Hello Visa

The past week has reinforced two things: 1), I stress out easily, and 2), I like to be in (some) control of the situation, thus why homework related stress does not mature into panic. I drove my family (and probably some friends) up the wall as I freaked out about my visa, now a sentence comfortably in the past tense. Since I traveled to Japan this summer, I had to apply upon my return which meant that my complete application was submitted exactly 4 weeks before my departure date. Theoretically this should not be a problem. I heard that other people on this program received theirs within one or two weeks, so for 2 weeks I was able to relax and only perk up slightly at the sound of delivery trucks on the street. When I did attempt to confirm my application's status I realized that they had not started processing it, and in fact it is actually impossible to talk to someone about it, either through email or on the phone. At this point I doubt whether it would be possible to speak to someone in person should you physically go to the consulate. It exists in a space out of the reach of modern technology (quite a feat nowadays) and surely carrier pigeons and smoke signals would be lost to the LA skyline.
In retrospect, I expended too much energy panicking, but in a position where I could do nothing about it, freaking out seemed to follow. However, they can move quickly when so necessary. They processed my application Saturday, issued the visa Monday, sent it Tuesday (a week before I was to leave) and I got it Wednesday, shiny and official.
Throughout the summer, people have been asking me if I was excited for Oxford, but the visa application made me look forward with apprehension, not anticipation. There was confusion over the process: the online application required a certain form which SLC said was unnecessary. It was unclear whether I needed to submit my old passport as well as my current one. The consulate in LA which I was obligated to go through had a backlog of applications dating from August because they are updating their IT system (whoopee). I met an old friend by chance who told me she got her passport the morning of her flight to Japan. A fellow SLC friend forgot to submit a passport photo with her application and the consulate sent it back two weeks before we had to go (and yet ironically, she got her visa before I did). Finally, albeit not chronologically so, the biomedtric exam was simply bizarre. In the back where the fingerprints are taken, no one talked. The man in charge of me mimed what he wanted me to do and pointed at signs with the appropriate instructions. Your fingers have to be limber and relaxed; mine were too stiff and so silently he tsked, shook his head, wagged his own fingers and shook his hands as though flinging off grungy dishwater.
However, I was productive in my stress! I sorted through piles and bags of old papers no longer necessary to keep. I couldn't escape the feeling though that several years down the road I will be doing the same again, this time with all my college notes and handouts.
Now I am almost packed, and yes, eagerly anticipating Oxford. It's difficult to fill the suitcases even though it really shouldn't be. After all, I've had to pack up and move across country twice a year for the past two years. This feels more drastic though, an exercise in haphazardly predicting the future following the formula "chilly for others means freezing for me."