And then it just turned into a race. Every day I panicked more and more, wasting all my time on the internet searching for any information about my upcoming trip. I read everything I could get my hands on. At that moment, forums were a huge help, and most importantly, the reports from those who had already experienced this adventure (I hope my own report will help someone too). I looked at everything: addresses of Russian consulates in the USA; how to get to the IEC.Exchange office in New York; how to get to the office where I needed to apply for an SSN and what I should even write there; what the JFK airport I was flying into looked like; I mapped out a route on Google Maps from that airport to the hostel I had booked, and so on. In short, I approached this with complete seriousness. I thought, since I'm on my own, there will be no one to help me, so I need to know everything for sure. With every new piece of information I read, my anxiety subsided. I was, in principle, ready. And the thought "something is DEFINITELY going to happen to me there" smoothly changed to "this is going to be a great summer, I will be the director of a movie where I play the lead role, and everything is in my hands."
The visa was obtained, tickets were bought, my mood had more or less improved, and only one thing wouldn't give me peace: they still hadn't found me a job. Now, of course, I think I could have found one myself, and that it might have even been better that way, but back then, I was very worried about it. Then information appeared that a lot of kids were flying this year and they might not find work. And they were allowing people to fly without a job offer. This worried me, a lot. I was ready to go to even the tiniest little town, as long as there was a job and at least some housing waiting for me there. I wasn't ready to go "blind" for the first time. Of course, I started looking for a job myself too. I sent a bunch of different resumes and emails, but didn't get a single response. In my last emails to employers, I started writing in desperation, "if you have read my email and you don't have any vacancies, then PLEASE just write to me that you don't have any work."
Time passed, and with each day the departure date drew closer, while I still had no job, no place to live, and the hope of finding them faded every day. And then, one wonderful evening in the kitchen, we were chatting with that same girl who was also flying that summer through the CMO (by the way, from now on we will call her Miss Universe (at her own request to hide her name, believe me, not mine) but that's a whole other story why she was nicknamed that), and about two minutes into our conversation, it turned out that we were flying on the same day, just on different flights, and arriving at the same airport with a one-hour gap. This was a bit shocking. Life always amazes me with its ability to set up incredible coincidences that, in the end, turn your perception of the future upside down and take the reins into their own hands. After thinking a bit, we decided, why not, since this happened, meet at the airport and go to the same hostel together? An unscripted coincidence is always brilliant!
That's how it happened. And now, at this moment, we can smoothly move to Sheremetyevo airport and imagine me with a backpack on my back, and with huge excitement in my chest, looking for my check-in counter number on the board. I started a travel diary where I wrote down all the necessary information, addresses, and phone numbers of everything that might be needed (I've had a habit of writing diaries since fifth grade, it calms me down a lot) and decided to write in it what happens to me during the summer, my thoughts and feelings. At the airport, I met other program participants. I recognized them by their green CMO t-shirts. We started talking to the guys and decided to check in together so we could sit next to each other on the plane. Many were going for the first time, some for the second. And we were all connected by one thing: we were all in a great mood, and we were all in some kind of anticipation of something new and amazing.
