Wednesday, July 31, 2013

the last puzzle piece...

Well, let's see how this works out.

In reference to the previous post title... I hope that my next stop is Milan!

I have an appointment at the Italian Consulate in Chicago this coming Monday to process my work visa.

This appointment is a 15-minute meeting... and has to be in person. I scheduled it over a month ago, paying about $3.00 per minute for the phone call to schedule.

I will not get into the 5-month process of paperwork leading up to this appointment... but let's just say, Thank goodness for my parents, my brother, and his fiancé! While I was in Vietnam, they helped me with the paperwork within the States... my mom has 4 organized piles of papers in my childhood bedroom in NY... and my dad drove an 8-hour trip to hand deliver documents to the Secretary of State for me.

The Italian Consulate in New York processed my Dichiarazione Di Valore for my high school and undergraduate degrees in 4 days.

The Italian Consulate in Chicago processed my Dichiarazione Di Valore for my masters degree in.... 9 WEEKS. ...Really?!

Hence... The stress that is still occurring.

But this may all work... I hope it turns out to be the last piece of the puzzle... securely popped in.

The office in Milan says it will release my Nullaosta this Friday morning... and then it will be sent to me to bring to my appointment Monday morning.

Problem? --> These materials won't make it to me from Italy before my flight to Chicago early Sunday morning.

The set plan is to now FedEx the materials to my hotel in Chicago... with an estimated delivery time of 10:00am Monday morning.

Great. ...My appointment at the Consulate is also at 10:00am Monday.

Calling (and paying $3.00 per minute again) to try and set up another appointment just in case... the next available time is August 30th... 10 days after I am supposed to depart for Milan. Nice. (Not.)

We shall see.

Here's to hoping.

And here's to shouting out once more how amazing my parents are. ...They are meeting me in Chicago for the trip... so most likely, one of them will be waiting at the hotel for the delivery and hopefully running it over a few blocks to the Consulate... within the 15 minutes I have scheduled.

Uhhh, yeah. Let's see if this last puzzle piece can be found in time!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Next stop? --> MILAN!

This blog is a continuation of my "Adventures from Vietnam" blog, which I've been keeping for over two years now.

Due to a reduction of force in the school district where I was teaching just north of Denver... my position was terminated in budget cuts the spring of 2011.

Without a job... and without much holding me to Denver, CO (other than my love for that city!), I decided to focus on moving abroad to continue my career as a Teacher-Librarian.

Now... more than two years later... I have recently landed in Denver, CO for a summer visit (also to my hometown in Upstate New York)... after living, teaching, and adventuring in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

When the end of my contract in Vietnam was getting near, I attended a job fair for international schools/teachers in London... which is where I signed up for my next big adventure!

Next month I will be moving to Milan, Italy... for a 3-year teaching contract at the American School of Milan. I'm pretty stoked!

From what I know about the school... my position... and the city, I think I will love it. I hope to want to stay longer than the initial 3 years I'm signed on for... but we'll see!

For now... I'm still in the process of obtaining my work visa (I'll be making a trip to Chicago soon for the Italian Consulate General)... and really, I'm happy to live life along the way step-by-step.

It was great to keep the blog going while in Vietnam... and I've created this one so that the URL isn't specific to the country... I've found that keeping a blog has made the distance of being abroad seem not quite so far (until I don't have Internet access) and my friends/family can come along on the journey with me if they'd like. It's been pretty cool to see so many others check into my blog here or there... so hopefully this one continues!

...Let's begin!