America! The land of dreams, potential and possibility!
The day that I heard that I was accepted as an exchange student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro was the day that my life took a dramatic change, although at the time I did not realise this. The preparation began by considering various courses that would be suitable, checking all my VISA requirements and mentally preparing myself for jumping into one of the coldest of winters that I would ever experience! Although having done a lot of research on the available courses, we soon learned that only a hand full were available in my field of study. In hindsight, I should have used this opportunity to take courses in various other fields in addition to my major subjects.
The VISA process was surprisingly quick and swift, although this did mean that an early morning trip to the embassy in Cape Town was in order! Once my VISA was secured, I then started to look at various airfares on a variety of airlines. Would it be easier to fly direct and pay a bit more in order to have a greater peace of mind and reduce fatigue when changing time zones? Or would I prefer to save that money and do a layover instead? Since I was travelling during the Festive Season, flights were more expensive than usual. I would advise new exchange students to arrive earlier in order to avoid expensive plane tickets. In the end, I opted to layover in London for a week to visit family and from London embark on the shorter flight to Washington D.C.
Packing my suitcase was another obstacle to overcome. I needed to pack enough for 6 months yet still have space so that I could bring new things back. After a lot of experimenting, I found it useful to roll up my clothes as this utilised space a lot better than simply folding ones clothes. In addition, I packed a few days’ worth of clothes in my carry-on luggage just in case my baggage got lost. This turned out to be a good idea as many of my soon-to-be friends ended up in the USA with only the clothes on their backs because the luggage got lost between connecting flights. (more…)
