I'm waiting in the airport for my flight to Frankfurt right now. All I've had to eat today is half a cup of drinkable Latvian yogurt, and one of those "milk and cereal" bars which, considering my semi-lactose intolerance and the upcoming flight, may not have been the best courses of action. And thinking about whether or not I've managed to pack everything... Don't you love that feeling of knowing you've probably forgotten something but can't figure out what it is?
I wish I could sleep on planes, because I am waaaay tired right now.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Like Pelmeni
This post will be quick and easy, like a tasty-but-overly-filling Latvian "fast food" favorite that is Russian in origin. Am I overstepping my promise?
For those of you following along with posts, or with family gossip, today I had to take the Test DaF (German as a foreign language proficiency exam). I feel like I did rather well on the exam, but will have to wait six weeks to find out how I really did.
In other news, I leave for a one-week vacation to Germany tomorrow afternoon. I'll be visiting friends, doing some much needed and missed German shopping, and just taking it easy. This seems like the first vacation in a long time that will actually be just that - a vacation. My only other motives are to make a visit to talk to someone from the University I'd like to apply to next year, and to find a spectacular hair conditioner that I've been trying to hunt down for a month, and figured out is sold in a salon in Ludwigshafen. SCORE.
And I'm tired, I haven't packed, and I haven't gone "ciemakukulis" shopping. That means I haven't stocked up on goods from Latvia for peeps in Germany.
Kaija out.
For those of you following along with posts, or with family gossip, today I had to take the Test DaF (German as a foreign language proficiency exam). I feel like I did rather well on the exam, but will have to wait six weeks to find out how I really did.
In other news, I leave for a one-week vacation to Germany tomorrow afternoon. I'll be visiting friends, doing some much needed and missed German shopping, and just taking it easy. This seems like the first vacation in a long time that will actually be just that - a vacation. My only other motives are to make a visit to talk to someone from the University I'd like to apply to next year, and to find a spectacular hair conditioner that I've been trying to hunt down for a month, and figured out is sold in a salon in Ludwigshafen. SCORE.
And I'm tired, I haven't packed, and I haven't gone "ciemakukulis" shopping. That means I haven't stocked up on goods from Latvia for peeps in Germany.
Kaija out.
Friday, November 9, 2007
aaaaaaaAAAAAHHHH, FREAK OUT! (le freak, c'est chic)
This past week has been full of good and bad freak-out moments.
Sunday: I got to places late (it was the www.ldz.lv 's fault for being down all weekend) and ended up missing a second singing-night at one relatives house, and never made it to the other relatives to pick up a letter they've been holding for me for two weeks now. Freaking out because of social commitments not kept.
Monday: Had my job interview, got said job. Said job pays well, considering the national average income, the national minimal income, and the fact that this will be my first real, full-time gig. Freaking out because.. duh!
Tuesday: Once again, I repeat - "What happened to Tuesday?" Now I remember! Tuesday after work was the cigar smoking/informational night + cognac. I didn't smoke any cigars, but learned a good deal about them. I did drink some (free) cognac. Freaking out because I thought I would smell terrible from the cigar smoke and make the person sitting next to me on the bus vomit.
Wednesday: An e-mail from my future employers lets me know that we have to wait a month before the NVA office processes their part of the documents I ultimately need to turn in. The employer has to "register" the vacancy, which is then advertised in the local job market, and if they can't find a local to fill the position in that month only THEN are they allowed to hire me. So now we basically wait for a month and do nothing. Freaking out because I WON'T BE HERE in a month and because now I have to find a better way to turn in my documents to the embassy in the U.S. (Washington D.C.), which is considerably farther from Minnesota than Tallinn or Vilnius are from Riga and I do NOT want to pay $500 just to turn in a packet of papers.
Thursday: nothing significant happened on Thursday; Wednesdays events were sufficient to carry over any left-over freak-outiness.
Friday (today): while contemplating how to formulate my issues to the Latvian embassy in D.C. I found some vital and joy-inducing information on their website. I am allowed to send my precious documents per post to the embassy, in the event I myself cannot show up to personally hand them in (although they reserve the right to request my presence anyhow). Freaking out because this lifts a huge weight off of my shoulders and makes my life just that much easier. True, I have to send all kinds of things that I'll definitely want to insure because if I lose them I'm screwed, but it's better than buying a plane ticket.
Overall: freaking out because next week is the TestDaF, and I need to ace it in order to apply to graduate school in Germany. O. M. G. The day after the test I leave for a one-week vacation to Germany. Time is seriously flying by.
Sunday: I got to places late (it was the www.ldz.lv 's fault for being down all weekend) and ended up missing a second singing-night at one relatives house, and never made it to the other relatives to pick up a letter they've been holding for me for two weeks now. Freaking out because of social commitments not kept.
Monday: Had my job interview, got said job. Said job pays well, considering the national average income, the national minimal income, and the fact that this will be my first real, full-time gig. Freaking out because.. duh!
Tuesday: Once again, I repeat - "What happened to Tuesday?" Now I remember! Tuesday after work was the cigar smoking/informational night + cognac. I didn't smoke any cigars, but learned a good deal about them. I did drink some (free) cognac. Freaking out because I thought I would smell terrible from the cigar smoke and make the person sitting next to me on the bus vomit.
Wednesday: An e-mail from my future employers lets me know that we have to wait a month before the NVA office processes their part of the documents I ultimately need to turn in. The employer has to "register" the vacancy, which is then advertised in the local job market, and if they can't find a local to fill the position in that month only THEN are they allowed to hire me. So now we basically wait for a month and do nothing. Freaking out because I WON'T BE HERE in a month and because now I have to find a better way to turn in my documents to the embassy in the U.S. (Washington D.C.), which is considerably farther from Minnesota than Tallinn or Vilnius are from Riga and I do NOT want to pay $500 just to turn in a packet of papers.
Thursday: nothing significant happened on Thursday; Wednesdays events were sufficient to carry over any left-over freak-outiness.
Friday (today): while contemplating how to formulate my issues to the Latvian embassy in D.C. I found some vital and joy-inducing information on their website. I am allowed to send my precious documents per post to the embassy, in the event I myself cannot show up to personally hand them in (although they reserve the right to request my presence anyhow). Freaking out because this lifts a huge weight off of my shoulders and makes my life just that much easier. True, I have to send all kinds of things that I'll definitely want to insure because if I lose them I'm screwed, but it's better than buying a plane ticket.
Overall: freaking out because next week is the TestDaF, and I need to ace it in order to apply to graduate school in Germany. O. M. G. The day after the test I leave for a one-week vacation to Germany. Time is seriously flying by.
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