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Overseas

Last time I came home to Bulgaria, roughly 1,5 years ago, I flew with Alitalia and it was a hideous experience but it had been so long since the last time I had been home that it didn’t matter. This time I flew with Austria Arrows and I don’t have words to express how much better that was. For one thing, the plane was much bigger and everyone had their own TV screen and I didn’t have to peer into the glare of a distant monitor trying to watch a bad movie. For another the food was actually eatable – I’m not mentioning the rest but this Beef Stroganoff was gourmet! Moreover, we didn’t get dehydrated, I didn’t even have to ask for something to drink – every time I felt thirsty the fight attendants were serving refreshments. I felt like flying in the good-old-times, they even gave us a hot towel, for crying out loud! To top it off during the layover in Vienna instead of the usual waiting in line during boarding, one of the flight attendants came around and verified our tickets and passports in the waiting area. Granted it was a smaller group of passengers but yet! I’m going to try and fly with them again.

Overall it was an easy flight. It took 3 movies, only 50 pages of the “Subtle knife,” and a grain of sleep. I discovered that kid’s movies work the best for me while flying; serious movies exhaust me and I cannot keep focused. “Kong fu Panda” was hysterically funny. Even going through customs in Bulgaria was piece of cake.
My mom, my brother, Zakki and Marie were waiting for me at the airport and took me home. I arrived on Thursday in the afternoon. I only had Friday to acclimate and Saturday was Annie’s wedding. What an event! She looked so beautiful and happy. Everything was perfect. We of course took a lot of pictures. It was great to have our mom with us, she had so much fun. It was an evening wedding and the band was great.

My CPA Exam System

*** Please note: this blog entry is not meant as an advice; it’s strictly informative.

In my experience, in order to pass the FAR you need to commit to at least 2 to 4 hours, 5 or 7 days a week, of studying (that includes going over the material in the book, solving all questions on paper and later on the computer, making notes and progress tests). In other words, whatever time it takes you to complete all problems for the chapter, confidently within a week, a week and a half.

I personally find it extremely helpful to print all problems and solve tem on paper first. This way I see the solutions but make notes and come up with my own way of solving them.

This is what I did (I used the same system for the Audit part):
I printed the questions and put them in a binder. I printed the subchapter titles on blue paper and used them to separate and organize the chapter problems. After completing the problems on paper I extracted the most important notes on the title blue page. This way, if I had to look up a rule, mnemonic, or a formula I had it there - easily accessible and in my own language. This of course helps with learning too. To me, it’s a substitute for the so recommended flashcards. In addition, I bookmarked the chapters in the text book as well as the chapters and the respective subchapters in my binders.