NSF EAPSI 2013

[GarbageNerdUCF]

I arrive at Reagan at 1:54 pm and leave at 1:10 pm. My flight was cheap from Orlando only $299.00.

[dcfryxell]

360 bucks from San Francisco. Arrive around 330 PM in DC and leave at 920 AM. Have to teach a class at 4 in Santa Cruz

[GarbageNerdUCF]

That is not bad at all! I couldn't fly there for less than $500 over Christmas! Sorry to hear you have to leave so early in the 3rd. 

[pig]

It's my first participation on this topic.

Thanks Pauli for the Phonetic Alphabet table. It was very useful. The phone receptionist actually didn't strictly use the NATO table. I had problem when she "Larry" me and I was thinking of "Mary" for awhile.

My flight from San Diego was just over $500 but I hate to stop for a transfer.

I'm arriving early and leaving late! 

[Papasan&Coffee]

Thanks for all your helpful guidance, Pauli!

 

I emailed Elena shortly after the Sequester started and she said as far as they knew, this year's EAPSI would not be impacted. 

 

Going out is a great idea! I won't be able to make it on the 1st (seeing some college friends from when I lived in DC), but if anyone wants to get together again on the 2nd, definitely count me in!

 

Just a heads-up, it's also going to be the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC when we're there, which is pretty cool and very unique. I recommend trying to swing by the Tidal Basin at some point - it's worth it! Peak bloom is predicted to be Mar 26-30 this year, so we'll just make it in time!

 

Looking forward to meeting everyone (if everything goes through and I make it to DC, of course). 

[gzahn]

I will be arriving around 3:00 on the 1st.  Definitely interested in dinner and drinks!  Do you know if we can ditch our bags at the hotel before check-in?  i would like to hit up some tourist sights before dinner.  Never been to DC before.

[gzahn]

@samtheman

 

I hear you.  I have a nice internship with CA-CP lined up but will have to reject or accept it before the DC trip is confirmed.  I will no doubt wait until the last minute to make up my mind on whether EAPSI is worth the risk, but the sequester is unlikely to affect EAPSI this year, so we are probably going to be fine at this point.  Most likely.  Maybe.  (sigh)

[CountingSeeds]

I'm in for a dinner or after-dinner get-together.    Have booked my flight, arrive at 5:00pm at DCA.  Definitely looking forward to it!

 

@gzahn: I'm pretty sure I read somewhere in the info that we've been sent that we can drop off our bags at the hotel if we arrive before check-in so you should be fine.  ...I decided to see if I could find it.  It was in the very long email telling us to book our flights:

 

"Hotel check-in time is 3:00 pm and check-out is 12:00 pm. If you arrive too early to check-in, you can leave your bag in the storage room. "

[Pauli]

I'm arriving early and leaving late! 

 

Same here.  Since you're also arriving early, hopefully we can have a Day 1 lunch.

 

Just a heads-up, it's also going to be the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC when we're there, which is pretty cool and very unique. I recommend trying to swing by the Tidal Basin at some point - it's worth it! Peak bloom is predicted to be Mar 26-30 this year, so we'll just make it in time!

 

Yes, the cherry blossoms are very cool and they are definitely worth checking out.  The ones in the area parks are really gorgeous.

 

I will be arriving around 3:00 on the 1st.  Definitely interested in dinner and drinks!  Do you know if we can ditch our bags at the hotel before check-in?  i would like to hit up some tourist sights before dinner.  Never been to DC before.

 

A bunch of EAPSI fellows arrived early and lingered around a bit, so they were able to drop off their luggage briefly while they grabbed a pre-check-in meal.  Like CountingSeeds said, they have a room where they temporarily store luggage.

 

I will no doubt wait until the last minute to make up my mind on whether EAPSI is worth the risk, but the sequester is unlikely to affect EAPSI this year, so we are probably going to be fine at this point.  Most likely.  Maybe.  (sigh)

 

I know how you feel; I canceled my Google interview after I received tentative acceptance.  But chances are pretty good that all tentatively accepted EAPSI fellows will move on to the summer fellowship period.

 

I'm in for a dinner or after-dinner get-together.    Have booked my flight, arrive at 5:00pm at DCA.  Definitely looking forward to it!

 

Totally.  I think they're giving us dinner vouchers for Days 1 and 2, but we can opt to check out something else, and last year's fellows went to different bars after having dinner on Day 1 (we weren't provided vouchers last year).

[pig]

My host in China told me the Education Department contacted him last week. My application is being processed by the Ed right now.

 

@Pauli: I have reserved the Capitol Hill tour at 2pm. Lunch should be fine in one of the museums nearby.

[GarbageNerdUCF]

I'm in for lunch and whatever else. 

[samtheman]

@samtheman

 

I hear you.  I have a nice internship with CA-CP lined up but will have to reject or accept it before the DC trip is confirmed.  I will no doubt wait until the last minute to make up my mind on whether EAPSI is worth the risk, but the sequester is unlikely to affect EAPSI this year, so we are probably going to be fine at this point.  Most likely.  Maybe.  (sigh)

 

I am basically going to tell my internship the truth (i.e. if I got official acceptance for the EAPSI there's no way I would turn it down). They can wait for two weeks if they really like me, or they can look for other candidates. I had already asked for a 10 day extension on their original deadline, so I feel kind of guilty stringing them along any longer knowing that I will turn them down if I get the EAPSI.

 

But from what it seems like, once you get tentatively accepted, it is extremely likely that you will get officially excepted. It is nice to have the internship as a backup though...

[samtheman]

Just got an email for official acceptance for China!

[GarbageNerdUCF]

I just received my official acceptance for China!

[dcfryxell]

Official email came in this morning saying all NZ tentative offers were accepted this year by the Royal Society. That is a load off my shoulders.

 

There are 15 of us going to NZ. I wonder how many students got EAPSIs this year in total.

Edited March 20, 2013 by dcfryxell

[Pauli]

There are 15 of us going to NZ. I wonder how many students got EAPSIs this year in total.

 

I can give you the totals for EAPSI fellows from last year:

 

Australia –20

China – 40

Japan – 65

Korea - 25

New Zealand – 15

Singapore – 15

Taiwan - 25

TOTAL - 205

Edited March 20, 2013 by Pauli

[hokievt2010]

Anyone from Japan receive an official acceptance yet?

[Pauli]

Singapore fellows are receiving their official acceptances today.  The Singapore program is providing about US$3000 for living expenses to EAPSI fellows.  This is compared to the US$1000 for living expenses by the Taiwan program to EAPSI fellows last year.  Now I'm starting to understand the cost of living expenses between Singapore and Taiwan...

[CountingSeeds]

@hokievt2010: I also have not heard any "official acceptance" response for Japan yet.  Will post when it comes.  

[Papasan&Coffee]

@hokievt2010 No word here yet either. My host emailed me over 2 weeks ago saying she had already spoke with JSPS to give them her approval and that I would get official notice soon. Must be some kind of red tape hold-up somewhere. 

[pastemonger]

@ Pauli

 

     I haven't received offical acceptance from Singapore yet despite the tentative offer and registering for D.C. orientation.

[ajcsh15]

Well, my flight exceeded $1000 and I've e-mailed Elena twice with no response.  I am hoping this is fine....

 

My flight gets in to Reagan National at 2:30pm.  Any idea how long it takes to get from the airport to the hotel by the metro red line?

My flight leaves from Reagan National at 12:15pm on the third... 

 

Looking forward to meeting everyone!   

[Pauli]

@ pastemonger

The EAPSI coordinators are contacting the foreign agencies for each individual EAPSI fellow, so they're going through all 200-odd.  The foreign agencies might just be a little slow.  Just in case, locate the EAPSI Singapore handbook and contact the main coordinator either by e-mail or by phone for possible updates.

 

@ ajcsh15

Metro line is relatively fast in DC (EDIT: Well, fast as in 20-30 minutes at worst case).  For an American metro rail system, it's pretty effective in both terms of timeliness, speed, and coverage.  And regarding the $1000+ airfare...lol.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Pauli

[Pauli]

Flight arrivals for Day 1 that I've seen so far.  If your name is not listed below, feel free to share your arrival dates, and you can also PM your cell numbers to make it easier to coordinate.  I have numbers for two thus far.

 

Day 1 Arrivals

• Pauli: 12:10 PM @ Reagan
• japple: 11:30 AM @ Reagan
• GarbageNerdUCF: 1:54 PM @ Reagan
• ajcsh15: 2:30 PM @ Reagan
• dcfryxell: 3:30 PM @ Reagan

For people arriving around noon-ish, we can rendezvous at Starbucks near the American Airlines check-in counter, since that area is very close to the entrance to the Metro National Airport Station that can take us to the hotel by taking the northbound yellow line to nearby Metro Judiciary Station (gotta love the democratic-sounding station names).  Otherwise, we can scope out a bar, restaurant, or coffeeshop near the hotel after 3:00 PM check-in.  And if you plan to sightsee on Day 1, totally do that instead of meeting up since we can always just meet up on Day 2 and not everyone gets to visit D.C. often.  I'm sticking around the area though since I'm kinda sick of flying to D.C. at this point...

Edited March 25, 2013 by Pauli

[Mirt00]

Has anyone's flight been ticketed yet? I reserved a flight last week and emailed Elena with the details, but I haven't heard back, and today I got an email from the travel agency saying that it would be canceled if it wasn't ticketed before 48 hours in advance of the flight.