You’re Making Anna Angry!

From reading my last post, you would have read that I JUST received my Working Holiday Visa to the UK.  You know the one I had to shell out $400CAD for? The one that let’s me work only 12 months out of the 24 its valid for?

NEWSFLASH!

As of November 27, 2008, the following changes have occurred to the UK Working Holiday Visa:

 

• new visa allows the participants to work full time for the full 24-month duration of their visa (whereas the old WH visa only allowed participants to work for 12-months of the 24-month visa) 

• new visa has dropped in cost to $210 (it used to be approximately $435 CAD) and SWAP will drop the registration fees to reflect this change.

Seriously?!?!

Can this not have happened 2 weeks prior? I would’ve had an extra ~$300CAD in my wallet to show for it too!  Why would SWAP not have said: “Anna, things are about to change if you wait 2 weeks.”

BAH!

Not that this is gonna deter me away from trying to work the full 24 months illegally, but I would’ve had a cleaner conscience because of it at least! (Not to mention some more $$)

Regardless, what’s done is done and I’m gonna have a ’smashing’ time.  Incredible Hulk pun not intended.

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

I’m claustrophobic by nature.

So when they told me that I couldn’t leave the country until my UK Visa was processed, I panicked.  That’s 6-8 weeks of being immobile. I’m not even allowed to visit the US, which is just a hop, skip and a jump over the border.  I guess when you’re the kind of person that isn’t used to being in one place for extended periods of time and enjoys their freedom, this confinement doesn’t bode well.

*Panick*

I actually DID have a trip planned to Thailand in early November.  I will now have to reschedule.  Boo.  However, I did get a great tip today.  British Airways give you a free stop to London when you book with them.  So if I buy a one way plane ticket to Bangkok (via London), I would be able to get a ticket back to London free of charge.  I could potentially combine my two trips into 1.  Fly to Bangkok and then straight to London to stay.  That would mean that I would have to drag a years worth of stuff with me to Bangkok when I was just planning on bringing a carry on backpack. Hmm. Decisions.

Do any of you know where I could find cheap tickets to Bangkok from Toronto? I’ve gotten it down to $1200 (with tax), but my goal is to get $1,000.  It will be my last hurrah before I make the move up to London.

Twists & Turns

First off, let me start by apologizing for not writing over the past couple of weeks.

As it turns out I will now be venturing to England solo in January, to be joined by my best friend Kylie in the April time frame.

In a way this makes me really nervous, as I have never traveled alone before. Because of this, I have developed insomnia. I’m definitely scared to do this trip by myself and a little sad by the change of plan. But as more and more things start to come together, the easier it becomes. Let me tell you what I am scared of: not having a place to live when I arrive, not having any friends or flatmate’s to look for a place with me, not knowing the areas where to look for a flat, not having a job. I think those are justified reasons, no? Hopefully, the program I’m participating in (www.swap.ca) will ease the pain. At least that’s what I’m paying them for anyways! But it will be a growing and learning experience – at least thats what I keep telling myself.

I recently started the paperwork for my Working Holiday Visa – all 14 pages of it. I have to go through interviews, fingerprinting, eye scans – all very James Bond like – and also very fitting.

I can’t really make this post much longer – as I leave for Russia tomorrow. Maybe by the time I come back, I’ll forget about how my heart starts racing whenever I think about living in a foreign country solo, and maybe I’ll forget about the vast amount of money that is being depleted in the process. Probably not though. At least Kylie (bless her heart) is coming to live with me in April. 4 months solo, I can do this.