Monday 10 June 2013

Hiccup Number 1

No sooner had it begun than the first hurdle appeared...


Anyone who has previously travelled to Russia will know the tortures involved in obtaining an entry visa: pages of obscure questions, vials of blood (yes literally)! After your efforts, there is something hugely satisfying about your passport returning with one page filled with cyrillic scrawl that you can't understand. You hold it aloft like it is the holy grail, with tears of triumph in your eyes (no exaggeration). 


However...

Before you even embark on the aforementioned pleasure cruise of an application process, you have to be cordially invited by your host institution. You care for your invitation, a piece of paper stamped by your friendly Russian passport officer, as if it were your child (WARNING: the world may literally implode should it go missing in action.).


To receive your invitation...

you must send a copy of your passport for approval. That's all. The first small step on a perilous journey.

You wouldn't think that photocopying would pose a problem to an undergraduate.
You obviously thought wrong.

Evidently, I am even incapable of doing that efficiently.

What hope have I...


Hiccup Number 1. Grace's dodgy photocopying gets a rejection from the Voronezh passport office.

Hopefully my scanning skills prove more competent... 
SHARE:

Monday 3 June 2013

And so it begins...

On Friday 31st of June, as of 3.10pm, freedom was ours... a feeling of euphoria swept over the University of Bath. We ventured blinking from the library in to the first sun we'd seen in days, maybe even weeks. Our final exam was over, beverages were consumed and library books had been returned instead of frantically renewed

So the summer we had dreamed of arriving was officially here - the sun was shining, the birds were chirping...but then it dawned on us. The afternoon we would be spending on campus would be our last for over a year. After two years of studying, the thing language students both fear and long for was upon us...the start of our placement year. It is rumored, so they say, to be 'the best year of your entire degree' (a statement that has had lecturers rolling their eyes at every 'Year Abroad Preperation Lecture' since time immemorial). Hell, its the main reason us linguists take a language degree...however now that had arrived and we were thinking over our well made plans, it suddenly all seemed a little bit too real. People had been saying their goodbyes to course mates and well wishes were exchanged, all with the knowledge that the next time we saw each other we would all be a little older, certainly a little wiser and (hopefully) speaking two languages fluently - they don't ask for much!

Though it was scary to think about, the thoughts of the final preparations were washed away with Bulmers Pear and talk turned to more pressing matters of Summer Ball dresses and course gossip...the way sunny afternoons should be spent.

That was two whole days ago...
Now the celebrations have semi-subsided, and here I am, in the wee hours of the morning, writing the beginning of the next chapter, one that I'm sure will be filled with new adventures. 

This will be my way of sharing my experiences with all of you: my friends, my family and any one else who is just plain nosey. I hope you'll not only get an insight in to the world of Grace but also in to the ways of the world through the places you visit with me...

And so it begins....



SHARE:
© Between My Passport Pages. All rights reserved.
Blogger Templates by pipdig