Ready to Go!

Well, I am FINALLY all ready to go (or at least I think).  My visa application was approved, after a little bit of a struggle... When submitting all of your required materials, you must ensure they are the originals.  The Consulate will not accept anything if they aren't!  For this reason, I had to have Brno University of Technology express me an additional copy of my application materials.  It took approx. 5 or 6 weeks to receive my Passport with the visa.  Needless to say, I was sweating a little!

I have also had a little difficulty securing the deposit payment of 260 euros for housing.  I spoke to my bank and they were able to wire transfer the amount to the bank in Brno.  All required bank information, including SWIFT and IBAN codes, are posted on the BUT website.  Make sure to get this done before the deadline (which is emailed out to you upon approval of your housing).

Well, other than that... I booked my ticket!!! :D  It might sound nerdy (well... it IS nerdy), but being an Aerospace Engineer from Embry-Riddle, I went through all the flights trying to get on the brand new 747-800.... Unfortunately the price was quite a bit higher to get on!  So I settled for a 777 instead :)  Here's my flight itinerary:

Traveler eTicket Number Frequent Flyer Seats MALSAM/JACOBTMR 0162336616223 13A/30F/44K/---/---/---/---

FLIGHT INFORMATION Day, Date Flight Class Departure City and Time Arrival City and Time Aircraft Meal Thu, 06SEP12 UA55341 H MISSOULA, MT (MSO) 6:40 AM DENVER, CO (DEN) 8:41 AM CRJ-200 Thu, 06SEP12 UA225 H DENVER, CO (DEN) 10:25 AM WASHINGTON, DC (IAD - DULLES) 3:47 PM 757-200 Purchase Thu, 06SEP12 UA916 H WASHINGTON, DC (IAD - DULLES) 5:26 PM FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FRA) 7:10 AM (07SEP) 777-200 Dinner Fri, 07SEP12 UA95822 H FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FRA) 10:20 AM PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (PRG) 11:25 AM 737-300 Sat, 22DEC12 UA93163 H PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC (PRG) 2:40 PM FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FRA) 3:55 PM 737-500 Sun, 23DEC12 UA88784 H FRANKFURT, GERMANY (FRA) 10:35 AM DENVER, CO (DEN) 12:45 PM 747-400 Sun, 23DEC12 UA55195 H DENVER, CO (DEN) 1:55 PM MISSOULA, MT (MSO) 3:55 PM CRJ-200

I will be flying into Prague, and taking a bus to Brno.  From what I could find, it is pretty easy to navigate your way to a bus terminal and jump on one... And also quite cheap!!  I am not going to pre-book any tickets, just play it by ear. Apparently there are buses every half hour... Should not be that hard to get on one :)  Trains are also pretty common, and worst case scenario, the Czech airline operates a few flights daily between Prague and Brno.  It shouldn't come to that though!

Well, that's about all of an update I have for now.  I will continue packing throughout this next week and should be good to go for my Thursday morning departure.  I will update with a full list of what I packed on Wednesday evening!  Luckily, I've been through this before... So I do know some things to pack and to NOT pack (based off of experience).  Hopefully it will prove helpful to those in the future :)

Talk to ya later!

-Jake