Let's start with the fact that the highly hyped Work and Travel program touched me too. Surprisingly, it was my father who first brought it up: "Alibek's daughter recently flew to America, why are you still sitting here?" 😒 To understand, in Kazakhstan we have an expression: "A Kazakh without showing off is a pointless Kazakh." 😎 Well, since Dad said it had to be done, it had to be done! From that moment on, I didn't exactly dream of it, but I did want to change my Chinese surroundings for something new. After arriving for my studies, I started convincing my boyfriend to go on the trip, and while I was describing the charms of this program to him in vivid colors, it turns out he had already started collecting documents... 😑 "Well, I actually wanted to go last year," he told me. While I was about to make my traditional offended face, he didn't hesitate to shove the contact of Saidakbar, an agent from Interexchange, into my hands. That's how I became a newly minted participant in the program. 🙌😁 🔸Where do you think we wanted to go? All these years we've heard that people who go to work in Alaska make big money 💲💲💲, enough to buy a house and a car for their parents. So we started dreaming about the northernmost US state, that we would work 20 hours a day standing at a table, cleaning fish)) But as it turned out, that work is no longer available. 😅😅 Registration, collecting documents—none of that was difficult. All that remained was to wait for job offers, which just weren't coming. When asking others if they had received a job offer, everyone would answer in chorus: YES!!! Naturally, so as not to lose face, we also said that offers were pouring in, we were just waiting for the best one. 😅 🔸Fortunately, for losers like us, they invented a job fair where you can consider different job offer options. For some reason, our choice fell on Dunkin'. Well, not for some reason, we all know the reason. (Drumroll 🥁)…. DONUTS!!! 🍩 After submitting our application, we waited for the scheduled interview, which fell during the winter holidays ❄. To our surprise, it went very easily and simply. Next came the program payment, visa receipt, and preparation for the trip. 😉 🔸Getting a visa in Shanghai, especially this year, was quite difficult. All my friends were getting rejected for various reasons 🤷♂️. For example, they told my boyfriend: "You're not Chinese?! Apply through your own country" (the fact that we are studying in China apparently means nothing at all) 🤔 In the end, he got it, but in another city. ✌ ❗If you don't manage to get the coveted stamp on the first try, don't lose hope! Keep trying! I have a couple of acquaintances who waited for the phrase "Congratulations! Your visa approved!" ONLY ON THE THIRD TRY! 🔸I was much luckier. On the advice of my agent, while looking at the stern face of the consul, I imagined that he was actually a very kind guy 🧔🍻 who loves to have a few beers with friends; perhaps he is even the life of the party, without whom no fun event is complete 👍😃✨. 🔸Thus, his face was no longer as intimidating to me as it was at the beginning, and the interview went as smooth as butter.


+2


