28 May 2009

Finally!

I finally received my placement this morning! I am going to be interning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals in London. I will be working closely with the human resources department. According to Anglo-American - the placement company - this is an extremely prestigious placement, so I am appropriately excited, but also extremely nervous as well. To be honest, that is about all I am aloud to say about what I will be doing as I am required to sign a confidentiality agreement because of the nature of the work that I will be doing. I will try to keep you all posted with other exciting things that I do!

It is such a relief to FINALLY have my placement because that means the shopping can begin. My sister and I are planning to go shopping on Saturday in Milwaukee, which means I have a lot of work in store for me in the next couple of days. I need to inventory what I already have to see what I still need to purchase.

I do know that I am going to be needing MORE SHOES! I know it is probably hard to believe, but I only have two pairs of shoes in my ENTIRE closet that will be suitable to wear to work and they're flats - ugh! The only problem is that no matter what tube stop I get off at, I will still have a 15-20 minute walk to get to the hospital. I have to pray that I find REALLY comfortable heels or I am going to have to wear trainers and change when I get there, which I REALLY do not want to do...so not chic!

I already know that I have at least one fun thing planned. I am going to go see a play featuring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart! The theatre program to London had extra tickets and international programs offered them to the interns, so I snatched one up right away! Who would pass up a chance to see a play featuring Gandelf the Gray/White and Jean Luc Picard/Dr. Xavier??!!

I am also hoping to convince someone to go to Scotland with me in the middle of July. There is a music festival going on there called "T in the Park" and it features about 10 of my most favorite bands! What a perfect excuse to travel! I am waiting to get an idea of my work/class schedule before buying my tickets because I wouldn't want anything to conflict.

Well...that is about all of the exciting news I have for now. I considered telling you all about the visa fiasco, but it just makes me bitter.

13 May 2009

Biometrics Appointment

To be honest, I don't have much of an update since my last blog. The only thing worth noting is that I went to a biometrics appointment in Milwaukee on May 5.

The biometrics appointment was a required part of the visa application process. A girl from downstairs - who is also going to London - traveled to Milwaukee together for our appointments and it was nothing super special. When we scheduled our appointments, we were only able to schedule them on the hour, so Katie and I expected to spend at least 2.5 hours in Milwaukee at these appointments. Not the case.

We spent 6 hours in the car to spend 30 minutes in the Department of Homeland Security. When we got there, we had to go through a metal-detector and our bags had to be x-rayed. Once we got there, it only took 30 minutes for each of us to have our "appointments"...if by appointments you mean a chance to get finger-printed and photographed by the federal government then that's what they were.

I've been getting tons of emails from the secretary in the International Programs office because they've apparently been having problems with visa applications getting returned. So far, I haven't heard anything back on my application, but I'm thinking that whatever the people in International Programs have been doing is to prevent anymore of our applications from getting returned. Fingers crossed, I guess.

I also have not received my placement. I am starting to get REALLY antsy because I want to start getting ready for my trip. More importantly, I want to go shopping for clothes to wear to my internship!!! How am I supposed to do that if I don't know where I'm going to be working?!

My finals are going to be wrapping up tomorrow. So far, I've taken two finals - I know I aced the first one and the second one is debatable. Only two of my final grades have been posted so far - both A's!!! Now I am just patiently...OK, not patiently...waiting for graduation on Saturday. I know it isn't official until after I come back from London, but walking across that stage is the last thing that I have to do in Stevens Point before I get to move home for good.

Hopefully by next week I'll know more about what is going on with my trip!