Turkey

Today I went to my Rotary contact person's house and ate turkey. It was so good to eat turkey after not having any for nearly a six months. It was almost as though it was Thanksgiving in Sweden. I had a great time. We ate a lot of food. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, a casserole, salad, and a pie with ice cream and vanilla sauce for dessert.

Turkey: yum yum

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Pins

I have been putting off getting ready for as long as possible. The pins were no exception to that. Finally, earlier this week I got into the game. I began asking people for pins. And boy was I surprised! People are sending tons, everyone that has  them is game. I have gotten nice gold lapel pins and then touristy plastic ones, but they all are special. I have started getting really creative with my requesting. One of the Rotexes, Mandee, told me about how you could request some from Coca Cola and american businesses like that. I have taken up the challenge, requesting them for everyone. I may end up with the largest variety of pins. I can't wait to start exchanging them and filling up my jacket with them!

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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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