HELLO EVERYONE!!! MY NAME IS ERLAN AND I AM A STUDENT FROM AKTAU, KAZAKHSTAN!!! IN 2009, I FOUND OUT ABOUT THE WORK AND TRAVEL PROGRAM AND I WAS PREPARING TO SUBMIT ALL THE DOCUMENTS, BUT I HAD SOME FAILING GRADES AT UNIVERSITY AND WAS TOLD I COULDN'T PARTICIPATE WITHOUT CLEARING MY SESSION!!! IN 2010, THANK GOD, I PASSED ALL MY EXAMS, COLLECTED MY DOCUMENTS, AND SUBMITTED EVERYTHING; I JUST NEEDED TO GO THROUGH THE INTERVIEW!!! I SUBMITTED MY DOCUMENTS IN NOVEMBER!!! EVERY DAY I LOGGED ONTO THE SITE 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 SO HAPPY, BUT ALSO VERY SCARED!!! AND THEN THAT LONG-AWAITED DAY, APRIL 27, 2010!!! WE WERE NOTIFIED 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. TICKETS WERE SCARCE, AND WE WANTED TO BUY TICKETS FOR THE SAME COMPARTMENT, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WEREN'T ENOUGH FREE SPOTS; THERE WERE 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 TOGETHER, TELLING THEM WE WERE GOING TO AN OLYMPIAD REPRESENTING AKTAU. FORTUNATELY, THEY AGREED, BUT ONLY ONE PERSON SWAPPED; WE NEEDED ONE MORE TO AGREE, BUT HE WASN'T THERE YET. FINALLY, EVERYONE ARRIVED AND SAID GOODBYE TO THEIR FRIENDS, THE TRAIN 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 THE LAST PASSENGER ARRIVED. WE ALL STARTED CONVINCING HIM TO SWAP SEATS WITH US IN THE NEIGHBORING COMPARTMENT; HE AGREED, AND WE FINALLY FELT COMFORTABLE!!! BUT WE HAD A NASTY CONDUCTOR WHO KEPT YELLING AT US AND SAYING 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 WITH ONE MORE DAY LEFT ON THE TRAIN, 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 WERE IMMEDIATELY SWARMED BY ASTANA RESIDENTS OFFERING US 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 A 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 TO WALK AROUND ASTANA!!! NEXT TO OUR HOUSE WAS MEGA ASTANA, SO OF COURSE, WE WENT THERE IMMEDIATELY. NEXT TO MEGA WAS A LARGE BUILDING, AND ON THE FIRST FLOOR, THERE WAS A CAFE CALLED PIZZA CITY. WE WERE VERY HUNGRY, SO WE 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!!! AT DINNERTIME, THE GIRLS MADE BESHBARMACK—NO WORDS, IT WAS DELICIOUS. WE ATE AND WENT TO THE FASHION CLUB, CALLED ALL OUR FRIENDS THERE, AND ON THE DANCE FLOOR, WE STARTED YELLING "AKTAU IS IN THE HOUSE, IN THE HOUSE!!!!!" ))))))))))) THE WHOLE CLUB WAS LOOKING AT US. THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE FROM AKTAU THERE, AND THEY STARTED TALKING TO US; THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE WHO HAD MOVED TO ASTANA AND REALLY MISSED AKTAU!!! WE ALL DISPERSED, AND IT WAS ALREADY MONDAY; WE HAD TO GO TO THE CMO OFFICE. WE WOKE UP, WASHED UP, AND WENT TO THE CMO OFFICE. THE CMO IS FAR FROM THE CENTER, SO WE TOOK A TAXI FOR 700 TENGE!! WE ARRIVED, AND THE CMO COORDINATOR, BEIBIT, MET US—A GOOD MAN!!! WE WAITED FOR OTHER STUDENTS, AND FINALLY, EVERYONE GATHERED!! THERE WERE STUDENTS FROM AKTAU, AKTOBE, URALSK, AND PAVLODAR!!! BEIBIT STARTED EXPLAINING HOW WE SHOULD BEHAVE DURING 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, LARGE, AND LOCATED IN THE CENTER NEXT TO THE PALACE OF ACCORD!!! THERE WERE 50 STUDENTS FROM DIFFERENT CITIES!!! WE ENTERED; THERE WAS A VERY HEAVY DOOR BEFORE THE ENTRANCE, WE OPENED IT, PASSED SECURITY—THE GUARDS WERE WOMEN, THEY VERY POLITELY CHECKED US ONE BY ONE AND LET US INTO THE MAIN BUILDING!!! 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 WERE ALL SITTING THERE WONDERING WHEN THE CONSUL WOULD START THE INTERVIEW. FIRST, YOU NEED TO SUBMIT ALL DOCUMENTS AT THE FIRST WINDOW, THEN GIVE FINGERPRINTS AT THE THIRD WINDOW, BUT THE CONSUL WAS WAITING FOR US AT THE SECOND!! FINALLY, THE FIRST VISA WAS RECEIVED, AND WE WERE WAITING IMPATIENTLY FOR OURS!!! ABOUT 25 PEOPLE WERE LEFT, AND MY TURN WAS ALMOST THERE, BUT A YOUNG COUPLE WITH A CHILD ARRIVED; THEY ALSO WANTED A VISA AND STARTED ARGUING WITH THE CONSUL, SO WE HAD TO WAIT AN HOUR UNTIL THEY 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, 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 DIDN'T PASS: ONE FROM AKTAU BECAUSE OF GRADES, AND THE SECOND FROM OSKEMEN BECAUSE HE TOLD THE CONSUL, "LET'S SPEAK RUSSIAN!!!!" THAT'S HOW WE GOT THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT DAY!!! WE COMFORTED OUR FRIEND, TELLING HIM 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!!!