This Time, Shit's Real

So I applied for my visa on the 19th of this month. Divya and Shanthi, from IQ Education Consultants (they're the ones who said they'd handle my visa, remember?) had been preparing all the paperwork for me, as well as fixing my appointment, and basically handling everything.


Shanthi made me sit my IELTS last month too. I didn't want to, because it wasn't necessary according to the uni, but she insisted. She said that it would make my visa application stronger, and so I sat the thing.

The Reading and Listening sections were easiest for me; you just filled in words exactly as you read/heard them. Writing was slightly harder, but I think that's a given, since you need to write entire paragraphs. 


The Speaking section was an entirely different matter.


I could go back in time and happily whack myself in the head for the stupidity that I spouted at that Speaking interview. Bear in mind that I didn't take any courses for this exam or anything - I'd just bought myself one of  those IELTS preparation books (utterly useless things, believe me. I think they were meant for kindergartners or serious beginners to the English language). 


After I greeted the examiner, she turned on a little recording device. That completely threw me off. My eyes fixated on it immediately, and I found myself leaning forward a little and trying to speak at the recorder instead of to the examiner at some points. And oh my God, the subject matter of the interview...


I kept my eyes on her face to see how I was doing, but her expressions gave nothing away. She kind of just...smiled, as if to encourage me, through the whole thing. She didn't react to what I was saying. She asked me to describe an event in my life that made me laugh, and I recounted the time that my brother shaved more than half his eyebrows off on each side. I usually have people snorting and hitting their knees with this story. She just kept smiling.


Her final "abstract topic" question was to ask me how I thought humour could be used to benefit international relations. I ask you. I was silent for a good two minutes, racking my brains for anything that could be classified as international, and I kid you not, I just blurted out Obama's name. I can barely remember what on earth I talked about, but I know that I ended the speech with Ellen DeGeneres. 


I was so convinced that I'd failed that stupid IELTS exam, but I actually did pretty well. I scored an 8.0 for the Speaking section (no one was more surprised at that than I was), and got a band score of 8.0, which is pretty high when the maximum is 9.0. I was actually most disappointed with the picture that they used on the Test Report Form - I looked so high, it's not even funny. In my defense, I had to wake up at like 5:00 AM to be there in time for the test.


Anyway.


So I applied for the visa on the 19th, like I said. Shanthi had filed all the documents I needed and handed them to me earlier, so I just had to go in and give that, and have my fingerprints and all taken.


Yesterday, at like 7:00 AM, when all reasonable people are sleeping, my mobile phone rang. The guy on the other end said that he had my passport, and that they'd courier it to me that day itself. Around 11:00 AM, they did arrive with it, and hooray, my visa was here!


So this time, shit's real. I called up Adnan and demanded he buy me a going-away present. I then tried to wheedle the same out of Dad, but he finds it easier to say no to me, having practiced that arcane art all my life.


Mum's easier to handle; I think she's a lot more excited to go shopping than I am, in fact. White I'm thinking about essentials like stylish backpacks, she's thinking about whether or not I should buy bedsheets from here.


Mothers. They really need to get their priorities straightened out.

Catch Up

The dog has recently taken to sleeping in my room in the middle of the day. This very rarely happened, before. In the old house, he'd sleep in my room when I had exams coming up and needed peace and quiet to study. I liked to think that he was warning my family off from bothering me.


I can think of two reasons for this new habit of his.


One. Bruno has sensed that I'm going to be leaving him behind soon, and so has decided to spend all his spare time with me. He'll show diamonds who the real Girl's Best Friend is.


Or two. Bruno has sensed my impending departure, and is staking his claim on my room.


In other news, I'm nowhere near prepared to leave. I still have so many things to buy! I keep thinking of stuff in the middle of the night that I have yet to get, and adding it to the never-ending list that's lying on my table. But I kind of feel bad asking Dad for the money, since he has enough to think about what with the actual uni tuition fees and all. So I've been trying to just use my own pocket money. 


Yesterday, I bought Aehshaan a going-away gift with said pocket money. He's my only brother - I figured I could spare the expense. It was a game he wanted but couldn't buy because he's saving up for a game coming out on the 18th - Modern Warfare 3 or maybe Gears of War 3? I don't know, it's some fighting game, either way.


So I got him Deus Ex: Human Revolution; Excellent reviews, and I really liked the look of the game trailer.


From my side of the gaming board, Junichi Masuda is apparently going to make some grand announcement on the 18th (yes, same date as Aehshaan's whatever game release) about some surprise addition to the Pokemon games. People are speculating that it's Pokemon Gray, to go with Black and White. I don't know about that - seems a bit too early for it, in my opinion. Black and White released worldwide only last March, after all. Maybe it's an event?


Not like I could get into any of it, anyway. Something's wrong with our internet connection - my DS can't connect. I haven't accessed Dreamworld in over a month now. 


Mum told me to pull out the suitcases from the cupboard under the stairs (HARRY POTTER!) today. Start packing all my things. I'm a bit lazy, to be honest. I really can't be bothered. I've been sort of down with regards to that, seeing as my course officially started today. I really hope they don't do anything seriously important - I hate being behind, having to catch up. 


Ah well.


Ja ne.

It Actually Happened.

Summer holidays are finally drawing to a close.


The results of the exams were released two days ago, at 3 a.m. on the 11th. I was a mess the night before; I had a serious case of the shivers, and for hours I felt like I was about to throw up. While the rest of the family dozed, I stayed up until about midnight before deciding that I really should hit the hay. 


Not that I got much sleep, in the end.


I'd set my phone to wake me up at three, and jolted awake when it did. I turned on my computer and headed straight for the results website, simultaneously looking forwards to and dreading what I would see. You know what happened?


The damned website wouldn't load.


It was beyond frustrating. Due to the number of people, all over the world, currently logging into their respective accounts to check their results, I couldn't get through. I checked facebook though, and saw that Bhavesh had gotten his after a lot of refreshing. I hadn't even thought of that. 


So I set about refreshing the page like a mad woman, praying I got through, and then thinking again and praying I didn't. At any rate, after about a half hour of that I managed to get in. 


And I got the grades. *epic grin here*


I squealed and shrieked and leaped out of bed to relay the news to the rest of my family. Mum was already up, preparing for Suhr (we're fasting), so she started jumping up and down in joy as well. Dad was still in bed, so when I went running in there he was quite groggy. Nevertheless, he woke up enough to congratulate me before he burrowed back into the blankets. I didn't bother telling Aehshaan until he had gotten up proper for Suhr - he gets grumpy beyond belief if you disturb his sleep. 


Since I got the grades, it means that I keep my scholarship to the University of Dundee. It means that I'm going to Scotland! I have never been so excited in my life. Or maybe I have, but people tend to believe that a singular point in the present is when they're feeling the most of any extreme emotion, I think.


So now I'm shopping. College shopping. This, I feel, is a vital part of the college experience. Especially if you're a girl. 


I have to get through the boring and tedious stuff, such as filling out visa application forms and buying earplugs and hangers and sheets.


And then there's the excellent stuff that I am enjoying immensely, which is shopping for clothes and shoes and that sort of thing. Better yet is coming home and trying them on with the stuff I already have, and then strutting around the house like a peacock on booze. It's absolutely brilliant. AND I have a legitimate excuse to buy all these new clothes now. Plus I get to wear a trench coat, since Dundee has snow, and I've wanted to wear a trench coat since I saw this chick in France wearing one and looking bloody fantastic.


I think the downside that I'm feeling right now is that I'm only allowed to carry 30 kilos on the plane with me. I've no idea how I'm going to fit everything I need into 30 kilos. Which is why I'm hoping that my parents' visa applications come through, because I can take up their luggage as well. It's not like they'll be staying very long.


And Fresher's Week! How I'm looking forward to Fresher's Week!

I don't know half the people they've shown in the video, but it looks just epic anyway!


And then there's the fact that I'm about to start my University life. Which is just about amazing in itself.


So.


Congratulations to me, for doing much, much better than I ever expected. And congratulations to all of you who got into your respective universities. I love you, and you've done all of us proud. *proud-parent sort of grin* We always knew you could do it.


To reiterate, the summer holidays are finally drawing to a close. But our lives? Well.


They're only just beginning.