Hello everyone! It has been four months since I returned from the USA. I want to share my impressions, but since I am doing this after returning, I will call these "out-of-STATE" notes.

I'll start, perhaps, with a traditional introduction. My name is Lera. I am 19 years old. I am studying to be an English translator in Kaliningrad. I chose this major for a reason. I am a crazy fan of the English language, yes, yes! Since childhood, I dreamed of and insanely waited for that D-Day when I would start learning English. And then one day, that day came. And it was... love at first sight! Since then, English and I have been inseparable, and gradually, while studying the world map, a natural desire was born in me to visit an English-speaking country...

Some number of years passed, and now I am a student at the Faculty of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication. The first semester, I couldn't believe I had so many subjects, and they all revolved around my favorite language (pinch me). Well, then the realization that all this was reality, of course, came, but it wasn't in a hurry. Later, I found out about the Work and Travel USA program. My puppy-like excitement, of course, knew no bounds. I went to an organizational meeting where they explained the program conditions, and participants from previous years shared their experiences and impressions. And I was fired up! You know, it couldn't have been any other way. My parents supported the idea of going to the States, but the money issue arose – paying for the program. Without thinking long, I googled and found a way out. Having collected the necessary documents, I took out a loan, with the condition that I would work in the States and pay it back. That's it, the decision is final: I'm packing my bags and heading off to meet America. And ahead...

And ahead of me was a long stage of job hunting, interviews at the Consulate, getting a visa, and only then the long-awaited plane. With the job search, I had a hitch: the employer took the guys I was planning to go with, but refused me. I spent a long time looking for work myself, a lot of time was taken by checking the offer, a bunch of paperwork. And finally, in May, on one of the last days of the interview, I heard the cherished phrase "I approve your visa," and at that moment everything changed. Before that, I was looking for work, collecting documents, going to an interview in Moscow, not really hoping for anything. It's not that I wasn't sure about the employer or myself, I just didn't believe that in 3 weeks I could end up there, across the ocean, wandering the streets of New York, and then go to a calmer, but already so beloved Virginia Beach. That there were 3 or even 4 American months ahead! I returned to Kaliningrad without my passport: the consul had taken it.

So, 3 weeks of packing, buying what was necessary for the trip, and endless cramming have passed! Ya-hoo, well-done! The exams are passed, the suitcase is packed, everything here freezes for me for these cherished 4 months – ahead is a plane that will carry me far, far away...