Non-working websites and no printer in sight!

Too much of things I don't have or things that does not work!

All day long, I've been trying to get access to an online application for getting my visa. Not working, not working, was the reply my browser sent me every single time. After a few hours I had to go to work. Back home again, the webiste is finally working but I realize that I cannot fill out the application anyway, 'cause I don't have a printer.

I need to print all the documents and receipts. I don't want to take the risk of not being able to just save it to my computer and print it later. I need a printer! I need it now! Can anyone lend me one? Please? Tomorrow morning I'm gonna have to start the printer hunt.

I also have to go downtown to one of those photo booths to get my picture taken, since I realized that an acceptable photograph of myself, to be able to fill out the application, is yet another thing that I don't have. A picture of me in my dance performance make-up is apparently not good enough.

Not working. Not having. Not sleeping. It's tiring. And Little Miss Control Freak freaks out a bit when she does not have it all under control. But I try to just breathe and live after my motto that it will be alright.

I'm sailing away. Are you?

"Twenty years from now 

you will be more disappointed 

by the things you didn't do 

than by the ones you did do. 

So throw off the bowlines. 

Sail away from the safe harbour. 

Catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore. Dream. Discover."

-Mark Twain.

Happy Midsummer to y'all!

The most Swedish day of them all is here - Midsummer!

I'm doing it the traditional way: going out tho the country side, to my sister's summer house by the lake. I'm in charge of the strawberry cake and the others will bring with them herring, salmon, pies with cheese from my home province and new potatoes. Everything you need to get it as Swedish as it can be.

I will go out in the woods to pick some wild flowers. I will make sure we build a maypole - midsommarstång, as we say in Swedish - and I hope we will play at least one game of kubb. I will stay away from the nubbe - snaps is not my cup of tea anymore - but will make sure to enjoy one cold, delicious beer to dinner.

I will probaly have mosquitoe bites all over my body and sit under a blanket to watch the sun go down, only to rise a few hours later. Before going to bed, I will put seven different flowers under my pillow in order to dream about my future Prince.

That's what we do at Midsummer Eve. 

I wish you all light, love and laughter!

Wants and needs.

I'm not a girl who buys a lot of clothes, nor shoes. I prefer spending my money on good food, strong coffee and sweet chocolate cakes, preferably while out travelling! I don't buy a lot of other stuff either. Let's just say that I'm not a big spender. However, at this very moment, I have a list of three things I would love to buy.

Number One: A new computer. One slightly (a lot!) lighter than my good old fellow Dell Inspiron 6400. No offense, Mr. Dell, you have been a good soldier by my side and never caused me any bigger problems. But after five years, your batteries are so tired they won't even last for an hour and I think that you have actually put on some weight! A MacBook Whatever is supposed to be nice and sweet.

Number Two: A new cellphone. Again, Mr. SonyEricsson I-don't-know-your-name, aka Little Pink One, you are also a good friend of mine and always have been, but I can see you are a bit tired. You are getting old. Your buttons are not working correctly. Your battery dies after a few calls and sometimes you don't even connect to the charger. If I could, I would by a BlackBerry. Oh my God, yes.

Number Three: A new camera! I loved Mr. Canon Digital IXUS 8515. He was perfect for me. But he is no longer with me. His brain is still working, yes, but his heart does not beat by itself anymore. A chilly (freezing) day up in the Italian mountains, he got severe injuries and never recovered. May you rest in peace, dear friend. I think it would be great to get to know your younger brother.

So, these are the three things I would like to buy. Unfortunately, I'm saving all my money to be able to still buy food and live a decent life in D.C, so it's gonna be me and the guys travelling again. Well, at least I know them inside and out. I hope they will survive yet another adventure with me.

Me and the guys moving to Nice in 2009.

Me and my dear friend Canon taking a walk in Nice.

Know your destination.

Did you know, that when you travel abroad it most likely won't be like home? Do not laugh. Not all people know this. However, I do! To me, that is the whole point of travelling. I want to see something else; new streets, different buildings. I want to create new routines and experience a culture I am not used to.

I've never been to The States, but I don't live in a bubble, so of course I have my own idea of what it will be like. Just out of curiosty, I borrowed a few books about "American" culture from the library. If there even is such a thing as an American culture, I do not know. I will try to find that out, though. First, by reading these books and thereafter by living in this whole thing myself.

I will get back to you on this one, I promise. This topic will probably get it's own category later on, with both reflections from the book and from the live street.

Let's start reading...

Home is where your heart is.

Things to do before leaving: A million. One of them: Finding someone to sublet the apartment, my home sweet home. I know, I know, that should have be taken care of already. But, my mind has been elsewhere. Don't know where. But somewhere.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna call these two different guys who might be interested. Keep your fingers crossed, will you?! It sure would be the best option possible to have someone to take care of my sweet little crib while I'm on the other side of the Atlantic Sea. Not that I want to think about that now, but I am, after all, returning in May 2012. It would be neat to come back to this place.

I love this place and I am pretty sure that I will miss it. However, home is where your heart is and now, this following year, all of my heart and all of me will be 100 % i Washington D.C.

Packing panicking already!

After booking my ticket to D.C. and while checking all the datas, I realized that I am only allowed one piece of baggage! How in the whole wide world will that be possible? Well, it simply won't. When moving to the south of France a couple of years ago, I was struggling to pack for one semester in a relatively warm climate.

This time, I will be in need of everything from high heels and dressy suits (which I don't have yet!) to warm jackets and winter boots. And of course everythin in-between - different jackets, shoes for various occasions, lots of clothes for working out, my OnePiece and so on and so forth. I have already started packing in my mind and not even my biggest suitcase is big enough for the list I've made so far.

What a problem, huh?! I hope to solve it by paying for an extra piece of baggage.

Networking and making new friends.

When I tell people I'm about to head over to the states - yes, I've been starting to tell people for real now - they all ask the same question: "Are you going by yourself? Aren't you nervous?". On the one hand, I understand their question. On the other, I don't.

Yes, I am going by myself in that sense that I'm moving overseas without anyone I already now. Yet, I'm not going there alone, since there will be 22 other Swedish students attending the same programme. Plus, I've heard that there are quite a few people living in the US. Yesterday, I got the opportunity to meet a bunch of these Swedish students. We all got some information about the school and living abroad and for a soon to be 25-year-old like-to-travel-person it wasn't that exciting.

However, after this meeting I ended up on a bar with my soon to be classmates and it appeared, that famous "click". We made so much plans, started up a small project, bonded and all got so excited we didn't understand how we're gonna survive this summer just waiting and waiting to leave!

I'm not going to The States by myself and I'm definitely not nervous about my trip, just very, very excited!

Cheers mate!

Follow me!

You can easily follow me with Bloglovin!

Fly me to The States and let me play among the Americans.

It's not just about being in The States, I need to get there somehow. This whole trip seems so far away, yet very, very close and today it got even closer. Now, when I have my schedule for my summer job all set, I could finally book a ticket. So I did. 

August 16 I'll leave on a jetplane and I don't know when I'll  be back again - except, that's not really true, 'cause I'm actually coming home to Sweden for Christmas. But let's not think about that now. First, I'm gonna have the time of my life in D.C.

Come fly with me, come fly, let's fly away!

(How many flying songs can one come to think of?!)

Work in progress.

We're working on a place for you to read about Milon's adventures in the big U, S and A, more precisely in Washington D.C.

Stay tuned. See you soon!

/Milon and the workers