It’s June now, as anyone and everyone can see by the calendar. Kind of hard to believe that this year is already halfway over when it felt like it was December just yesterday (literally).
I’ll have officially been on summer vacation for one month starting tomorrow. I still have a full two months of working and vacation time left before I have to go back to Athens in early-mid August, but I’m definitely happy and excited about it.
Since my last post, quite a few new things have happened. My French friends Romane and Marie have officially left me and are now back in France. I definitely cried when my dad and I dropped them off at the Atlanta airport, because unlike before, I really don’t know when and even if I’ll be seeing them again. My time with them both was short, but our memories are forever, and that’s the most important thing to realize when I look back at their 10 month journey spent here in America. Now I’m keeping in touch with them on whatsapp and/or imessage, and things are going well over there in France.
Also, a few days ago, I sent in my documents to Washington D.C. for my Russian tourist visa that I’ll need to get into Russia in January. I’m keeping a little log of how much I spend for the trip/items for the trip and so far for the visa and its processing/mailing, it has cost me about $317 (or, as I can translate it, three days worth of cash tips earned at IHOP + $65 more from my savings account). It’s not that bad at all I suppose, because I don’t feel guilty about spending that much for something I really want to do. My mom still doesn’t approve of the whole Russia idea of course, but my dad is still super supportive and has continued to help me with everything I’ll need.
The only thing I didn’t know about my Russian visa (and really, most foreign visas in general) is that a visa application can’t be processed more than 6 months prior to the intended trip. Since my trip is in January, my application can’t be processed or approved until July 1st. Good thing I’m really not going anywhere out of the country this summer where I’d need my passport anyway. The Russian Consulate in D.C. will hold my documents and passport for processing until that time, so I predict that by the middle of July (or even earlier – who knows?) I’ll have my passport back with my Russian visa in it, and then I can go ahead and buy my plane ticket. My goal is to try to buy a ticket under $800, so as long as rates don’t go up too much in the next month or month and a half, I think everything will be okay. The cheapest ticket I’ve found so far from Atlanta à Moscow, at this point in time anyway, is $790.
The third thing that has happened since my last post is that I’ve befriended another really great person who goes to school in Moscow. His name is Andrey, and I have talked with him almost every single day since he first sent me a message on interpals (which was, I suppose, almost two weeks ago). This is super great, because he’s told me that there’s a possibility he’d try to come with me to St. Petersburg if he’s available on the days that I’ll go. Seeing another city is beyond cool, but seeing it with a friend is 100000 times even better. I’d been wanting to find a friend in St. Petersburg for a while, but finding someone else in Moscow who could come with me there is just as good.
Otherwise, it’s just been work work work work, with the past two Thursdays off. I hope that I won’t keep getting Thursdays off though, because despite having two part-time jobs, I feel like I’m not working enough. I’d say with my two jobs combined, I work anywhere from 30-40 hours a week. That’s not bad, of course, but I’d like to keep the number of hours closer to 40 whenever I can help it. I get money from at least one job per week, so it’s nice to receive something and to not feel like I’m completely broke. I have to pay for part of my car insurance and for most of my phone usage starting this month, as well as save some money on the side to eventually pay my grandma back $800 for fixing my car brakes and car router, but otherwise the rest of my money and saving/using it is up to me. I’m trying to avoid paying huge sums of money for gas this summer, since it can get costly if I have to go longer distances more often.
My dad also helped me sign up for my first credit card, which I’ll plan on using to buy my plane ticket to Moscow and to automatically pay off at the end of the month I buy it (July) so that I can establish good credit. My goal for the end of June is to have at least $1000 or more in my savings account. Right now, after having taken out a bit to pay for my visa processing, I have about $645. It’s doable to add $400 more if I remain frugal with most of my free spending.
It’s been a successful first month of summer for me to say the least, and I know that I have many exciting things to look forward to doing at the very end of it/beginning of my school semester when my international friends come to visit me in Atlanta and Athens. There’s always something to look forward to, anyway.
I’ll have officially been on summer vacation for one month starting tomorrow. I still have a full two months of working and vacation time left before I have to go back to Athens in early-mid August, but I’m definitely happy and excited about it.
Since my last post, quite a few new things have happened. My French friends Romane and Marie have officially left me and are now back in France. I definitely cried when my dad and I dropped them off at the Atlanta airport, because unlike before, I really don’t know when and even if I’ll be seeing them again. My time with them both was short, but our memories are forever, and that’s the most important thing to realize when I look back at their 10 month journey spent here in America. Now I’m keeping in touch with them on whatsapp and/or imessage, and things are going well over there in France.
Also, a few days ago, I sent in my documents to Washington D.C. for my Russian tourist visa that I’ll need to get into Russia in January. I’m keeping a little log of how much I spend for the trip/items for the trip and so far for the visa and its processing/mailing, it has cost me about $317 (or, as I can translate it, three days worth of cash tips earned at IHOP + $65 more from my savings account). It’s not that bad at all I suppose, because I don’t feel guilty about spending that much for something I really want to do. My mom still doesn’t approve of the whole Russia idea of course, but my dad is still super supportive and has continued to help me with everything I’ll need.
The only thing I didn’t know about my Russian visa (and really, most foreign visas in general) is that a visa application can’t be processed more than 6 months prior to the intended trip. Since my trip is in January, my application can’t be processed or approved until July 1st. Good thing I’m really not going anywhere out of the country this summer where I’d need my passport anyway. The Russian Consulate in D.C. will hold my documents and passport for processing until that time, so I predict that by the middle of July (or even earlier – who knows?) I’ll have my passport back with my Russian visa in it, and then I can go ahead and buy my plane ticket. My goal is to try to buy a ticket under $800, so as long as rates don’t go up too much in the next month or month and a half, I think everything will be okay. The cheapest ticket I’ve found so far from Atlanta à Moscow, at this point in time anyway, is $790.
The third thing that has happened since my last post is that I’ve befriended another really great person who goes to school in Moscow. His name is Andrey, and I have talked with him almost every single day since he first sent me a message on interpals (which was, I suppose, almost two weeks ago). This is super great, because he’s told me that there’s a possibility he’d try to come with me to St. Petersburg if he’s available on the days that I’ll go. Seeing another city is beyond cool, but seeing it with a friend is 100000 times even better. I’d been wanting to find a friend in St. Petersburg for a while, but finding someone else in Moscow who could come with me there is just as good.
Otherwise, it’s just been work work work work, with the past two Thursdays off. I hope that I won’t keep getting Thursdays off though, because despite having two part-time jobs, I feel like I’m not working enough. I’d say with my two jobs combined, I work anywhere from 30-40 hours a week. That’s not bad, of course, but I’d like to keep the number of hours closer to 40 whenever I can help it. I get money from at least one job per week, so it’s nice to receive something and to not feel like I’m completely broke. I have to pay for part of my car insurance and for most of my phone usage starting this month, as well as save some money on the side to eventually pay my grandma back $800 for fixing my car brakes and car router, but otherwise the rest of my money and saving/using it is up to me. I’m trying to avoid paying huge sums of money for gas this summer, since it can get costly if I have to go longer distances more often.
My dad also helped me sign up for my first credit card, which I’ll plan on using to buy my plane ticket to Moscow and to automatically pay off at the end of the month I buy it (July) so that I can establish good credit. My goal for the end of June is to have at least $1000 or more in my savings account. Right now, after having taken out a bit to pay for my visa processing, I have about $645. It’s doable to add $400 more if I remain frugal with most of my free spending.
It’s been a successful first month of summer for me to say the least, and I know that I have many exciting things to look forward to doing at the very end of it/beginning of my school semester when my international friends come to visit me in Atlanta and Athens. There’s always something to look forward to, anyway.