Bits and pieces

Hey hey,

I've been doing a few little bits and pieces here and there with my preparation for my trip, so I’ve got a few things to share and update you guys on this week.

A few weeks ago I applied for my OS-HELP loan (OverSeas Higher Education Loan Program), which is an Australian government loan through the HECS-HELP scheme that helps students fund their exchanges. The maximum amount for 2019 is $6,791 and this amount (or however much I ask to be loaned) is added onto my university HECS debt and will be paid back to the government along with the debt accumulated through studying my university course. I had to submit an application form to Deakin along with a Power of Attorney form, and two days later received an email informing me that I’d received conditional approval for the loan. Conditional simply meant that I had been approved for the loan but needed to fill out some formal documents for my application that Deakin had to mail out to me, and then my eligibility would be rechecked once those documents were returned. I received the forms in the mail within a few days, and mailed them back to Deakin shortly after that. I was emailed back this morning informing me that my application was successful and that the money will be deposited into my bank account hopefully next week! This money will be used to pay for most of my housing and meal plan, which I don’t have to pay until I get to college.

I receive youth allowance fortnightly from Centrelink which is some very handy extra money, and Deakin has been telling us all along that if we receive any payment from Centrelink whilst in Australia, we can continue receiving it whilst studying overseas as it’s an accepted reason for travel (because generally your payments get cancelled if you leave Australia unless you’ve informed them and it’s for an approved reason – mainly only education). In order to let Centrelink know about my study abroad program, my Deakin advisor had to write up an official letter which outlined the details of my program and I had to take this into Centrelink the other day. The lady who served me spent about 10 minutes filling out my information on her computer, referencing my letter and also asking me a question here or there, and then told me that everything was good and that I was right to go. I received a letter in the mail from Centrelink the other day confirming that my trip had been approved and that I will receive payments for the duration of my program (but not for the month of travel afterwards; I expected this though). It’ll be extremely helpful having some extra money flowing in every fortnight!

Just 6 days after my appointment at the US consulate, I received my passport back in the mail with my visa inside. Super speedy considering my passport was sent to Sydney and then back to my house!

Today I went and did a little bit of shopping to start picking up the last few bits and pieces I need for my time away like new pairs of jeans, AUS to US adaptor plugs, locks for my suitcases, and a new toiletry bag. I’ve also been adding things here and there to my packing list which is kind of making me want to start packing now haha.

Mum and I have officially booked all our flights and accommodation for our travelling! Now we’re in the process of finalising our itinerary and what activities we want to do, and so we’ve started paying for a few of those things. However, the AUD/USD exchange rate is pretty abysmal right now so we’re going to hold off from a lot of that for now since things are costing more than we budgeted a few months ago. The activities we’ve booked so far were mainly just things that we need/want to do on certain days because of when flights are booked and we’re moving on to another city etc. so this ensures we get a ticket on the day we need/want. So I can now officially confirm that we are going to: Memphis, New Orleans, Chicago, Washington D.C., Toronto (for Christmas), New York City (over New Year’s), San Francisco and Los Angeles!

That’s all I’ve got for now. Again, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on but that’s to be expected considering pretty much everything is now organised and ready with my exchange. So aside from actually packing and having last minute pre-trip appointments in the week before and week of my departure, there’s really not much left to do. 50 days (7 weeks + 1 day) until it’s time to go! Eeeeek!

- Emily xx