Miss, Look Forward

I leave Sunday for the adventure of a lifetime. Even though I will be back, friends and even I keep reminding myself of "last times". Over the past week there have been a lot of "last times"; "last time" eating lunch at the River Market, "last time" at WholeFoods, "last time" seeing so and so, "last time" going here, "last time" going there. With all of these "last times" I can't help, but think of all the things that I am going to miss, and what I am looking forward too. Here are just a few:

• I am going to miss my friends, but am looking forward to making new ones.
• I am going to miss late nights just hanging out, but am looking forward to a new Swedish night life.
• I am going to miss the comforts of home, but am looking forward to settling down in a new home.
• I am going to miss my family, but am looking forward to making a new one.
• I am going to miss Dizzy's Gypsy Bistro, but am looking forward to finding a new favorite eatery.
• I am going to miss everything, but am looking forward to so much more!

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9 Days

9 days to go.. Its hard to believe that I will be packing everything up and moving to Sweden for a year in just ten days. Its surreal. I have been getting more and more excited as the day comes closer and closer. It hasn't fully hit me yet that I will be gone for a whole year.

The thought of leaving for a whole year is hard to stomach, but I know it will be amazing! I can't wait to embark on this great new adventure learning a language and adapting to a culture.

 I finally got all the paper work for my residence permit! It was not as exiting as I thought it would be. When I called the embassy, they had not even sent it out yet, so someone emailed it to me. Most of the letter is in Swedish, so I do not know exactly what it says, but my sister who speaks Danish has been translating it.

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Those Permits

The residence permit. Oh, yes, I did say that word. That big scary word, believe me it has been haunting. Ever since I sent off my application to the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C. it has been eagerly awaited. Thought it came once, but it was just a letter about how the process had been changed and my application was sent to Sweden. Since then it has been nothing but waiting. I finally decided that I had to contact someone, my application had not been registered, no decision had been made and I was supposed to leave in 30 days. Let me just say that contacting the embassy directly was not the best idea. If you thought 24 hours a day tech support from India was annoying, try one hour a day visa support. That's right, the embassy only answers questions an hour every weekday except Tuesday, talk about convenience. After that I decided to contact the Consulate in Dallas and see if they would be so kind as to help me. Boy, was I in for some wonderful help! The Vice Consul in Dallas, Tina, has been the most helpful person I have met in my life. She figured everything out for me and has been so kind. Granted, I do not have my permit yet, but it is well on its way speeding through the Migration Board. Now a little more waiting. 

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