just a girl living the expat life
Relieved and also a tiny bit sad, I am writing my last post for NaBloPoMo this year. I can’t believe how fast this month flew by… and Christmas is almost here!
It has definitely been fun again to blog 30 days in a row… without any creative breaks in between. I must say that it was easier than I thought ;) I am definitely up for the challenge next year again.
It’s been great to check out some new blogs and to meet new people… and thanks to Eden for organizing the whole thing :)
This is actually going to refer to the actual meaning of the word “sick”, not as in “you’re a sick person for behaving like that” or something ;)
We watched “SiCKO”, the latest Michael Moore-documentary, a little while ago. I missed to see it at the movie theaters and wanted to see it for a long time. It finally was available on Netflix and I got it.
Man, that film was scary. I knew that the health care system in the US kinda sucks, but I had no idea that it is so bad. Some of the cases that were portrayed in this documentary were just mind-boggling.
People, somewhat well-off, lost house and home because of urgently needed cancer treatment and had to move in with their daughter, a 22-year old girl was denied treatment for cervical cancer because she was considered “too young” for that kind of illness and a husband and dad was denied cancer treatment because the treatment recommended by the doctor was denied by the health insurance as “not necessary” and/or “experimental”.
Some people actually died because they were denied any treatment or partial treatment by their health insuranc companies.
The US are the only, wealthy, industrialized nation that does not have a universal health care system. This really is beyond me.
I am not trying to offend anyone, but why do Americans so stubbornly cling to the belief that nothing can be regulated by the government, but every decision should remain in the hands of each individual person?
Life is not fair, will never be fair and to look out for the old, poor and sick should be the priority of every society.
I recommend you go and watch it.
… always wanted to live in CA, I believe.
Earthquakes have strangely fascinated me since my first geography class in 5th grade, so I chose Geography as my Leistungskurs in 12th grade and later went on to University to study Geography. By lucky coincidence, and I say that with still a tiny bit of regret that I didn’t get to go to New England for my exchange semester, I landed right in the heart of “earthquake country” California.
Not surprisingly, I ended up writing my master thesis about the San Andreas Fault System.
People always ask me what it’s like to live with the fear of an earthquake happening where I live. First I would like to say that earthquakes don’t happen that often. Oh wait, let me rephrase that. They do happen on a daily basis, and on average there are more than 10 earthquakes every day, but they usually are too small for people to even feel them and are only detected by seismographs.
I have only experienced three earthquakes in my life, two of which – and you will find that funny – happened in Germany, and they were not particularly scary. Short rattling of the furniture, nothing more.
Even though earthquakes can be felt where I live, the big fault systems of California are further away toward the coast and I am in the lucky position of being a “close observer”, but at the same time taking comfort in the safety of my geographical distance to most epicenters.
Working as a geologists however gives me access to first-hand information when something happens.
Everybody is taking about the “BIG ONE” and when and where it is going to happen. From the research that I have done on my thesis, I can tell you: Nobody knows. There is certainty about the fact that a major earthquake is inevitably going to happen again, and the likelihood of it happening in the next 20 years is high, but making any precise predictions about the when and where are nearly impossible. This is frustrating and relieving at the same time.
Do people think about the fact that an earthquake could happen? I don’t. Definitely not on a daily basis. I am aware of the possibility, but my first gnawing thought in the morning is not if it could happen today [it’s more like wondering when I get my first cup of coffee :)]. You live with the knowledge in the back of your mind, but you don’t let it take you over.
To be honest, I would take an earthquake over a hurricane any day. They are far less scary to me than those unpredictable storms.
This is the official term of my legal status in the US. Sounds lovely, huh?
It always makes me think of little green men [or women] and X-Files :)
Due to the Thanksgiving-weekend-with-Kim-excitement, I totally forgot that November, 22nd marked the first anniversary of my immigrating to the US and the end of our freakin’ LDR!
Yes, folks, it has been a whole year. Unbelievable, isn’t it?
I usually refuse to call it immigrating, because it sounds so permanent, but it is in fact the truth, because technically I am allowed to live here until the day I die.
If I think back to the days when I had to figure out which visa to get and for how long I was allowed to stay with my man, I am really relieved that those days are over and nobody can make me leave again.
I am also kind of glad that we decided to live in the US for now and deal with all the paperwork, because even if we decide to move back to Germany at some point, I won’t lose my GC as long as I enter the US at least once in any 12-months-period. Piece of cake! :) And also, gaining legal status in Germany will be much easier for J than it was for me to come here.
I’ve been through a lot of emotions this last year and I definitely do miss my sister, my parents, the rest of my family and my friends, but I know that I also had the once in a lifetime chance to come and live here and I am making the best of it :)
Happy Anniversary to me :)
Remember this post that I wrote not too long ago? I can only say, once again, good times always go by way too quickly.
The last two days with Kim and C were a blast. You probably want to know on which exciting adventures we went on Saturday and Sunday, but to be honest, we didn’t do much more than hang out, talk and enjoy each others’ company. This is what I expected when we went down to SoCal and that is exactly what we got… good company that I had been longing for for quite some time :)
C is a really, really nice guy [I am so glad we finally got to meet him] and we all got along so well that I just wish we could see each other and hang out more often. Since we were all a little hungover on Saturday, we slept in, had some breakfast, hung out on the couch and then later Kim and I went to TARGET together :) Knowing that we both are in love with this place, it was one the things we HAD TO DO. Unfortunately, we both didn’t think of taking a photo to prove it… but oh well, you just gotta believe us that we both were ecstatic :)
In the evening, we were supposed to meet C’s friend for dinner at a very good seafood restaurant. Unfortuntely, when we got there, we found out that there was “Buffet night” and since C is not really a big fan of seafood, we decided against it and went to Mimi’s Café instead. Not that I mind, because I love Mimi’s and I got me my “Caesar Salad and Jumbo Spinach Tortellini” -fix :)
Sunday, Kim and I went shopping some more… [bargain hunting on Thanksgiving weekend = priceless!] and at 5:30 p.m., after an early dinner at Chipotle Mexican Grill, J and I were picked up by a shuttle bus that took us back to the airport.
Damn, the weekend – granted, a long weekend! – went by way too fast, but I had a fabulous time and Kim, I can’t wait to see you again! Miss you already.
The last two days have been amazing. I can’t even start to tell you how much fun we’ve been having.
Kim and C picked us up at the airport on Thursday morning. Contrary to my expectations, traveling on Thanksgiving was a breeze. J and I had only packed carry-on to be on the safe side, but there were no lines at the check-in counter, no lines at the security gates and the flight to LAX left right on time. We even got into LA a little early.
We were welcomed by warm and breezy weather and seeing Kim after more than a year was just so, so awesome. It was the first time for me to finally meet C, but even that felt like the most normal thing in the world. The four of us hit it off right away.
We drove back to Long Beach, where we met C’s sister and then went out for some late lunch at the Harbor House Café on the Pacific Coast Highway. Yummy food. We hung out at a friend of C’s apartment for a little while before we went out to Thanksgiving Dinner.
J and I decided against the traditional turkey dinner and had steaks instead, but the food was yummy and the company was great. C’s sister had invited some other friends and we were a party of 9-10 people. We had some drinks at a bar after dinner and went home by 11 p.m.
Yesterday we spent the day just hanging out at C’s sister’s apartment and went out to an early dinner at “Super Mex Mexican Café”. We all indulged in the very good food and met with some of C’s old friends later. We did some warm-up drinking at home [C and his friend are huge Jägermeister-fans :)] and then headed off to “The Basement”, a club in Long Beach. Besides the fact that Kim was dying to hear “Ice Ice Baby” all night, the beer cost $6 per bottle and the DJ’s sucked at their job [they never finished a song or kept playing really bad remixes], we had a pretty good time and just enjoyed the good company :)
The only bummer: we got to the club at 11 p.m. and it closed at not even 2 a.m. = bad business, if you ask me ;) The fact that we were from Germany and that there, the party would just start around that time of night, did not really impress them and didn’t make them play at least ONE more song [preferably, of course, Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” :)].
Photos and more updates coming later…
“Time or distance cannot touch the friendship of the heart.“
– Unknown.
This one is going to be short, because we’re off to the airport…
I just wanted to wish all of you :
Tomorrow I am going to see my dear friend Kim for the first time in over a year.
Man, I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to this.
I usually manage pretty well not having any of my close girlfriends near by, but every once in a while it’s nice to be around someone who knows you very well and you can just be yourself and enjoy the good company.
Meeting new people is always fun, but it’s also a little exhausting at times, because you can’t really let go of your facade completely. You try to fit yourself into a personality that you think your vis-á-vis will like.
It’s not that I think that I am not likable as the person that I am, but you know how it is with new people when everybody is checking everybody else out.
This awkwardness won’t exist in the next couple of days. At least not for me and Kim and I really hope we’ll get some “girl time”, but I am also very excited to finally (!) meet her boyfriend C as well :) I think it’s about time!