27 days.

First blog entry.. yay! As a study abroad student, I am keeping this blog not only to document my semester for myself, but also to keep my parents, sister, friends, relatives and whoever else wants to read this updated on my whereabouts and such.

It's official. I'm going to Belgium!

Plane tickets are purchased, I've got an official Belgian visa, all of my forms are getting turned in; the loose ends are gradually becoming tied. Let me tell you what, it took a lot of doing to actually get to this point where I am confident that I'll actually arrive in Belgium. I'll tell you a little story about getting my Belgian visa... Because I'll be in Belgium for an extended period of time (longer than 3 months) I had to get a Belgian visa. Now, this visa thing is actually pretty cool because not only does it allow me to gain entry to Belgium, but once I've arrived there, my visa allows me to travel with ease between the 27 member states of the European Union. Pretty nifty, huh?

Well, the only difficulty was that the application for my Belgian visa was a monster to complete. It started with a seven page application that had to be fully completed twice - not completed once and copied, that would be way too easy! I had to provide various proofs of solvency to show that I could support living in Belgium for an extended period. I had to make a couple visits to my doctor. I had to travel from my home near Indianapolis to Louisville to see the Honorary Consul of Belgium. To make things even more exciting, I did all of this while living away from home all summer working at a camp. SO MUCH FUN. 

So I eventually had everything compiled and was ready to send it off to New York to actually get my visa.. hooray! But then they sent everything back, saying that I needed copies of my proof of solvency documents. So after allll this work we'd put into it, they sent it back because they needed copies. COOL, Belgium. Nevertheless.. we made copies, sent it back, and now I have a visa!! It only took a couple months of doing... great story, right?! But now I've got all that nonsense taken care of, so life is good.


Studying abroad always seemed like such a distant event, way off in the future. It went from being a year away, then a semester, then a few months, then one month, and now I only have weeks and days until my departure.

I'm lucky, really. I've got plenty of time to say my goodbyes to all of my friends as they go back to school in the next couple of weeks, and then I can worry about packing and getting last minute details squared away.

So, how am I feeling 27 days out? Pretty nervous. And excited. I know that it's going to be such an awesome experience, but I can't help but feel a little bit anxious about all the unknown that looms ahead. It's definitely going to be four months of learning, trying new things, and growth. I can't wait to set out on this new adventure that life has in store for me!

I'm hoping to post again before my departure on the 10th.. but in the future, I'll try to have better stories than the adventures of my Belgian visa :)