49 days, 20 hours, 35 minutes, 32 seconds and counting…

50 days. That’s all I have left until I leave for Edinburgh. Some days it seems like I’ve got forever to get everything done before I’m in the plane, and others it seems like there is no way I will even have time to pack.

I think I’m approaching being in good shape—I finally signed my lease for my new flat in Scotland, and I have successfully figured out how to use Skype, a web based phone system that will let me call home for free.

Now all that’s left is to finish getting my visa, pack, finish my research, finish up my Rhodes Scholar application before I leave, finish my summer school class, and say goodbye to my family and friends. Oh, yeah, 50 days will be plenty of time…I hope.

Right now, the biggest priority I have is to secure my visa. I had no idea how complicated the whole process it was, so I’m glad I’m not starting now. Before you can apply for your visa, you must have a reason to go in the first place, i.e. a job or educational purpose.

You also have to have a place to stay and the money to pay for it. Once you get all your ducks in a row, you can actually start to apply. I was able to apply online since I’m from the States, which was really nice. Once the online application is submitted, you must go to a collection center to submit your biometric information. This sounds a bit scary, but it’s just your fingerprints and photograph. I have to tell you, though, it almost felt like I had done something wrong when I was pressing my fingers onto the scanner.

Here in the US, we are so conditioned to associate fingerprinting with criminal activity; it took me all day long to identify why I felt so troubled after the visa appointment. Anyway, this is where I am in the visa application process. Now I have to send the following things to Los Angeles:

• Completed online application form
• My passport
• Immigration status (my birth certificate)
• Evidence of funds available to me, in the form of detailed bank statements covering at least the last three months
• Either a letter confirming my period of employment from my employer together with salary slips for the last three months or a certificate confirming I have continuing studies or if I am self employed, evidence of my business
• A letter of enrolment from a recognized UK University, College or School giving details about the proposed course. This should including the length of the course and the number of hours of study each week.
• An estimation of the costs of my studies.
• My educational qualifications or copies of them
• Evidence of Government sponsorship (if applicable)
• One recent color passport photograph (not more than six months old)

I’ll be sending all of these documents off tomorrow, and hopefully, I will soon have my visa in hand, ready to hop the pond! After I get my visa, I just need to figure out banking logistics and pack, and then wrap up all my States-side affairs. I’m starting to have the predeparture anxiety causing dreams that typically plague me before I take long trips. In the most recent one, I showed up in Edinburgh with only two pairs of shoes and no sense of direction, completely lost in the city on my first day of school. Ahh! Nightmare. But this should be okay—after all, I have 50 days to pack all my shoes. That should be plenty of time, right?