Yes, it's been a while since I last wrote. Almost 2 months have passed since my last post. So, let's go in order. We registered for the program. It costs us $1290. The first installment is $335. Only after signing all the papers did I decide that I could finally tell my parents. They were incredibly happy. Dad was just thrilled that I would finally be able to bring him something from eBay. Mom was a bit cautious at first, but calmed down after I explained everything to her. And my heart was pounding inside! Then I had to do a few more things: open a bank account, get 2 certificates from the dean's office, pay the bill, and save up money. It costs another 1250 rubles. This card will be with me as an international student card (IEC), a kind of youth ID, and as a bank card + health insurance. I only received the card after 3 weeks, but now I have both the card and access to the electronic account. The card needs to be activated, and to do that, you need to call Moscow—the call is free. Yes, what else did I manage to do in these 2 months? Finally submitted documents for my international passport. Thankfully, the Internet is at hand, so I collected everything in advance and spent no more than 20 minutes at the migration center. Now I will receive it on December 1st. In the summer, I wrote articles for a magazine, and now I've received my salary for them. Not a fortune, of course, but not pennies either. It's a bit small, but for the start of a journalist's career, it's not bad at all. It's a pity that it's more of a side gig than a real job. To earn the full amount needed, I got a job as a waitress at a restaurant. Sometimes it's incredibly hard. But I know why I'm doing this. Every ruble earned will be converted into dollars and go onto the card. But so far, it's not working out that way. Firstly, because, quite simply, I needed a warm coat for autumn. Also, winter is coming soon, and I have no winter outerwear. Because I had to get a gift for my mom, which took my tips, and my brother and I are living off the magazine salary. But he promised to pay it back in a week. So for now, everything is fine. And about half of the amount is already there. The only bad thing is that it's not known exactly when the full amount will be needed, so I can prepare and earn a bit more. Right now, I'm having a terrible depression about the question: "Will I have enough money?" And I have absolutely no free time. Practically. Although sometimes I manage to meet friends and somehow do my homework. And I also managed to get a spot in the university sanatorium. I'll move in in a week. I still don't know how I'll combine this with work and study. I've wanted to for many years and finally got around to it. The only thing that scares me now is that I still haven't started looking for a job. For some reason, it's so scary to start. So here I am, sitting and writing, instead of pulling myself together and starting to look for a job. 21.11 10.11.2010