ch-ch-ch-changes

I'm sure I've had this blog post title before, but I'll take any reason I can get to wake up & turn on Bowie. It's putting me in a good mood, which is surprising because I'm doing that thing where I think about the future. But there are a couple of important things that have come to my attention that change the way I'm thinking about those summer months when we return to the States.

Important Thing Number One
A friend (whose blog I enjoy & whose current city of residence I envy) recently announce that after arriving in January, she already has her Missouri driver's license. She's been there for almost four months, which is about 120 days, which is less than a semester of college.

Important Thing Number Two
States in the U.S. get really rude about you not living there. For example, graduate tuition at Indiana University for an Indiana resident is $391 per credit hour. (Pause: That's what my French students pay for their ENTIRE education. Resume.) We'll be taking roughly eight per semester, so that's $6256 a year. Non-residents pay $850 per credit hour, or $13,600 a year. And I know these numbers are too low.

Why are these two things important?

I've spent the hour I've been awake so far this morning researching how to become an Indiana resident (and listening to Carla Bruni, I admit it). I need to change my name. I need to change my permanent address. I need to register to vote. I need to get an Indiana I.D...

And I need to do it before the end of my first semester, because I have the WHOLE semester to submit forms to the Bursar's Office to change my residency. That's right: Even my first year at IU could be paid as an Indiana resident! I never thought I'd want to call myself a Hoosier, and now here I am anxiously awaiting the day when my driver's license will save us thousands of dollars!

I'll be spending the rest of the morning adding the instructions for setting up residency & address changes to our Returning Home to-do list. It will be great to finally be Mrs. Betz and feel like Joe & I are establishing a life together after our honeymoon year. This year of living in such a close space has made us sure that we can handle anything, but working through the motions of moving again & learning how to be married when you're working more than part-time, studying & not constantly on vacation will bring up an interesting set of challenges.

Other changes happening at the moment:
(1) The month is about to change, which means my friend is about to arrive for her visit–May 3, here we come!

(2) After weeks of dripping, our faucet is about to change. A kind woman is coming at around noon to fix it. Thank goodness we can now pay her –since our landlord says it may be our responsibility, depending on what's wrong with it. We've still go to investigate that. Then again, she's a friend of the landlord. Maybe we can just call it a big, free favor.

(3) The weather is changing. Rain has followed us back from Montpellier. It looks more like spring now, and the clouds are so heavy with precipitation that they've dropped down to form a rather heavy, gray fog. We'll be staying inside & reading for the day.

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