Twitterpated

Well folks, I finally broke down and got a Twitter. Appalude or boo, your choice. But I don't care. I have a Twitter now and I do what I want (lol). This is something I have been pondering for some time, but I kept putting it off for a variety of reasons.

No:
1. Why on earth do I need one more reason to literally be glued to my computer and phone?!
2. It's just a version of Facebook, why would I need it?
3. I am going to end up posting stupid tweets like every five seconds... I can't hold so much power in my hands!

Yes:
1. Well, so many people have one. I should get in the loop!
2. It's just one more way to provide a great way to communicate between my family and friends and me while I am gone.
3. I really want one! It looks so fancy!

So as you can see, my "yes" catergory is reaaally lacking. That is why I took so long to finally decide on getting one. I'm pretty sure I won't be regretting getting an account with Twitter anytime soon. I was right: so fancy! Yet so brilliantly simple.

Now what? Well isn't it obvious? Follow me (Pleeeeease)! My username is ashmarmot. Now lovely friends and family you have one more way to keep up on your world traveler!

The Countdown Begins

Three weeks. Never has this amount of time ever thrilled me and scared me more than it does now. I leave for another country way sooner than I would like to admit. Germany is just upon my doorstep, and I find myself wondering where on earth did the last six months go?

Here are the thoughts bouncing around in my head....

1.Oh for the love of God what have I gotten myself into?
2. Yes, yes, yes!!! Only three more weeks!
3. I have way too much left to do! I am never going to get it all done... crap, crap, crap!
4. When I get there I am going to do this and that....
5. Seriously. The list. It's way too much to do.
6. La, la, la, I get to have my own room.... with a door!
7. I'm not going to have carpet. My toes will be so lonely.
8. I finally will be fulfilling one of my childhood dreams!
9. I am going to miss my friends and family so much.
10. Oooo I can't wait to meet a hot German man!

That's just a few of them... you would laugh at how ridiculous some of them get. But a lot of them are legitimate. Which makes sense! I would kind of be worried if I wasn't freaking out. Who wouldn't be freaking out as it slowly hits them that they will be living in another country for a year? And so I let myself freak out, but I rein it back in when I get a little too loony (number 7 case in point).

My re-purposed history notebook.

 I am sure you are wondering what the "list" I referred to is. Well, I took one of my extra spiral notebooks and turned it into my "Germany Notebook", so original. It has everything from To-do lists to multiple packing lists (And everything else you could possibly think of). I tend to be an  over-prepared, over-packer. Which has it's wonderful qualities up until you are fighting with a flight attendant about how much your suitcase "actually" weighs....

I have to admit I have been a bit of a slacker when it has come to my list. It's just so overwhelming running a bunch of errands (nothing like yelling at Wells Fargo for messing things up with my account), talking on the phone (something I really loathe), buying things (Okay yes, shopping is not so bad. It's when money enters the equation that I want to cry), starting to take apart my room and pack, and so much more.

What kills me the most is disassembling my room. It's two years of memories and love on my part and it's tough to part with it. I also dread looking at empty walls, shelves, and furniture tops for the next three weeks.

My unconventional "headboard" above my murphy bed.

My workspace. I can hardly see the desktops either.

The idea of sorting everything into "take" and "don't take" is daunting. What do you pack for a year of life?! I shouldn't over think this, but as usual I am. I look at each piece of clothing and go "how could I not wear you for a year?" Or even tougher: my books. It's like asking me which eyeball I want to take with me. Duh! All of them! But, alas I can't take them all (but thankfully I will be taking both of my eyes).

Tying up loose ends like car insurance, where to store my car, my cell phone, the bank, etc. is driving me up a creek as well. I would rather tackle a hungry bear at this point. But it has to get done.

I am slowly picking away at these tasks, if not even completely avoiding them; choosing to be an A+ online student buried in her homework and friend obsessed. But now as the three week marker has come and as September is surely to follow, I realize that I have very little time. It's time to get this show on the road!

I will keep you posted on the way my list is shaping up. It will get done, give or take a few things. But of course the important things will get done no matter what! To those of you who see me on a frequent basis: please feel free to encourage me! I need to beat up my need to procrastinate. So definitely nag me (in a loving way please).

I leave you now to go freak out and celebrate some more.

Deutsch Klasse

I started "Summer school shopping" in May. I had known since March that I would need to find a German class to show the Au Pair agency and the German government that I was interested in Germany and their language. It's one of the qualifications to be an au pair there. But I waited till May since that is typically when school start posting up their Summer school courses. Silly naive me, I thought it would be as easy as signing up at Long Beach City College and then being done with it. But of course it was about as simple as putting together furniture from Ikea.

Turns out because of budget cuts, the Summer language courses had really taken a hit and very few community colleges had any language classes at all. And what was typically offered was Spanish or French, neither being at all helpful to my search. I finally found a school that offered it, and I got so excited. Then I got really bummed. It was like three hours away. No way I was gunna make that drive.

Panic was beginning to creep up on me. All I could think was, "Crap, crap, crap, why didn't I realize this would happen?! I'm never going to find a class and then what the heck will I tell my German family? *ahhhhhhh*" After much moaning and groaning how I was doomed,  I continued my search.

One of the last schools I looked at was Cerritos. Considering how close it to Long Beach you are probably wondering why I didn't check that first. Funny thing is I have no clue. Apparently I had lost all sense of logic at that moment. But, point is I finally checked out their classes. And guess what? They had one German class! I just about died of happiness. Then I realized the class, and it's waiting list were already full. I groaned and proceeded to pout like the five year old that I am.

After pouting, I acted my age and emailed the teacher explaining to her the situation. I even told her I was fine with taking the class without it even counting for units. I was desperate. She emailed me back about a week later and told me we would work something out if I never was able to enroll in the class. She also told me to be there the first day of class. I felt much, much better after that. I just had to wait until the first week of July to find out my fate.

The first week of July rolled around much faster than I wanted. By starting this class I knew I would be giving up my social life. It was Monday through Thursday from 6 to 9:30 p.m. So six weeks of no evenings and then count all the time spent doing homework and studying. Hence, no social life. Well there was a little one, just really wimpy to what I'm used to...

I got to Cerritos College, which is actually right on the border of Norwalk and Cerritos, and immediately found myself missing LBCC. Now, I am not one for school spirit/pride and all that hoop-la (even in high school, shocking I know). But I realized then how much I adored my school, even though I rag on it all the time. There is something so nice about the way LBCC is laid out and the buildings all have this cohesive feel, and all the nice lawn and trees, and the bunnies (oh how I adore the bunnies). Cerritos has a weird layout and is a mish mash of buildings that were definitely built over a series of decades. And there are no exotic wildlife.

I got to class and was quite surprised. Ten people didn't show up so everyone on the wait list and the petitioner (me) got enrolled in the class. I was so ecstatic!

My teacher, Frau Potter, is a native German. (Don't let her last name fool you, she married a British man). She is quite the character. She has such a dry humor, a matter of fact sense about her, and deep sense of joy. You can tell she loves to teach and really has her students best interest in mind. God really blessed me with her. Frau Potter definitely is what I needed to learn German. I would most definitely recommend her if you are looking to take a German class!

My classmates. What can I say? They were quite the odd grouping. Definitely kept class interesting. I made friends with a girl named Martha. She is such a sweet girl and it was great getting to know her.

Class was so fast paced. A vocab test and a chapter test each week. Along with homework every night. I definitely was given a run for my money. But after the doom that was my last semester I knew I was going to try my absolute hardest to throw myself into this class. Also knowing that I would be needing this language come September was a really big motivator. As predicted, my social life died very quickly (Sorry to my wonderful friends and family, I was kinda up to my eyeballs in German vocab cards. I will make it up to you these next five weeks!).

As class went along I began to really enjoy myself. And I started to like certain things about Cerritos' campus (my loyalty still lies with LBCC of course). They have a wonderful library with high ceilings and really cool little areas to study. They also have multiple parking lots so your classroom in never three million miles away from where you park (which was really nice since it was dark when I walked back to my car each night). The also have parking stickers to put on your window. LBCC, you should be taking notes...

The end of class came last Thursday when I took my final. I felt so satisfied, but at the same time was left wanting more. I wanted to keep learning, and to have the motivation of knowing that I had a test every Monday and Thursday. But at the same time it felt so great to be done. I know I tried my best, and whatever grade that was to come my way was well deserved. I figured I would get a B based on my test and homework scores. Well, I have always been bad at math, and thus I was wrong about my grade. They were posted last night and guess what. I got an A!!! I am so proud of myself. If only each semester I was able devote myself to only one class and feel this great afterwards.

I always thought I would hate taking Summer school and that it would really stress me out. I still think that to be quite true, but there is wiggle room in that thought now. If I take a class that will be enjoyable and something that I will throw myself into, then I won't hate it. And though I will be stressed, it will be worth it. But I must admit, if I had taken this class in Summers past I wouldn't have been able to handle it. I guess this is just one of those moments when you realize how much you have changed without even noticing.

To Infinity and Beyond!

Back in 1995 Toy Story came out in theaters. Pause. 1995?! Ohhh man do I feel old and young all at once. I don't remember being that young when it came it out; I could have sworn I was at least nine, but I was only four. Four! I digress. One could argue that the most famous line in that movie is "To infinity, and beyond!" Every superhero/action figure has his catch phrase, and Buzz Lightyear is no exception. It's a great phrase to yell because it fits a ridiculous variety of situations. For example: "Let's go to pizza." "Where?" "Deli News sounds good." *walking to the car* "Awesome. I love Deli News. To infinity, and beyond!" Really bad example, but you get the idea don't you?! I know, I can hear you disagreement from over here. Don't you get sassy with me!

Why am I bringing up Buzz Lightyear and his catchy catch phrase? Well, I think it fits quite well with my feelings today. I got my passport today! Finally. And I feel as if I could travel anywhere in the world. Oh, that's right. I can. Hehehe. My delight knows no bounds in this regard.

Let me tell you the saga of my passport and why I am so stoked to have it in my hot little hands.

Back in May I knew that I needed to start the fun that is applying for a passport so I could give myself plenty of time to wait for it to come in the mail. On average it takes four to six weeks to get back to you, but often it can take even longer. Knowing my luck, I wanted to give myself a wide berth of time before I needed my passport in September.

So I printed out the application and filled it out. That's when I realized I needed my birth certificate. Uh-oh, I didn't have my own copy, my mom did. She wanted to keep it, so I had to get my own. Which would seem simple and easy, but no, not for me. I had to go through Sacramento, not Long Beach, because I am legally adopted by my Stepdad. So I had to fill out paperwork to get my birth certificate, send that off, and just wait. It came at the end of June. But by then, a couple problems had arisen.

First off, I didn't have any extra cash to buy a passport. So I would have to wait until I did, which would narrow the amount of time for my passport to process. Secondly, Christiane (my German mom) emailed me some forms that I need to fill out for the au pair agency. One of the things they needed was a copy of my passport. Which meant I would need to find the money to get the passport a little faster than I had expected.

July flew by and I found myself without a passport and with the paperwork incomplete. (So much for a wide berth of time right?!). A nagging feeling of doom had descended upon me. Mind you, this was only last week. Being the basket case that I am, I was so worried that I wouldn't get the paperwork mailed in time and my passport wouldn't come... the thoughts spiraled from there. My friend Amber told me about a passport agency in Santa Monica that helped rush passports. This was to be my solution.

I drove out to Santa Monica, to Ambassador Passport and Visa Services, with all my papers and documents. Geez, was I impressed by them. I totally recommend them to you; they were so professional and nice. And they got the job done. I went in on a Wednesday and got my passport on a Tuesday. Bravo.

I'm sure you are thinking, 'Ashley, I thought you didn't have extra money for this and I am sure this rush delivery cost you a bundle!' Yeah, I know. Well here's your answer: I was able to get a bit a money for this because God really knows how to provide for me. It's amazing how I some how get just enough money to pay for something. God is good. The 48 hour rush delivery is not as much as you would expect (it's the 24 hour delivery that costs you an arm and a leg). But it was still painful for me to fork out the money. This was worth it though.

Today I picked up my passport. Well, technically yesterday since it is past midnight now. Technicalities. I was so stoked to go and get it. I had to brave the nasty hour-ish drive for the third time in a week, and I have found a new appreciation for all the lovely people that have to commute that far to work everyday. Let me tell you, holding that passport in my hands made me super proud to be American. I am not super patriotic (I save it up for the 4th of July) but I have my moments. This is one of them. You know that swelling/soaring in the heart feeling? Definitely got that for a few minutes.

I pretty much skipped/ran from the Ambassador office to my car. Once I got in it, I inspected the passport. It just so surreal that I have it. Ever since I was little I have dreamed of traveling to distant countries and just soaking up world culture. Now I can. A little blue book allows me to leave this country whenever the frick I feel like it. I could just hop on a plane right now and go anywhere. That is truly a freeing feeling. I can go anywhere. To infinity and beyond!