heard that some of my family is saving for me. I don't know what I would do without them. It's times like these when I really feel lucky for having family that supports my decisions-even if they dont necessarily agree with them (*cough* grandpa and grandma *cough*). But they love me=) lol.

So now I am researching the city and Victoria and finding things to do and just reading up. Melbourne is so amazing! It has like 3.5 million people in it and is very well known for being extremely hot then extremely cold all in the same day! I want to go everywhere! They have a zoo, an aquarium, and a sanctuary relatively close to me. I want to volunteer there but I guess there is a huge waiting list.

On another even more exciting note-it sounds like my grandpa is going to come visit me during my midsemester break!! He has always wanted to go there and by then I should pretty much be a native Victorian;) Especially because I plan to buy these two books I came across. One is a city guide to Melbourne and the other is a guide to the things to do throughout Victoria.

Okay, well I am going to get back to work. (Tommy, if you are reading this, I am also working diligently on getting people to bring me their hard earned money.) Love you! Bye! =)

The Fight

Hi, everyone! My name is Alysha and July 10th I leave for Australia. A friend of mine went to India and wrote in a blog while she was there-that is where I got this idea. I don't really know who all will read this (aside from my Mom and Aunt Donna), but I know that I will enjoy writing. When I had the opportunity to travel to Italy with my teacher in high school, she made me fill out a paper every night so that I would remember the little things that had happened throughout the day. I hated her for it then...I just wanted to go to bed so I could get up and explore again, but she was right. This should help me remember the little events I normally wouldn't.

I decided to start writing before I go, honestly, so that I can vent. You wouldn't believe the trials I have had to go through to make this happen! But I will go into all of that tomorrow. I need sleep. These days I'm a real downer, what with working and all. So...Goodnight!