A year later, having improved my English to an Advanced level and saved up the necessary amount, I was already standing at the office of the agency with all the required documents. I passed a simple interview, paid the first installment, and, feeling pleased with myself, headed home. "Pretty simple!" I thought, not yet knowing what awaited me :)
The next step was finding a job offer. It was quite difficult. All my attempts to send silly emails, search for offers on various websites, and ask people around led to nothing.
But one day, a guy from my city added me on VK; he was also planning to go and was looking for travel companions. We decided to go together—it would be more fun, easier, and safer. As it turned out, much easier! Now I can definitely say that I wouldn't have managed it alone.
Advice:
If you are going alone, find at least one other person to travel with; it really expands your opportunities. Besides making useful acquaintances, you can always help each other, save on accommodation and transport, plan trips, and so on. Believe me, once you are there, you will really need another person who can cheer you up in a difficult moment, watch your things while you need to step away, talk to you without a language barrier, keep you company, etc.
So, with the help of my new friend, we managed to find some girl who seemed to have been selling job offers for years. We talked to her and found out the details. She worked on a prepayment basis. The thought of sending money into the unknown without any guarantees was very stressful. You could easily end up with nothing! But time was running out, and we had no choice. Gritting our teeth, we parted with our hard-earned money and started waiting.
Fortunately, everything went well, and after some time, I already knew where I would spend my summer. It would be in the state of Massachusetts, Cape Cod. I was going to work all summer on the ocean shore, making delicious coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts. I really liked this option, and I was looking forward to the summer.
Surprisingly, I found housing very quickly on craigslist. A couple of emails to owners regarding available listings, and we were expected in the summer in a great house not far from work.
In the spring, it was time to get a US visa. It was at the interview with the consul that the fate of my trip and my dreams would be decided. Until the interview itself, I watched tons of videos on YouTube, googled typical questions, and planned my answers, even writing them down on sheets of paper. I printed out the pamphlet (the paper with your rights at work) twice, memorized it by heart, and took both copies with me. I went to the interview by bus from the agency.
The minutes of waiting for my turn for the interview felt like hours. When people were called from the queue, and they walked to the consul's window with stone faces and trembling hands, it felt like they were reading out a death row list. And then, it was my turn to approach the window. The excitement was off the charts, my legs were like jelly, and my brain was trying not to forget all the necessary information.
The consul was a pleasant woman who asked a few questions about my family, studies, and future job. Despite my attempts to answer the questions with long essays, she stopped me after a few seconds and asked the next question. After a couple of minutes, I heard the cherished words: "Congratulations, your visa is approved, have a good trip to the USA."
"Is this really happening to me?" flashed through my head. "Am I really going to be in my dreams soon?" Inspired by my small victory, I thanked the consul and floated back to the bus.
The remaining months I spent intensively passing my exams, planning my future trip, and dreaming of getting away from the daily routine and hustle as soon as possible. By the beginning of June, my bags were packed, routes were planned, and the place of my future work had been viewed inside and out via Google Maps.
Ahead—the plane, and the best adventure of my life.
