swordBeatsPaper

Whenever I stop and think about it, I can’t really comprehend that I’m really in Scotland. At most, it feels like an extended vacation, because I haven’t started school yet. I’m basically just learning how to get around, do my own grocery shopping, and budget money a bit more than last year.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but somehow I thought that living in Scotland would somehow feel… constantly foreign, or that I’d feel like more of an outsider. Truth is, it feels a whole lot like any other university, just with people that talk funny (beautifully is …

Yesterday, I went shopping with one of my flatmates. It was such an incredible day. As we walked toward the shops, we passed a bagel shop, and I got coffee and a bagel with bacon and cream cheese (it was delicious). After passing a few of the nearby shops, we decided to take the subway into town. It was such a short ride, I feel blessed that I’m so close to town.

Downtown, there are tons of shops, including two pound shops (dollar stores), plenty of department stores, an HMV (music and games and movies), and much more. The department …

Let me just start out by stating there is SO MUCH to say. But I can’t put it all in one blog post. Though I might try.

The trip over, my first flight/travel alone, was… intense. The flight to LA was nice. At first I sat by a woman with a little dog, but she wanted a seat for him (and there wasn’t much space) so I offered to move. Then I sat by another woman who was sort of talkative, and it felt good to connect with someone on such a long, lonely trip.

LA was horrible. The line …

Tomorrow morning I leave for Scotland.

It really is nearly a whole day’s flight. Leaving the west coast in the morning, I arrive in Scotland in the afternoon, the next day. Traveling time, including layovers, is 18 hours total. It’ll be intense.

And one more twist–my mom can’t come, because the fees are now too high to buy her ticket. So I’ll be going on my first flight alone, and it’s international, the second-longest flight I’ve ever been on. The longest was probably from here to Rome, about five years ago when I went on a Europe trip with my …

Yesterday, my mom was frustrated enough about our problems with the UK Border Agency that she contacted our Washington State Senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, along with Congressman Jay Inslee. First thing this morning, Murray’s office called us, asking for us to fax them a Privacy Release Form so they could help us. Later in the day, Cantwell’s office called. It felt great to have powerful people on our side.

By midday, I was feeling worried and rather aimless. But I eventually got around to baking chocolate chip cookies–the last batch I’ll make here, since we had only one …

This afternoon, I finished the second draft of my novel.

My plan is to put it aside for a few months and eventually go over it again with a fine-toothed comb, fixing things like vocabulary and sentence structure. For now, I’m just glad it seems a lot better than the first draft to me. Subplots are not left dangling, certain events feel more plausible, and details are ironed out.

After finishing editing today, I worked on the final version of a map for my book(s). My mom had spilled a drop of tea on it and it got crinkled and …

I’m doing two blogs today, to make up for yesterday. I was really tired after the convention.

If you haven’t read my previous posts, PAX is a gaming convention held at the Convention Center in Seattle. They have everything from tabletop to console to PC to Wil Wheaton (who I sadly couldn’t go see, since he was there on a different day).

Not only was this my first gaming convention, it was my first convention, period.

When dad and I neared the Convention Center in our car, there were swarms of people crossing streets–and they were all gamers. I couldn’t …

This morning, we weren’t able to get anywhere with Icelandair. Travelocity was willing to waive their flight change fee, but Icelandair didn’t budge on theirs, and it was much more money. So, 24 hours before our scheduled flight, we canceled our tickets, losing half our ticket money.

I’m doing my best to think positively about next week. That I’ll hear as early as Tuesday from the UK Border Agency, that I’ll be able to fly out by the end of the week, that I’ll easily reschedule my adviser appointment. Wish me luck.

For the rest of the day, I watched …

I still haven’t heard from the UK Border Agency. And because of Labor Day, I likely won’t until Tuesday. My original flight was on Sunday, so I’m going to have to act fast in the morning to change or cancel my flight. My mother is actually on the phone right now with Travelocity, trying to get somewhere with refunds. We’ll see.

I’ve been really stressed these past few days. As you can probably tell. One thing that I keep being reminded of is to think positive. Maybe everything seems messed up. But it’s not hopeless. There are some good …

Good news first. I heard from the UK Border Agency a few hours after my last blog.

Now bad news. They want more paperwork from me, by snail mail.

More specifically, they want a transcript–the official one, not faxed or emailed–of my schooling at UBC. If they do not receive it within 4 business days, or if it is the wrong document, they will cancel my visa application. I called UBC and found out the fastest they can mail me my transcript was 2-4 business days, because I live in the USA, not Canada. I decided picking it up in …