visa nightmare.

THIS VISA IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!!!!!

i feel as though it is starting to take over my life. a couple of nights ago i woke up from a horrible dream with undertones of my largely repressed (it has to be) but very powerful fear that i will not get my visa. i cried for a long time in a half asleep/half awake state and woke up the next day feeling like i got hit by a truck. last night, ali and i spent 6 hours doing more (sigh) visa research--reading forums, figuring out what needs to be written on the letter for my old boss (eeek! not another encounter with charlie!) to sign, if my bank records are on the right kind of paper, whether they count net pay or gross pay and from what starting date, and so many other terribly stressful concerns of which i will spare you the details. i couldn't sleep last night and when i did, i had unsettling dreams that left me feeling tired and anxious today.

i am starting to feel like this may be one of the most stressful thing i've done in my life. nothing that i can remember working toward has had such a strong outcome on the course of my life that i can remember. no test i studied for in college, no job application, no tangible goal i've worked toward in my life has been so full of tricky details that could be missed and so full of what feels like never ending obstacles!!! i feel like i'm climbing up a verticle wall. with spikes. and big angry chomping crocodiles below. it's hard to look past this and plan for my future or prepare or work towards any other goals i have right now b/c the outcome of this visa determines everything!

one month and one week from today, if all goes according to plan, i will be back in the states, i will have applied online, i will have had all my biometrcis done at the british consulate, i will have paid the WHOPPING $1,300.00 visa fee, all my checked and re-checked and checked again documents will be sent in, and it will all be out of my my hands. 5.....weeks.....

two things to make for a great day:

#1. Yes we can!!! (watching this brought me to tears...)

#2. I get to see Dena in 2 hours!!!!!!!!

oh say can you see...

it's election day it's election day it's election day!!!! i can proudly say i voted for obama a few weeks ago when i was in the states. i am EXCITED!!!! i just hope i can catch the action on tv here. it's absolutely hillarious to watch the news in england. at home, even if you may be able to catch hints of bias from the station or news reporters, they have to remain relatively equal and balanced in their report and their coverage. but in england, there is no hiding the bias! any news channel i watch spends large chunks of their newscasts these days covering glorious barack obama glide through his campaign with a big shining light cast around his head, and they are not shy in stating that obama as president is basically america's only hope to not go down the tubes...and to not be forever hated by every other country in the world. and then after about 20 minutes of this radiating coverage, they'll show a 5 second fuzzy gray clip of john mccain saying "joe the plumber? are you in the crowd? joe the plumber where are you?" the transition goes something like this:
"barack obama climbs more points in the polls today, as america looks toward a brighter future under his leadership. look at him. he's glowing! look at that smile! it's radiant! he's oozing greatness and we like him over here! we like him!!! oh, and there's john mccain, confused and looking stupid because he can't find his plumber in the crowd."

it's something like that. anyway, go vote everyone!!!!

i see london i see...

this weekend i went to london! it was my first time. :) london is coooooool. big time.

on the left: mind the gap!!!
right: westminster abbey








left: in front of the parliament building
right: unmoving english gaurd








left: parliament building from the back
right: cool english telephone booth!!!

here's the rest of the photos if you care to see more:
london photo album

along with seeing uber cool london this weekend, we also went swimming (i bought a new hot pink swim cap to give me more incentive to keep going), and played two intense games of monopoly on sunday. i luuuuurve monopoly! i haven't played in forever! we pulled it out, set it up, and suddenly i was looking at it thinking..."something's different here, this isn't exactly how i remember it, but i can't put my finger on what it is...now if i could only find broadway..." so it turns out the british have their own game of monopoly (and why wouldn't they? what incentive do they have to win american play money?) complete with locations all over england and the english pound. so it was a slight lesson in geography as well. but the point is, i won both games. :) he he.

i got my kindermusik license this week!!!! now if only i had a visa that let me use it...

england at a glance.

so....

i've arrived! i made it to england last thursday morning. ali picked me up from the airport and we headed to his house. where he lives is absolutely beautiful, full of nearby pastures and wooded areas and parks. i went for a run today and got completely lost, which i find is the best way to figure out what's around me. as well as the best way to get in shape since once i've gotten myself completely lost, i have to get home, which often requires about 3 miles more than i'd really planned. but his parents have been so gracious, and i'm working on finding my feet here. (kind of hard!)

england is very...er...english. sort of what you would picture really. the houses are all not really so much house-ish and more cottage-ish in my opinion. and everything is soooooo smaaaaaalll. the roads, the sidewalks, the cars, the cottages. everything just feels cute and dainty. oh, and old. everything feels really old. probably because it is.

i met a bunch of ali's friends this weekend. two of his friends dj once a month, so we all went out to that club and had a fun night out. i feel kind of like the new kid on the block. the new american kid on the block. i look the same (well, i sort of look the same. the girls here all look like they come straight out of an h&m magazine...good thing i've got heels and skinny jeans or i'd be an absolute fish out of water...), but i definitely don't feel the same and i'm not sure why. sometimes they're all talking and i have no idea what they're saying or even what the topic of conversation is. i'm not sure if it's the accent or the british jargon or both, but sometimes i feel completely lost! but i'll get it eventually.

so, i've mostly been filling my days with sleeping in, unpacking all my stuff and the boxes i sent from korea, trying not to miss korea, wishing ali would come home from work sooner, trying to understand his french mother's accent (oh! but i get to start french lessons with her this week!), and trying to orient myself! new places always bring difficult and sometimes sad adjustments. but the sad times always make the joyful times that follow all that much more joyful. as dad would say...it build character. :) he he.

ok, ali's done with band practice! toodles!

jolly good.

i find myself yet again writing from another airport. chicago o'hare this time. i caved and paid the stupid fee so that i could have wireless. 4 hours in an airport makes one do crazy things...such as pay for the internet. anyway, in exactly one hour and 23 minutes i'm moving to england! well, boarding a plane that will inevitebly lead to my move to england 8 hours later. :) and you know what that means??? I GET TO UNPACK MY SUITCASE!!!! i haven't done that for 2 months!

ali has been here the past couple of weeks, a week in chicago and 4 days in iowa, in a fantastic and at times comical trip i'd call "britain meets the midwest." if that were a book, i think the picture on the front would have to be ali, in his skinny jeans, blue rocknroll belt, and swooshy punk hair climbing into a massive green john deere combine harvester with my dad in complete farming gear. but i think he liked the midwest and i know the midwest liked him so HOORAY for two cultures getting along. and now i'm entering another book called "midwest girl meets england." :)

so i had a mcdonalds icecream cone tonight and OH MAN when did they get so good? seriously, why haven't i been eating those every single day? mmmmm. made the 4 hours in the airport more bearable.

next post will be from england! maybe i'll write with an accent. he he.

rockin out the states

SOOOOOO......

i got home. (iowa home.) stayed a week and a half, then made my way east, spent a night in pella to see joy (college roommate) and my grandparents, and stumbled upon chicago last tuesday, which is where i am at the moment. iowa was restful, and chicago is sentimental. it's nice to be back in my homeland again and be able to eaves drop on other peoples' conversations and understand.

so to summarize my plans for the next while: ali (amazing boyfriend for those who don't recall) is coming to chicago on thursday!!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!! he's never been to chicago, despite the fact that he's been to america a few times, so we all plan to show him a good time. he left for england the day i left for thailand and has been there since so we haven't seen each other for over 6 weeks! hopefully we won't have to do that again for awhile. so anyway, we're spending a week together in chicago, then heading to iowa for a long weekend (also a place he's never been. APPALLING huh. i mean who comes to america and doesn't go to iowa?!?), then he's flying back to england, and i'm flying back to chicago, and then two days later, i'm flying to london. and that's where i'm staying! yup, i'm gonna hang with the brits for awhile. i'll have to come back around christmas to apply for a work visa (don't ask why i couldn't apply earlier...MUY COMPLICADO!!!!), and then hopefully i'll be going back soon after to stay for good. and by "for good" i mean atleast a year. i must say i am getting tired of living out of a suitcase and always anticipating my next move, so God willing i get the visa and when i do and am in england, visa in hand, suitcases unpacked, i will be a HAPPY and RELAXED girl who will not be planning her next move anytime soon. (unless something really cool comes our way...he he...)

SO now that all the blah blah blah catch up is done, guess what i did today?!?!? MOVED TRICIA AND JEN INTO THEIR NEW APARTMENT!!!! it rained all day and their apartment is on the third floor, so needless to say, my arms are like jello! but they're in, we're done, and now it's only 2 days till ali comes!

oh AND i've been doing more than just...nothing...while i'm here. i'm getting trained in kindermusik! ya it's pretty cool cuz it's all online and i get to go as fast as i want. :) so hopefully that will give me a boast in the "yes i do have job skills in places other than korea" category.