Travel clinic and church

Word of the day: BOLSA = purse. Okay, that fulfills my quota of word-of-the-day.
I went to travel clinic today, and it's basically about 40 minutes of sitting down with someone from Student Health asking where you plan on traveling during your time abroad. I told her I'd be in Argentina as well, and she printed out all the health precautions and vaccinations I needed for Argentina and Chile. The nurse asked me if I really wanted to get another shot again since it had been 9 years since my last one and I need it once the 10-year mark hits. I told her I'd rather be on the safe side, which is the answer she was looking for, ha. Basically...medication costs a lot. :( I had to buy Cipro (for traveler's diarrhea) for ~$9 and typhoid medication for ~$40. And the typhoid medication is really particular because I need to take it 10 days before traveling, and I need to keep it refrigerated at all times...which means I need to bring an ice pack on the plane for a ~16 hour plane ride. Golly!! I still need to get other shots and stuff, so that's even more money. Thank God financial aid is coming in by next week!

As for iglesias en Chile...I definitely am settling down at Luz al Mundo. Nancy, a former EAP Chile student who goes to UCLA GOC called me today and told me about various churches she has been to. There's one that's pretty popular, but she tells me it was kind of big, while Luz al Mundo had a congregation size of 70-100. That's even more intimate that Lighthouse! I will probably be in the Singles ministry because the college + youth ministry is mainly aimed at college students teaching the high schoolers. Here are some points I remember from our phone conversation:

1. Expository teaching to an extent. It's not just picking a topic and choosing a passage in Scripture to support it.
   
2. Emphasis on commitment to the local church.
3. Founded by German missionaries.
4. They had a woman's retreat while Nancy was there. Yay!
   
5. Used to be a part of a very conservative Chilean denomination that LAM didn't want to stick to. I remember a point was contemporary worship music. The denomination only sung hymns or something. Nancy told me at LAM, they basically sing what we sing here, but in Spanish.
6. Don't have an exact stance on charismatic gifts, but they don't practice it at LAM. What was cool that Nancy noted was that even she (from a JMac, Master's Seminary teaching background) and a Assembly of God (charismatic) friend could listen to the sermons at LAM and agree on it. :) Word of God speak!
7. Late services...IN THE AFTERNOON! Jajajajajajaja yesssss!!!!! Chileans like to stay up suuuper late at night, even on Saturdays, up till 2 a.m. When Nancy told the Chilenos that back in LA, she had church at 8:30, they balked at the idea of church service that early. Haha, I guess LBC's move to 9:00 isn't much better either.
   

That's all I remember about the church. But I also asked her the burning question (for me anyway): Was it hard to balance traveling and going to church? Nancy told me in the beginning it was, but she wanted to settle down and be committed to LAM on Sundays. Furthermore, she said staying in one city to get to know the people and the place better is just as much of a cultural experience as traveling to another part of the country. I still have a list of places I must go to while I'm there though...I was gonna save it for a later post, but since it's spring break, why not just do it now? :)

• 
  I've always wanted to to go Tierra del Fuego in southern Argentina, especially after seeing the movie Happy Times by Wong Kar Wai, in which the last scene is of a character in the move who visits this lighthouse and the scene is so liberating and beautiful. *Romantic (in the 1800's intellectual sense) sigh* Oh, and this is basically the South Pole-- penguins included! And I can take a picture with a real live Lighthouse and bring it back. Heeeeee.
  


• 
  The Atacama Desert-- the driest desert in the world. There isn't much to look at in terms of scenery, but wouldn't it be cool to tell people, "I've been to the driest desert in the world."?


• 
  This is Iguazu Falls that borders on Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay or Paraguay...I forget. It's just a nice waterfall. So pretty.


• I would also like to explore Buenos Aires more, because with LBC we've only gone to Calle Florida and Tigre and La Boca and Monte...OK, maybe that's a lot, but I want to explore the other things that a missions group wouldn't be able to visit such as the opera house or Evita's grave.
  

But these are all places I would HOPE to go to, not necessarily will happen except for Tierra del Fuego-- that's the top of my list! Funny though...3/4 of them are all in Argentina. I wonder why...

Airfare to Santiago...

Costs a lot. But here are some airfare researching tools that I have been using:

Insider Tracker
This tool tracks airfare to hundreds of cities (Copenhagen and Tokyo included!) and whether they are dropping or on the rise. Unfortunately, flights to Santiago are on the rise.

Farecompare.com compares the prices on many other travel websites such as Orbitz and things in that travel website family. I'm happy with them right now because it found a flight to Santiago for $1,200 (airfare is averaging $1,400 right now). Still not the $1,100 I saw just a few weeks earlier, but it'll suffice...
I am also planning to fly out with a friend from the program, which would make everything a lot less hectic once we get there. So if you have the opportunity to do so, then do it!

Word of the day!

留学　（りゅうがく/ryuugaku）

This means to study abroad.

Ok, that's all. Bye. 8D

Doctor's appointments and paperwork

I had my health clearance appointment today, which took about two hours to complete. I brought my yellow check-off list which lists everything that I need to get completed. When everything is done, the form needs to be sent in to the EAP offices in Goleta.
If you don't like needles, you will get a nice double dose of needles at the health clearance appointment-- one for a HIV blood test (results to be picked up in about a week) and a TB skin test (results to be picked up on Friday).

I also got the Chile packet e-mailed to me today. It is rather daunting; so many forms and instructions to go along with those forms. I'm going to be out of character and organize it all: print it out, make dividers, and store them neatly in a folder for easy reference. I also need to talk to Professor Chamberlain for a letter of rec for ERC's study abroad scholarship. I shall take care of it all during spring break.

before you know it!

so when i asked my TA from art to write a letter of rec for me, she showed me this really really really cool site that will help me to learn Danish or any other language i want to learn! it's called Before You Know It and it's free! some of the languages on there i've never even heard of! it gives you these flashcards that you can learn from on your computer! just download the software, and start learning! man, danish is awesome! i'm learning so much already! it's really fun! it's good study break too!

"Tillykke" (pronounced "talugeh", which means goodluck) on your finals!

LBC Missions

I have been checking the EAP website since I got accepted to see if the academic calendar is up so I can coordinate the dates to go to Tucuman (accent mark on the "a"), Argentina . I will need to be in Chile by June 25. That means a little more than three months away.

Nevertheless, the coolest part--the Intensive Language Program spans from June 30 – July 18.
LBC is in Tucuman from July 10-24 (with a few days taken off for travel time).
U de Chile orientation is July 23-25.

...That means I have FOUR to FIVE days off to visit Lighthouse in Argentina.

WOW! God is so good. It's like I am going on missions with LBC again this year since I get to be on the Home Team with the CZ & AR teams this year, I just won't be flying out with them (I'll just be meeting them there, jaja).

Gracias a Dios.

just some thoughts...

i am i need of a study break as well. i seem to think about studying abroad in Denmark more and more when i'm walking to class, when i'm running, when i'm at church, and when i'm with friends that i know that i'll miss. i know that i'll be missing out on so much that is going on here in San Diego. :( and i know that i'm going to get more emotional as the countdown gets nearer to August 1st. i have a feeling that it will be somewhat like when i first moved down to San Diego as a freshmen in college. saying bye to omma as she dropped me off at V-Building in Marshall college, made me cry...but i know that good things are ahead! i will hopefully study at the University of Copenhagen (if i turn all things on time, get my student visa, etc.)! i will be there from August 1st - around December 31 or early January. i have the option to stay and finish the semester in late January or late December. i don't think i could stay there for 6 months! man, i'm really going to miss family, lighthouse, san diego, and friends.

GMW for LIFE.

EAP Japan ICU Fall

Since I'm working on my lab report and am in need of a break every now and then, I'll be writing a brief (hah... hah...) post on the application process for EAP Japan & then the application process for ICU itself.

So for y'all that don't know, I will be attending International Christian University in the fall, Lord willing. It's in the suburbs of Tokyo. Or something like that. I just remember that it takes an hour to go to downtown. Anyway, this is the entire process that I went through (if anyone is interested in applying for this program or for EAP in general, feel free to ask one of us -- we'll be more than happy to assist you):

1. Sign up for first steps. It's a pretty short informational session that equips you with the things you need to know in order to find not only the program that is right for you (OAP or EAP?) but also universities in the countries that interest you. What's crazier is that you can see classes that students took before and got UC credit for.
2. Go online and do your application. They give you the link for it at the first steps seminar. It's pretty thorough and time consuming. ... Well, I guess that the whole application process is thorough and time consuming. D:
3. Get a letter of rec.
4. Get 2987928749238 signatures (ok, maybe just 3-5, depending on if you're going to take classes that count for something at UCSD).
5. Write a statement of intent.
6. Turn it in. (I might be missing something here o_o)
7. Wait for about a month.
8. Find out if you're in the program of not! If you get rejected from the program, please proceed to the last paragraph. If you get accepted, continue onto number 9.

9. Get a travel appointment & UC health clearance. That means that depending on your country, you need to get a blood test, urinalysis, immunizations & x-rays. Travel appointments and UC health clearance appointments are necessary for every student going abroad through EAP.
10. Apply to your host university. I don't know if other countries do this but for ICU, I had to apply to the actual university itself. This application process was more laborious than the EAP application process but they both are laborious in their own special ways. To apply for EAP, you have to get a letter of rec, write a statement of intent, and then run around and get some signatures. For ICU, I had to get a confirmation of financial resources (had to go to the bank for this), print out probably 20-some, 30-some pages of paper for all the different forms that I had to fill out, an x-ray of my lungs, and then 12 passport pictures that I had to cut down to 4cmx3cm.
10. Mail your stuff in! I had to express mail mine in yesterday. It costed me $16.25. WOW. I can buy a week's worth of groceries for that amount. Or half a tank of gas. @_@;;;

What's next? I guess that I'm just waiting around for my certificiate of eligibility. ICU is going to apply for me in getting that and after I get that, I can go up to the Japan consulate in LA and get my student visa. After that is chill time with the whole process.

I will also be looking for a church in Tokyo. Grace recommended Tokyo Evangelical and I checked out their website -- their statement of faith seems pretty right on but I read their gospel presentation and they don't mention God being holy... D: I'll listen to a few of their sermons to see.

So yes, that's probably the biggest thing for GMW -- finding a church abroad. Please pray for us as we look into churches and do a thorough investigation before we go abroad.

Ok, that's all. :D Bye. (G & W, update with your experiences with the application process too.)

Bienvenidos, Yookoso, Velkommen!

Hola a todos,
This is the blog of Grace, Moon, and Wury (GMW) as we prepare to study abroad in these following countries: Chile, Japan, and Denmark. We will be updating with prayer requests, developments in the whole process, and other news.

...In other news, Garrett and Wury are dating!