HELLO EVERYONE!!! MY NAME IS ERLAN AND I AM A STUDENT FROM AKTAU, KAZAKHSTAN!!! IN 2009, I FOUND OUT ABOUT THE Work and Travel USA PROGRAM AND I WAS PREPARING TO SUBMIT ALL THE DOCUMENTS, BUT I HAD SOME FAILING GRADES AT UNIVERSITY AND WAS TOLD I COULD NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM WITHOUT A COMPLETED SESSION!!! IN 2010, THANK GOD, I PASSED ALL MY EXAMS, COLLECTED THE DOCUMENTS, AND SUBMITTED EVERYTHING; I JUST NEEDED TO GO THROUGH THE INTERVIEW!!! I SUBMITTED MY DOCUMENTS IN NOVEMBER!!! EVERY DAY I WENT TO THE WEBSITE WWW.IEC.RU TO SEE IF MY INTERVIEW AT THE CONSULATE HAD BEEN SCHEDULED, AND ONE FINE DAY, THE INTERVIEW DATE FINALLY APPEARED ON THE PAGE!!!!! I WAS JUST HAPPY, BUT ALSO VERY SCARED!!! AND THAT LONG-AWAITED DAY WAS APRIL 27, 2010!!! WE WERE INFORMED ABOUT THE INTERVIEW 5 DAYS IN ADVANCE AND DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO BUY PLANE TICKETS!!! ALL 10 OF US STUDENTS FROM AKTAU HAD TO GO BY TRAIN. THERE WERE FEW TICKETS LEFT; WE WANTED TO BUY TICKETS FOR THE SAME COMPARTMENT, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WERE NO FREE COMPARTMENTS, JUST 8 SEATS IN ONE CAR, 2 PEOPLE PER COMPARTMENT!!! OF COURSE, WE BOUGHT THEM!! I ARRIVED AT THE STATION FIRST AND STARTED TALKING TO THE NEIGHBORS IN THE COMPARTMENT SO THEY WOULD SWAP WITH US SO WE STUDENTS COULD BE IN THE SAME COMPARTMENT, AND I TOLD THEM WE WERE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS AND REPRESENTING AKTAU. FORTUNATELY, THEY AGREED, BUT ONLY ONE PERSON SWAPPED; WE STILL NEEDED ONE MORE TO AGREE, BUT HE WASN'T THERE YET. FINALLY, EVERYONE ARRIVED AND SAID GOODBYE TO THEIR FRIENDS, THE TRAIN HAD ALREADY STARTED MOVING, AND WE WERE STILL SITTING THERE!!! WE CHANGED INTO COMFORTABLE CLOTHES AND STARTED PLAYING MAFIA!!! AT NIGHT, THERE WAS A STOP IN BEYNEU, AND THAT'S WHERE ONE PASSENGER CAME, AND WE ALL STARTED PERSUADING HIM TO SWAP SEATS WITH US IN THE NEIGHBORING COMPARTMENT. HE ALSO AGREED, AND WE FELT FINE!!! BUT WE HAD A NASTY CONDUCTRESS WHO ALWAYS YELLED AT US AND SAID SHE WOULD MOVE US TO ANOTHER CAR IF WE DIDN'T STOP MAKING NOISE))))))))))), BUT WE PLAYED MAFIA ALL NIGHT!! ONE DAY PASSED WITH GAMES, AND THERE WAS ONE MORE DAY LEFT ON THE TRAIN, SO WE ALL STARTED PREPARING, READING QUESTIONS, AND SO ON!!! ON MAY 25, WE FINALLY ARRIVED IN ASTANA, THE WEATHER WAS SUPER, SUNNY!!! ASTANA HAS A SUPER STATION WITH ALL THE AMENITIES!! WE WENT OUTSIDE AND IMMEDIATELY THE RESIDENTS OF ASTANA SWARMED US OFFERING APARTMENTS!!!! A WOMAN APPROACHED US AND SAID THERE WAS A GOOD 3-ROOM APARTMENT IN THE CENTER IN A NEW BUILDING WITH ALL AMENITIES FOR 6500 TENGE PER DAY. I AGREED, BUT FOR SOME, IT WAS EXPENSIVE. TWO GIRLS AGREED WITH ME, AND THE THREE OF US WENT TO THE NEW BUILDING, WHILE THE OTHERS FOUND A PLACE FOR 4000 TENGE NOT IN THE CENTER, IN A VERY BAD PART OF ASTANA!!! ABOUT 10 MINUTES LATER WE WERE AT THE HOUSE, THE APARTMENT WAS ON THE 14TH FLOOR, RENOVATED, WITH ALL AMENITIES. WE PAID THE LANDLADY AND WENT FOR A WALK AROUND ASTANA!!! NEXT TO OUR HOUSE WAS MEGA ASTANA, OF COURSE, WE WENT THERE IMMEDIATELY. NEXT TO MEGA WAS A LARGE BUILDING, AND ON THE FIRST FLOOR WAS A CAFE CALLED PIZZA CITY. WE WERE VERY HUNGRY AND ORDERED A LOT OF FOOD, ATE OUR FILL, WENT BACK TO MEGA, AND STARTED BUYING CLOTHES!!!!! WE SPENT A LOT OF MONEY IN ONE DAY!! WE CAME HOME, I STARTED READING QUESTIONS TO PREPARE, AND THE GIRLS COOKED DINNER!!! AND AT DINNER TIME, THE GIRLS COOKED BESHBARMAK, NO WORDS, WE ATE AND WENT TO THE FASHION CLUB AND CALLED ALL OUR FRIENDS THERE. WE ALL STARTED YELLING ON THE DANCE FLOOR: AKTAU IS HOME, HOME!!!!!))))))))) THE WHOLE CLUB WAS LOOKING AT US. THERE WERE ALSO PEOPLE FROM AKTAU THERE, AND THEY STARTED TALKING TO US; THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE WHO HAD MOVED TO ASTANA AND REALLY MISS AKTAU!!! WE ALL DISPERSED, AND IT WAS ALREADY MONDAY, WE HAD TO GO TO THE IEC OFFICE!! WE WOKE UP, WASHED UP, AND WENT TO THE IEC OFFICE. THE OFFICE IS FAR FROM THE CENTER, WE TOOK A TAXI FOR 700 TENGE!! WE ARRIVED AND WERE MET BY THE IEC COORDINATOR BEIBIT, A GOOD MAN!!! WE ALL WAITED FOR OTHER STUDENTS, AND FINALLY, EVERYONE GATHERED!! THERE WERE STUDENTS FROM AKTAU, AKTOBE, URALSK, PAVLODAR!!! BEIBIT STARTED EXPLAINING HOW WE SHOULD BEHAVE AT THE INTERVIEW AT THE CONSULATE!!!! WE ALL REPEATED THE QUESTIONS AND ALL THAT!! AFTERWARDS, WE ALL WENT HOME TO PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW!!! NAZIRA FELL ASLEEP, BUT NATASHA AND I CRAMMED ALL NIGHT, AND OF COURSE, IT AFFECTED US IN THE MORNING!!! BUT WE STILL GOT UP AND WENT TO THE US CONSULATE; IT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL AND LARGE, LOCATED IN THE CENTER NEXT TO THE PALACE OF PEACE AND RECONCILIATION!!! THERE WERE 50 STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT CITIES!!! WE ENTERED, THERE WAS A VERY HEAVY DOOR BEFORE THE ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING, WE OPENED IT, PASSED SECURITY; THE GUARDS WERE WOMEN, THEY VERY POLITELY CHECKED US ONE BY ONE AND LET US INTO THE MAIN BUILDING!!! AND FINALLY, I WAS IN THE WAITING ROOM!!! GOOSEBUMPS, I WAS VERY WORRIED!!! IN THE WAITING ROOM, THERE IS A PLASMA TV WITH A VIDEO WHERE ALL THE AMERICANS ARE WAVING AND SMILING AND SAYING WELCOME, ALSO A PHOTO OF BARACK OBAMA AND, OF COURSE, THEIR FLAG!! WE ALL SAT THERE WAITING FOR THE CONSUL TO START THE INTERVIEW. FIRST, YOU NEED TO SUBMIT ALL DOCUMENTS TO THE FIRST WINDOW, THEN IN THE THIRD WINDOW, GIVE FINGERPRINTS, BUT THE CONSUL WAS WAITING FOR US IN THE SECOND!! FINALLY, THE FIRST VISA WAS RECEIVED, WE WERE WAITING IMPATIENTLY FOR OURS!!! ABOUT 25 PEOPLE WERE LEFT, AND MY TURN WAS ABOUT TO COME, BUT A YOUNG COUPLE WITH A CHILD ARRIVED; THEY ALSO WANTED A VISA AND STARTED ARGUING WITH THE CONSUL, AND WE HAD TO WAIT AN HOUR UNTIL THAT COUPLE LEFT!!! FINALLY, THEY LEFT, AND MY NAME AND SURNAME WERE PRONOUNCED WITH AN ACCENT!!!! I IMMEDIATELY WENT TO THE WINDOW, HE ASKED FOR FINGERPRINTS AGAIN AND ASKED ME 5 QUESTIONS, AND THANK GOD I ANSWERED ALL 5 CORRECTLY, AND HE SAID HIS SIGNATURE PHRASE: HAVE A GOOD SUMMER. IN RESPONSE, I SAID: HAVE A GOOD EVENING!!!!! I WENT OUTSIDE AND IMMEDIATELY STARTED CALLING MY LOVED ONES AND WAITED FOR MY FELLOW AKTAU RESIDENTS. EVERYONE WAS HAPPY, ONLY ONE STUDENT FROM AKTAU WAS LEFT, AND FINALLY, HE CAME OUT AND SAID HE DIDN'T PASS. WE WERE ALL CONFUSED BECAUSE HIS ENGLISH WAS GOOD, BUT IT TURNED OUT HE WASN'T PASSED BECAUSE OF HIS GRADES!!!!!! OUT OF 50 STUDENTS, ONLY TWO DID NOT PASS: 1 FROM AKTAU BECAUSE OF GRADES, AND 2 FROM OSKEMEN BECAUSE HE TOLD THE CONSUL: LET'S SPEAK RUSSIAN!!!! THAT'S HOW WE GOT THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT DAY FOR US!!! WE COMFORTED OUR FRIEND THAT HE HAS A CHANCE NEXT YEAR!! AND IN THE EVENING, WE WENT TO CELEBRATE OUR VISAS!!!! THAT'S HOW IT IS!!! I WISH ALL STUDENTS GOOD LUCK!!!! AND WHEN YOU GO TO THE CONSULATE, LOOK AT YOUR GRADES, BECAUSE THE CONSUL LOOKS AT GRADES TOO!!!