The first and most difficult problem was solved – my parents gave their consent, blessing, and money) There was 'nothing' left to do: collect all the necessary documents, get a passport, find a job, pass the interview with the consul, finish my exams, pack my bags, and set off. But somehow, I've gotten used to the fact that nothing comes easily to me in life... The worst part was that I couldn't get my passport for a long time because they were overwhelmed with work at that exact moment... everyone suddenly decided they needed to change their IDs. Standing at the service center and hearing that everyone was told they would get their passports in at least 7 months and nothing could be done, I was mentally saying goodbye to my dream... since it was February and I had already been hopelessly waiting for my passport for 3 months... and during those 3 months, I ran around to various offices, collected different certificates to speed up the issuance, called the Ministry, even wrote to some minister, but it was all in vain... and in the end, everything worked out on its own... by some miracle, I received my passport at the end of February and was on cloud nine!

I got the passport and had to prepare for the interview. Meanwhile, I received a positive response from an employer. By the way, I want to write about how desperately I tried to find a job on the internet. It turned out to be not as easy as I imagined... I started looking for a job in early November... I sat up sleepless nights writing emails to various hotels, amusement parks, and restaurants... I filled out probably 100 applications, sent about 400 job requests, and even wrote personally to managers about how much I wanted to work for them) The best site for job searching is jobs for J1... Everything is easy and simple – fill out the form and send it to everyone. I wish I had stopped at that site, but after applying for all available vacancies, I decided I needed to look for something else... in the end, I thought I would go crazy! Some companies have such tedious forms that your brain starts boiling by question 6, and there are sometimes up to 50) I even wrote to Disney Land, but they politely refused me... Meanwhile, I started receiving other job rejections... In short, I was almost desperate when suddenly a guy wrote to me on VK... he asked if I was planning to go to America this year to work for Angelo...??? Of course, I had a bunch of questions... how does he know me, that I'm going to America... and who is this Angelo anyway??? It turned out that this guy, Rustam, worked for this Angelo in the summer, and he saw my resume and decided to hire me. Then Angelo wrote to Rustam about it, who in turn decided to check out his fellow countrywoman who might be working for his employer) Amazing! But this Angelo still wasn't writing to me, and I was starting to get nervous that he might have changed his mind... but everything worked out well, and just a week later, I received a job offer from this Angelo Moneta... The job, in principle, suited me... An Italian restaurant in a small town, Lake City, Colorado. Accommodation included, free meals, 40 hours a week, $8 an hour – not a job, but paradise! One thing was bad – despite my request, he didn't want to hire my friend Asel too... And my coordinator said that someone didn't speak very well of this employer... And my headache began: on one hand, I desperately wanted to go alone to test my resilience and determination... but on the other hand, I couldn't leave Asel behind, and my parents were categorically against me going alone... In short, I decided to let it be... but I still had to turn down the job in Colorado...