I Am Slowly Going Crazy (1,2,3,4,5,6, switch)

The last day or so, it's seemed like everything that had been piling up came crashing down, with me smothered beneath the pile. Truthfully, I don't think anything more was actually added to my plate in this time, but it all seemed to just get to me. Usually I'm pretty good at juggling everything I have to do, but yesterday it was like one of the proverbial balls just slipped off the tip of my fingers, and in trying to catch it I managed to drop everything else. Resulting in the proverbial balls bouncing and rolling their way around the room in every direction, making it impossible for me to focus on any one "ball" to collect.

This all happened post-calculus midterm (which was 3 hours long and really difficult, seeing as they insisted on testing me on stuff that we didn't actually learn, and that wasn't covered in the textbook). I had other appointments and plans in the city, so I got home just before dinner time. Only to find in my inbox another email about my student visa application (the documents that let me get into the States and stay there for school). I had already had some problems with this, when I had to get the bank to fill out a "proof of funding" form and the university sent me the wrong tuition information, so my "proof of funding" form didn't prove that I had enough funds as an international student, and I had to go back to my bank and get another one (all for the sake of less than $1,000). But of course the university didn't tell me the wrong amount had been filled in on the form until about a month and a half after I submitted it, so while I thought I was ahead of the game in that department, it turns out I was actually incredibly behind. Anyways, this newest email informed me that the International Office at Duke never received my proof of funding from my program's department... thoroughly confusing to me, because I had been told over 2 weeks ago that they had received it. So now they can't issue my visa documents until they have that form, and I still have to make an appointment with the U.S. Consulate before I can actually GET my visa, and I'm beginning to think that I'm not going to get it on time. Crap. So, that was the one ball that slipped through my fingers and caused the rest to fall.

After that, I went online to book my microeconomics midterm, and realized that there's a lot more work in the course than I though there was. It turns out there's actually a 30-question quiz after each unit that I have to write and submit, that I didn't know we had to do (because the actual start-date of the course was only yesterday, so the assignments page wasn't up and running until then. And these quizzes weren't listed in the course information I received). So now I'm 5 quizzes behind, because I was "working ahead" and trying to make things easier on myself. Grrrrrr.

Add on top of that, the fact that I have to figure out how to get medical insurance through Duke (something I know nothing about, having never had to apply for medical insurance before), figure out exactly what it covers, if there's any sort of drug plan, and whether or not I should keep the international medical insurance I have now. All very confusing.

Plus, I just got my tuition bill, to be paid by the first day of August. Oh, and my roommate needs to know exactly what day I'll be moving in, so she can plan her work schedule. And I haven't had time to sit down and figure that out yet. My head is spinning.

The kicker? My roommate's allergic to cats. Which means that the little orange kitten that I've been wanting since I was little, and had recently decided I was going to get when I moved to Durham (because really, who doesn't want a sweet, affectionate little orange ball of fluff to love them unconditionally?), is not going to happen.

So I guess Riley (my future orange kitten) is going to have to wait another year, or few years, or whatever....



I guess I'll just put her on the backburner. Kaya (the lab/shepherd mix puppy that I had my heart set on adopting during my undergrad) can keep her company.



So, yeah. Proverbial balls EVERYWHERE. (Balls!)

But today I managed to get a bit more of a handle on things. I emailed both the International Office at Duke and the people at my department who are handling the forms, and it turns out that the form the International Office is missing is one that the DEPARTMENT had to fill out. Not me. They just forgot to pass it in, that's all. So 3 months later, I think my visa application documents *might* actually be complete (for the third time). Fingers crossed! Now lets just hope they are processed REALLY quickly...

The medical insurance stuff wasn't as hard to figure out as I thought... because I'm an international student, I'm automatically signed up for medical insurance through Duke, and I can't opt-out. Which means I guess I don't have to keep my existing international medical insurance (which Dad set up for me when I moved to Boston last year). But I *may* have to look for a different drug plan... I'll have to read through all the information again when my head's a little clearer.

I did manage to do 2.5 quizzes for microeconomics.... but halfway through the third the website went down, and I can't access it right now (which is why I took a break to blog). So I guess for the moment that's out of my control, but that's ok because it's giving my brain a break.

And while I'm still really disappointed that I can't get the pets I want, I've decided I'm going to dig out my old gumball-machine fish tank that I had in second year university and get some goldfish again while I'm down there (since the ones I have here probably won't make the drive down to Durham). And while goldfish aren't the most affectionate of pets, they're still pretty entertaining. Especially when they're swimming in a gumball machine. So they'll do for now, I guess!

So, although I'm still pretty stressed out with everything I have to do, It's seeming a little more manageable today. Here's hoping it stays that way!

Aaaaaannnnnndddddddd...... End Rant.