Pa-pa-pa-packing!

Really, how do you pack for almost a year? Is it enough? Is it too much? The pre-packing is occupying my couch. Yes, you have to pre-pack before you actually pack. To make sure that what you pack is going to fit in the suitcase in which you will pack, when you pack for real.

I'm losing my mind. I need help. Who knows anything on this topic? Ms Pac-Man, maybe?

A word from a favorite.

"'Goodbye' said the fox. And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: 

'It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.'"

Milon - you've got mail!

I got a note in my mailbox, saying I had something to pick out at the post office (well, what's left of the post office these days, a booth in the grocery shop). It was the envelope with the twelve ice cream stamps, that I had adressed to myself, about a week ago.

Can you guess what was in it?! I'll give you a hint. I starts with a V and ends with an ISA!

What am I doing? And why?

I'm walking around, feeling some kind of out-of-body-experience. Walking between the cellar, the recycling station and my apartment, that is about to be somebody else's home for nine months. I am taking out, wrapping in, packing down. Everything with a robot motion. I don't really get emotional, 'cause I don't really understand what all this means.

But of course, it means that I am preparing for the big adventure to come. Everytime I realize that, I get a rush of exctiement, running through my body. So long clothes, books, pictures, what have you. We will see each other again. Don't feel sad if I won't be missing you, it's only because I will be in the middle of living my dream!

Happy Birthday, dear sister.

It's my sister's birthday today. I wish I could buy her the world and a bit more, 'cause that's what she is worth. When I have published my first bestseller or after my first huge scoop, I might be wealthy enough to buy her all the treasures in the world. Until that day, I give her my words and my heart:

To my sister,

I don’t need to speak – I know you always understand

I don’t need to cry – I know you make me smile

I don’t need to fear – I know you hold my hand

I don’t need you here – I know you’re always there for me

Still, I need you in my life

As a sister

As a friend

As the air that we both breathe

That’s what you are for me

And that’s what I will always be for you

My beloved sister

I love you

Alla mia sorella (since we will open a bakery shop in Italy one day)

Non ho bisogno di parlare – so che capisci sempre

Non ho bisogno di piangere – so che mi fai un sorriso

Non ho bisogno di avere paura – so che mi stringerai la mia mano

Non ho bisogno di te qui con me – so che ci sarai sempre per me

Nonostante tutto ciò, ho ancora bisogno di te nella mia vita

Come sorella

Come amica

Come l'aria che respiriamo entrambi

Questo è ciò che sei per me

E questo è ciò che sarò sempre per te

Alla mia tanto amata sorella

Ti voglio bene

Two reasons to celebrate!

After the successful day at the embassy, I found another reason to celebrate. Before heading back to Nyköping, I picked up a magazine with my first published column! I can definitely get used to that amazing feeling of looking through a magazine and find something written by me, myself and I. I don't know about seeing myself on such a big picture, but reading my texts - absolutely.

I live. I love. I write things. That's what I want to do!

Finally a visa!

Yesterday was the day! The going-to-the-embassy-for-a-visa-interview-day. That's right, that day finally came. I got up early in the morning, took the first train from Nyköping to Stockholm, met up with one of my Roomies to be, and started the big mission.

We had been told to go there at least two or three hours before our scheduled appointments, since it would probably be a long, long line just to enter the embassy. So at 8:20 AM we were there, waiting in line with 15-20 other people. After an hour in the sun (yes, the weather was very kind to us) they let us enter the buildning. "Are you her sister?" the guard asked me, since we have the same last name. Another guard with a serious look on his face asked me to take a sip of my water (what did he think it was?) and when I, smiling, said to him "Yes, with pleasure!" he looked at me and gave me a cute smile back.

Once inside the building, we only had to wait another hour before we were called for our interviews. My friend went first, maxium three minutes. I was called to the same booth right after and the nice lady asked me (for the second time this day) "Are you two sisters? Will you also be attending the journalism classes? Alright, it all looks good. Thank you and good luck!". And that was that. I was granted a visa and it will be sent to me within a week.

There were two happy girls leaving the embassy (me telling the last guard to have a nice day) and back at the train station, when we found ourselves standing in front of an American flag, we both just said: YES!

Early train.

Happy girls

America - here we come!

The Official Countdown.

Today, July 16, it's exactly one month left till departure. It is about time to start The Official Countdown. And no countdown without a Countdown Calendar.

The story of the visa came to a perfect solution - in the end. After lots of stress, correspondence with the embassy who booked me in for a new appointment, hunting somebody to fill in for me at work and thinking about how to travel to Stockholm, I had it all worked out. Not the ideal situation, since I didn't want to take a day off work and a return ticket to Stockholm that exact day was very expensive. But I didn't really care, I just wanted my appointment. After confirming it to the embassy I got an e-mail saying that there were some new openings.

I logged in on the website, which was magically working for the first time in a week, and found more that 60 available appointments next week, when I will be visiting my sister, close to Stockholm. It all just made me laugh! I booked the first appointment available, sent my colleague a text saying that she doesn't have to work for me and told my wallet it doesn't have to worry about buying an expensive flight ticket.

Now, I'm just counting down with a big smile on my face and a much lighter heart. Well, obviously hoping I will be granted a visa. But why shouldn't I? I have nothing but good intentions and nothing else but clothes and books in my suitcase. Good things do happen to good people. Let's start the countdown.

I "fulfil the requirements in accordance with the Higher Education Ordinance".

In the middle of all the stress - there are some good news. I got a nice little letter - well actually, it was quite a big one - in my mailbox the other day. It was my Degree Certificate, the proof of my Bachelor of Arts with a major in English.

I've got a Bachelor of Arts. Do you? Yes, I am proud. And I think I have all the rights to be so. More and more, I am starting to think of myself as a linguist and soon to be journalist. That thought warms my heart like a tailor-made glove perfectly warms a cold hand during a tough northern Swedish winter. A travelling linguist and journalist is what I want to be and who I want to be. Sometimes, I have to pinch my own arm to make sure that it's all for real, that I am on my way to be exactly that person.

The extremely bad picture is due to the extremely bad camera on my cell, but I still wanted to show you all this very rewarding piece of paper, the proof of all my hard work, my Degree Certificate. Voilà:

To do the things you can't do. How do you do?

What do you do, when you have a lot of things to do that you cannot really do anything about? I do not know. Do you?

A teeny tiny - correction: huge - amount of stress is eating me from the inside. The embassy replied to my e-mail - thank you, thank you, thank you a million! They even offered me another appointment. Of course, I work that day, so the problem is not quite solved yet. I am trying to change days with a colleague and I am now waiting for her definite answer. Let's keep all the fingers crossed yet another time!

Until this whole mess is straightened out, I will not be able to relax. You see? There are things I have to do, but I cannot do anything this very minute. I will try to turn all this stress into energy and do something productive. I do have to keep on depersonalizing (it's a word!) my apartment and think about what to pack for DC. If I ever get there - see, cannot relax!

Too bad my happy place is 1100 kilometers away. I'll just have to imagine myself there. And breathe.