Nothing has changed!

So this isn't true obviously, but it was one of our mottos and it is true in a lot of ways. Like how my mom will still complain about work a lot, and my cat will still pee on the carpet. It's probably too soon to say what has changed, well it definitely is, but I know that there will be things. It's already a little weird not to have my car.

More people texted me that I expected so that was nice. Checking in on how the trip was. And Kayli asking if i was available this Shabbos because she didn't know about the trip even though I am sure we talked about it when I saw her a few weeks ago. People can be funny. I still feel in a tired fog, but also a pleasant, reverse culture shock-y fog. Like I feel a bit separate and different, that feeling that you hope will stay even though you know it will settle. But it is worthwhile to recognize it and hold on to the thoughts and perspectives that you get out of it, so when I'm well rested, that will be my focus. Also finding work to replenish my finances and get me moving on an apartment. 

My dad liked his magnet! Actually I don't know if I've ever gotten such a reaction from him, but maybe he was just surprised I got something at all. He even said he has some metal cabinets at work to put it on, which is funny and nice because every tchachke type thing I've ever gotten him in the hopes that he would put it on his desk has sat in his bedroom (like a 10 year old stuff dog that says "World's Greatest Dad" or whatever)

It was strangely unceremonious saying goodbye to you today, but I wasn't sure how to change it. I guess I know that I will talk to you soon and see you soon and write in here too. But I will say that it was wonderful traveling with you and I am SO glad we did it. I was so lucky to have you to be organized and plan and have a Barclay's folder and eat pastries with me and laugh at the Queen's hobbies and all the crazy stuff. I feel very lucky to have a friend that I can do something crazy and amazing with. <3

I went home and ate sushi that my mom had bought for me. I want to be able to say it had nothing on Denmark sushi because that's the fancy traveler thing to say, but it was actually really good, despite coming from a supermarket. I feel like I need to update you as if you are my journal now. The show must go on!!!

Do you ever have a movie stuck in your head? I have that with Chocolat. Like I keep catching glimpses of it that I can't quite place and it's messing with my brain considering it's mixing with the tired fog. I also keep walking around as if I've forgotten something. It's unsettling. My mom loved the almonds and the delicious chocolate croissant, but we have yet to try to little petit four chocolates. I'll let you know. She actually bought an array of Shabbos food to give me the choice today. So I was able to choose meat after all. I had an apple to feel a little better about diet stuff. Surely, this changes everything. 

I will upload photos over the weekend, and I'll see if they can go into Dropbox. My guess is there will be too many, but we'll see. There are other ways. We can always zip it and do Yousendit or one of those. It takes a long time to download, but you get the original files that way as far as I know. I hope you had some nice quality time with Sid, that you're still awake, and that it's nice being back with your mother. I hope she isn't telling you about how much she had to do in your absence, and I hope everything for Sunday is underway! Talk to you soon. I shall miss you tonight if I'm conscious. 

Like I was receiving one not like I was one

I had a pretty good day where I got to have lots of great conversations with people then I came back home to a huge bug in my room which my uncle tried to kill but it fled before he could get to it. Then I found a mosquito in my room (which would explain the random bites I have been receiving) and managed to kill it so its been a pretty traumatizing night bug wise and I'm kind of in that weird state where I feel itchy all over.

Anyways, errands sound fun...I always think to myself how I put off doing so many errands like getting a hair cut or picking up dry cleaning and it would be so nice to just have someone do it for me. So Im sure the woman you are doing the errands for definitely appreciates it. How is being with Hannahbear? She sounds adorable as always and I know you always enjoy your time with her so thats awesome  you get to have that extra week you didn't realize you had with her. Definitely don't blame you for the not being on your computer thing, hell I do that even when my sister and Sridhar(that's my brother in law's name I don't know why I never use his name and always refer to him as brother-in-law when its so much easier to just type Sridhar).

My weekend was busy and exhausting in good and bad ways. Friday was a religious holiday which was stressful because this is the one main one of the year and my mom always goes a little overboard on the preparations for it. Of course I had goodbye drinks for a friend of mine at work on Thursday so i couldnt come home super early which cause some pains with my mom but we got through it. It's hard this whole balancing priorities thing. Like yes I want to be there for my mom and help her when she needs it but these were goodbye drinks and I really don't know when I will see this person again. And my mom really could have simplified things for herself but she wanted everything done a specific way which caused a lot more stress. Obviously its great she takes such an interest in these things and enjoys doing it but yea I dont know I feel like Im talking in circles at this point. Its just hard this whole growing pains thing. But I really do think I need to start coming a bit stronger on what I want to do and be ok with my choices and not have to justify it to anyone including my mom.

In any case after getting through that Friday wasn't so bad, it was mostly relaxing then my sister came in the night. Sat was move in day which was the physically exhausting part. We managed to get all my stuff (which was not really all that much) up there in about 1.5 hrs and then had the rest of the day to assemble stuff.  I took everyone out for lunch and they all kept joking that the day was sponsored by me so they should enjoy it while it lasts and kept asking me questions like is ice cream included in the package? Is a horse carriage ride through central park included? In the end they got the ice cream, the horse will have to wait another day. We were able to finish moving and assembling around 4 so we had a couple hours just to roam around central park which was great. I'm definitely going to enjoy living right by it.

Sunday was another religious holiday, I didn't really participate in food prep because I got kind of faint/dehydrated from the day before but eventually I was fine and was able to participate in the eating part.

Other updates:
--> I thought my final round for the essay place was Wed because Im meeting with the head of the group, but it turns out there might be one after where I have to meet the CEO. Like seriously 5 rounds?! Should I perform a gymnastics routine at the end to top it off? Either way I hope it goes well.

--> Exciting on your memory foam topper! The mattress I bought for my apt is memory foam and I liked it when I took it out of the box I hope I still like it when I sleep in it!

--> I need a new calendar. True story.

--> So exciting about Shua starting medical school!

I've been listening to more podcasts and Im in love. Im not sure how normal NPR is but the NPR I listen to is called Ted hour radio where they discuss a few ted talks related to the same topic.  Maybe I can put a few on my ipod to listen to during the flight.  Speaking of....

TRIP TALK!

I seriously cannot believe its next week that really snuck up on me. Also along the same lines I did not make it to the currency exchange today, its one of those things where its literally right across the street so I keep thinking I can go whenever and then I never end up going but I will make it tomm! I have a volunteer event in Brooklyn so im not really working in any case. I really need to get working on that to do list of ours. I keep thinking I have all weekend to do everything but I know that won't be enough time and I will freak out so I want to have as much looked up and planned as possible to avoid chaos. But Im sure things will be great!

As for food stuff I realized I have some quinoa at home that I can just put in a ziploc bag but either way Ill make a trip to Trader Joes this weekend to pick up some more stuff.

For some reason I feel like we've been talking about this for so long that now that its almost here I can't think of anything else I want to say about it. I did want to tell you though that this girl im friends with on facebook is currently in Norway with her boyfriend and they both were wearing jackets/northface type things and it was raining so I would definitely pack the rain jacket. My sister gave me hers along with her backpack so that makes my life a lot easier. Need to get packing.

Ok thats pretty much all thats me right now, but hope to hear your voice soon! We should have a trip related call before the end of this week if you can to tie up any loose ends. I will print things on wednesday.

A brief update and a not very exciting title

I thought I was going to post during my fast on Tuesday, but then a. I was out SHOPPING until after 4pm and b. We spoke Tuesday night, so it rendered me posting mostly moot. Since then I've been kind of busy actually.

As I mentioned, I started workingish for a woman, being paid to do errands, organize, help with computer stuff etc. So Wednesday morning, I ran a few of my own errands before going to work for this woman. Then I came home and got the house ready for Sabrina and the Hannahbear (Yay!) and was about to sit down to dinner when their flight landed early. I went to get them and then worked 9-12 yesterday and we went out to the pool for a brief period of time followed by- what else- errands. Today was mostly a stay in pajamas day, but when Hannah is here, I end up hardly being on my computer. Then my mom came home from food shopping and there was suddenly a lot of kitchen-related helping for me to do. Exciting stuff.

Hannahbear is delicious as always. She says really funny things and in the cutest voice. Today I was laying on the floor on my back with my knees up by my chest and she climbed onto my shins and said "giddyup!" She then ran away to find my sister's hat so she could truly be a cowboy. After bouncing her up and down for what seemed like eternity, I rested my legs on the ground. Her response? "Oh no! My horse broken!" So that made me laugh for a while. She also calls everything 'my' even when acknowledging it as someone else's (My Jenna's car, My Nana's phone...), which I find funny.

Other updates-

• I got a new mattress pad. It's memory foam, and I'm still deciding if I like it, but it makes my bed even taller. 
• I got to use my camera since the woman I'm working for wants help with her website, so I offered to take some pictures of her. 
• I changed my calendar. True story.
• Shua started med school and had his white coat ceremony. This isn't a ME update, but he's been waiting so long for this and he's worked so hard that it's like I really feel genuinely full-hearted about the whole thing. Like when you watch a sports movie and the hero scores the goal!
• Sabrina and my mom are, as always, at odds with one another. Maybe this isn't an update...
• I made an appointment Monday morning at the Austrian consulate. It's possible it'll be a waste of time because of the whole Polish thing, but I figured the easiest way was just to go talk to someone. So that's cool and also I'm not sure at all what to expect. 

I hope you left the office today saying "FRIDAY IS OVER." It seems like a good way to leave every day to be honest, but if anything, Friday! Maybe even "This week is over". I like thinking of you standing up and declaring that to the office. And everyone would just stare at you as you grab your stuff and march out. Maybe people would jump up and join you. Maybe you stay later than most people. 

You know that I definitely understand about holding on to unnecessary things that don't even have a tremendous amount of sentimental value. I think it's Biff and Jamal by the way. I kinda thought I had taken one of those, but now that I think about it (Well, I don't have them) my mom probably demanded that I didn't. I do remember that Jamal used to wear a balloon named Henry on his head. Good times. 

I took your advice sort of and listened to NPR a little this week. I didn't come across anything interesting, but I'm going to keep giving it tries. Plus I know you were talking about the podcasts, so maybe when I start working again those will go on my ipod.

Congrats on outwitting the essay interview company. When is the final round? It's crazy that it's all so formal. I've probably told you this, but for my Fallon interview, apparently the woman gave deliberately vague instructions for how to get there to see who could figure it out for themselves. Luckily, I passed, but it really does seem silly to have people jump through hoops for a coffee/errands type of internship. I mean, seriously folks... This working well under pressure thing makes a lot more sense. My dad was telling me that he has to take this interviewing course every year and he hates it because it's always the same. But he said they teach those horrible questions "When was a time you had to confront an angry whatever..." all based on these strange scenarios rather than instinct. I get that it has to be a little more scientific, but I think instincts probably give you a better idea. 

TRIP TALK!

I'm so excited (again)! 

I keep thinking about the packing and hopefully it'll all work out, but the more I think about it, the more specific I get and that's helpful. I also was missing next week in my brain, so it seemed too soon and now I realized there is an extra week of Hannah. I hope the bags get here soon. I know that EARLIEST they won't come until mid-next week but I really want to see them. I'm happy with our decision. I returned all but my Lonely Planet books to the library. I also returned The Goldfinch again, because it was due, and decided that if I feel like it, I can finish it on my nook when it's not shabbos. It's just too much already. Won't it ever end??? I do like it most of the time actually, but it seriously won't END. 

Thank you for the last paragraph of your post. It was awesome and made me feel like a warm hug (like I was receiving one, not like I was one). You're right. You do know me pretty well. I guess I need to be better about thinking I still need to be careful not to say the wrong things about my close friends. Somehow I think I feel like if I say something too melodramatic or spiritual or political that my friends will decide they don't like me anymore. I mean, I know that's not true, consciously, but clearly I still censor. In any case, it seems like I'm not fooling anybody, or at least not you, since it hasn't stopped you from knowing who I am in any number of circumstances. A valuable lesson. 

Talk to you soon! <3

It's time for a pep talk

So I apologize that this is way more delayed than I had originally intended but I finally managed to get ready for bed early enough and am here now. Today when I left work I stood up and announced that Monday is Over, then I left. I imagine it was a dramatic exit (if anybody noticed), so I thought Id share that.

My weekend was mostly spent packing, going to Ikea ( not gonna lie it made me a little bit sad that we're not going to Sweden but then I got over it), and trying to get rid of a bunch of my stuff that I no longer need. It's funny how whenever I talk about all this stuff I have I'm always like ugh I don't need it and I never use it and it just takes up space and am generally blah about all of it. But when it came time to actually give/throw it away its suddenly like the stuff takes on a whole new meaning. Like the bulls I had from our freshman year ( Buff and...Jamal?), like deep down I knew that aside from those 5 seconds I was spending looking at them I never look at them or think about them or even remember I have them. But suddenly when it comes time to get rid of it I get incredibly nostalgic and don't want to let go. I was actually listening to this great podcast today on Happiness ( highly recommend podcasts by NPR-Ted talks, btw) and one of the guys who gave a Ted talk was this person who became a millionaire when he was 28 and then proceeded to spend a lot of his money buying stuff. But he realized that the more stuff he accumulated that none of it actually made him feel happy and it was actually liberating for him to renounce all of it and live in this 2000 sq ft ( i may have made that number up but its a small number) apartment. The guy on NPR radio (who's name was Guy heh) asked him about the whole nostalgia thing and he was just like, I may keep 1 or 2 things here and there and the rest I just take a picture of.  So that was interesting.

I had my 3rd round last week with the essay place and I went in on friday wearing a suit because my recruiter didn't have any real information about what I was to expect. It was casual friday at the office so I stuck out like a sore thumb but anyways it turned out the interview was another technical round where they basically gave me a bunch of vague info and a blank excel spreadsheet and asked me to create a valuation (nothing remotely close to anything Iv ever done before). So as she was explaining it to me I tried to stay calm and then once she left I proceeded to panic, convince myself the job wasn't for me, and contemplate getting up and running out. After I got over my panic, I eventually managed to put something together. I think I also realized the more I went through it that the exercise was intended to make me panic and their objective was to see how I handled stressful situations and such. So that was sneaky. In any case, whatever I came up with must have been good because they told me I did great and my final round is next week so Im really excited for that.

As for my current work stuff nothing has really changed and its actually quite a miserable situation to have to go in everyday and not have anything to work on. The sad part is my manager knows and wants to help but unfortunately can't because of higher ups who just cannot make up their minds as to the status of our projects. So that's that. Lets just say Im really glad vacation is soon...

TRIP TALKKK

So this portion is the main reason I really wanted to write this earlier because I just have to tell you that its totally ok and normal to feel overwhelmed and anxious. I sometimes start feeling that way too but what helps calm me down is realizing that we can have as much planned as we can but some things will just be beyond our control and we just have to be ok with that. Like yea I was really bummed about the whole Stavanger thing too (especially because when I told my sister we were going to Norway she was like make sure you take a picture on that rock!..and lo and behold the rock she was referring to is in Stavanger) but nonetheless its not like Stavanger is going anywhere and while we may not get to see it during this time there will be plenty of other opportunities to stop by (like say when you live in London,  I come visit you and we decide to go to Scotland). This also relates to this one Indian movie I watched where there's a scene where guy and girl are watching a sunset while touring a city and the guy is like cmon we have to go so we don't miss the light and sound show at this other place, and the girl is like but I like this sunset. He gets up to go, but she stops him and says you know there's always going to be something you're missing out on in life. Like its physically impossible to do everything and see everything and be everywhere. The best you can do in all that is try to enjoy what you have in front of you, because what you are currently experiencing can give you a lot more than worrying about all those things you missed out on. I'm sure there was a more succinct way I could have made that point but eh.
Also I get where you are coming from in that the more we book, the less flexibility we have but 1) we may be flexible but the trains/buses/planes may not be and 2) We will already have a lot of things to decide there like what hikes to take and where to rent bikes and what to eat that day so at that time we will be grateful for the things we had planned in advance. And if not well eh you live and you learn.
I think that's pretty much what I wanted to say there. There is no guarantee that everything will be perfect. Heck last year I booked a tour where pretty much every detail was planned for me and even then things were not perfect because I got sick, and people had conflicting opinions and so on. But instead of focusing on the million things that could possibly go wrong the best thing we can do for ourselves is think of everything that could go right.

Also please don't every hold back on writing or saying what you feel because you think it will bring the post down or I will feel bad. Ultimately this blog and this vacation are both of ours and we should be able to express ourselves properly in how we are feeling. Not just that I feel as though you forget that Ive known you for like 6 years now so Ive seen a lot of what is Jenna.

You know where to find me

... is the last thing a character on Suits just said, but it seemed to fit well enough for me to not have to think of anything else. You know where to find me if you want that pizza again! No schemes necessary (though that would be fun).

The rally was pretty good. I mean it's kind of one of those things where saying "good" doesn't really convey the right sentiment, but it was well-attended (They say over 15,000 people) so that's a good strong showing. But they barely mentioned it on the news, nor the several in Chicago, DC or anywhere else. It's hard to feel like you're making a difference when things are only covered on websites that agreed with you in the first place. I read something once about relating to tragedy. I don't remember what it was about really, but I remember the most poignant point of it which was this: If you hear about a plane crash with 230 people on board, you say "That's horrible" or "That's so sad," but if you hear that a plane crashed with 230 New Yorkers (I use new yorkers because it's something we can both relate to, but the original used Jews), suddenly that really hurts. So yeah, when you feel it as real people and real situations, it really hurts.

Anyway, my feelings are numerous, so I'll leave it at that for now. I already talked to you about The Singles Project and have no new updates on that. Has anything changed with your work stuff? It sounds like a confusing situation. It's good that you feel comfortable going to your manager for clarification. Was he able to help? It must also feel a little more complicated because of getting ready to move on and now getting caught up in something more serious and formal here. I think you're right to just roll with what comes, but it does seem overwhelming, so I get it.

TRIPPPP TALLKKKK:

So in the same vein of overwhelming feelings, I think I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed about the trip. I've been anxious in general this week, and I can't quite put my finger on why, so it might just be carrying over. I'm super excited and in my head, it all seems easy and makes sense. But when I start seeing it on paper, it feels like whoa. I guess I'm nervous that there are things we're not going to get to, like Stavanger, and the more we book, the less flexibility we have to change our plan. Which is a good thing, I know. It's good we booked the flight from Bergen, for example. But I wonder if we hadn't, if we could have figured out some way to get to Stavanger. Except on the other hand, every day we try to fit in something new is less time somewhere else. And what if we find we wish we'd had more time in Copenhagen. How do we know if it's worth it to go to Odense? I know that it will all be great, because whatever we do will be amazing and there is really no wrong answer, I just needed to say it because it's how I'm feeling and that's kind of the point of this. I also want to make sure we're not running around so much or on so many trains that we don't have time to breathe and enjoy.

I feel like all my feelings are bringing this post down so I'm going to bid you a good night and a good Owen Wilson.

Na na na na nanananananananana...talk TRIP to me.

A happy Owen Wilson to you! I thought you should know that I've been thinking nonstop about that potato pizza. I've dreamed up ways to recreate it.I've thought of excuses for me to be in the neighborhood again.  I've come up with elaborate schemes involving traps to casually run into it again.  Maybe I'm hyping it up in my head and it wasn't really THAT good. But I think it really was.

How was your rally? It's crazy to think how helpless everyone here must feel with everything going on overseas. And also how it all kind of seems like a convoluted story when you're just reading about it on the news or watching it on TV. Like you're so used to this type of stuff being dramatized in books and movies that you again become desensitized to it in a way. But when you think about it being real people and real situations and lives it's just so awful and unbelievable.

On a different note, what happened with the Singles Project job thing? I'm not sure if you told me there was some sort of timeline with you deciding, or meeting someone about it but I was thinking about it today and it seemed like a really cool show that I would watch. I keep imagining an MTV show, like you know the one where they have a person and they meet 3 people in a truck and then decide to go on a date with them? Or like millionaire matchmaker. I'm sure this is neither so it makes me all the more interested to find out what it is.

This week has been really strange for me so far. The only way I can think to describe it is it feels like I'm in the eye of the hurricane. Like the past couple weeks all these things have been going on and Ive been overwhelmed yet excited and struggling to keep up with everything, but this week just seems a bit slow. Things are still happening (like our exciting trip planning), but I don't know it just seems a bit off. Like even how it was strangely chilly today which makes no sense for a day in July. That was just off. I really wish I had a less vague way of describing how I feel.

So in my current job, last week my VP basically gave me the chance to move to a different part of my team and work on new projects which I was really excited to hear because even though I do want to move on to a new company it's also really frustrating at work right now not having much to do so this would at least give me the chance to make myself useful. Today I met with the woman who would be my new manager (for all the new projects), and I was expecting it to be like a semi-training session with her telling me all the new stuff I would be working on, but it was actually like this really weird interview session where she kept telling me this wasn't a sure thing but she liked my background so she would meet with other people and see what she could do. So that really threw me off, I told my manager and he said he would look into it but it threw me off because I just thought it wouldn't be too much of a change but I would just get more work, whereas now it seems like working for the same company just doing a completely different job and starting from square 1 on a new team where I don't even want a real future. So that makes things a lot more complicated and annoying. Either way I know in these times I should be patient and see what plays out, so will keep you posted on that.

nah nah nah nah TRIP TALK:

So it seems a bit pointless to do this since we are pretty much constantly talking about this anyways but I think something we should do (maybe on the phone this sunday?) is make a packing list. Next weekend I'll be busy moving (and I have 2 religious holidays, 1 on friday and 1 on sunday) so I feel like this is our last real weekend to have everything down. I also think we should think about booking the in between trains and boats for the fjords because if its through nsb.no, those things do sell out. I know a lot of people say planning is the most fun part but I'm honestly really excited to get there and start experiencing things. Also, note to self (and to you), must get tons of sleep and relax the weekend before we leave to make sure our health is tip-top before leaving for our trip.

I haven't really figured out how I'm going to get to the airport yet on the Tuesday we leave, I can either work from home and drive to you (which may make more sense in terms of coming back home), or go to work and take the subway to JFK.

Have you heard anything else from Mette at all? I still need to plan out Denmark a little bit more but its always easier with cities when we can just bike places. I wish I had a bike at home so I can reassure myself that I know how to ride a bike.

I totally agree with you on the getting to see how people live in other places being the best part of travelling. If there's one thing I got from my Euro trip last year is that cities worldwide may be similar (lots of hustle and bustle, buildings, people), but the way people live in them is so completely different. Like in Madrid, how there are all these old streets in the middle and then in the outskirts its like these big office building. And how the people can go work in those big office buildings and do the whole corporate life thing similar to say NYC, and then go watch a bull fight (aka watch a bull get slaughtered) on the weekend like its the most normal thing in the world.
I like seeing the sights and learning the history, Id say my favorite is looking at nature or just awesome amazing things in general. I think I see sights mainly because I never want to go to a place and miss out on of the essential things about that place.

On the job front, my recruiter sent me a role again today which was similar to the one I rejected last week and normally I just go for it because its good interviewing experience, and its also a way to learn more about a different organization yadda yadda, but I think Ive finally made it to  place in my job search where Im kind of sick of going through all these motions and just want something thats right to work out. I have faith that it will work out, and that it will work out at the right time, but I can't say its easy watching other people move on while I just have to wait my turn.

I'm not sure its about being picky though. Like ok yes on a basic level it is because we can afford to not have to take the first job thats offered to us. But beyond that level I feel like its just knowing what is right for you and having the ability to go after that.

You should definitely use the 5 years question, I feel its adaptable to any interview anywhere. If I'm feeling really hardcore I will ask, Where do you see this company (or role/team) in 5 years and how can I help you get there?

I sometimes wish my job was coaching other people how to get the jobs they want. Or just things they want in life. I feel I would make a good life coach if I knew my clients well.

Denmark can come too!

Good Owen Wilson! I planned to post yesterday but I ended up going to this networking event in Union Square. It was absurdly crowded and probably pointless since it was mostly young jobseekers like myself. But I guess you never know when those connections might turn into something helpful. Anyway, I kept myself there even after a friend of mine left because I had already gone to the trouble of going and paying the cover so I might as well make the most, and I ended up staying until about 9:30 and then chatting with another friend on the street for another 15 minutes. So it was useful in that sense and good to see people.

I went to get back on the R which was supposedly coming in 2 minutes. Only it hadn't come 25 minutes later. So I gave up and decided on the 6 to the E. Except when I got to 53rd and Lex, the E was closed off. No Es at this station tonight. Now none of the FastTrack signs said anything about the E and the R and the guy in the station was saying I should go to the R, which I knew wasn't going to happen. So I went back and waited for the 6 again and took it to 59th and walked to 63rd where there is an F. Except the F wasn't running either. It was so crazy I didn't know what to do and it was already 11 at this point. I think there was a way I could've taken the Q part way and then transferred but considering no one knew what was going on, I didn't want to get stuck in the middle of nowhere. So I took a cab back down to Penn and took the train. I got home around 12:30. It was nuts.

So naturally, I was pretty exhausted and didn't post.

nah nah nah nah nah TRIP TALK:

It's true we've been talking a lot about Norway. I think there a few reasons for this. 1. It's happening first. 2. Mette will be with us at least part of the time in Denmark, so even though we should still do our own research on what we want to do I guess, I've still kind of had this feeling like it's taken care of. 3. Norway was your suggestion in the first place and I had never really thought about it before so a. I wanted to make sure we got to as much of what you'd have wanted to do as possible and b. I had to do research to learn more about it and what's good to visit there.

But I've looked into Denmark a little more and there's actually a whole Visit Aarhus website. And there's this museum there with a giant rainbow hallway on the roof which looks awesome. (also in that link: the pronunciation of Aarhus) I wonder if that's what Mette meant when she said she would take us to their museum. I was reading about all the different areas too. I keep forgetting it's a fairly major city with it's own separate identity. I love getting into the mindset of thinking of these places as where people live and thrive and even where they move to as young adults out of college. Getting to see how people live in other places is one of my favorite thing about traveling. It's a large part of the reason why I really want to LIVE somewhere else for a while rather than just visit and see the tourist sights, but seeing the sights is essential too!

I found an adapter laying around and there are probably more around here too though they're for Israel so I don't know how useful they will be now that I think of it. But yeah, something like the rice cooker I was think might have a voltage issue. I have no idea, but I was just thinking that. I'm glad you're into the Airbnb idea. I think it'll be a cool experience. Weirdly, my mom has never heard of it. I just feel like they are so present on talk shows and news and the internet.

Sounds like you had one hell of an interview. It's good that at least you were able to really rule it out. Sometimes when I think a job is not what I want, a voice in my head says "Yeah but you're just saying that because you don't want to deal with budgets or managerial work blah blah" and somehow it makes sense when the voice says it. But now that I type it, it actually seems like a legitimate reason to not take a job. Like no, I don't necessarily want a full time coordinator job, and at this point I guess I can be a little picky. I'm lucky to be in that position so why not take advantage. Anyway, back to you.

It's super weird that that guy said "nonexistant." That's a good question by the way. I 'll probably steal that and adapt it to TV. You did not tell me about these essays (I don't think?) but that sounds crazy. The fact that they called you back must feel good though since it was just "Oh we'll be in touch." They really must see promise in you. How did it go?

Congrats on your VPs giving you more responsibilities! Did you start that yet? It's still a confusing time in life, but at least it's confusing because there are a lot of good things in your orbit. I feel similarly since I'm in the middle of two job searches, trip planning, and a potential future apartment search. Having all that on the brain can be tiring, but it's all in the name of adventure and progress. Got to go help out my mother and try to get my room cleaned up a bit for you. See you Sunday!

Norwegian Recycling

TRIP TALK:

So the comment about the norwegian recycling made me laugh and also then think that it was a great idea. I've been meaning to see if he has any new stuff out in any case. Ok so WOOHOOO we are booked! It's funny we ended up booking the same flight we were tracking for a week but Im glad it didn't sell out and we were able to make it out to be a 1000. I forwarded the itinerary to my parents and my dad was like I thought 700 was an excellent price for 2 people until I realized it was only way.
So now we aren't just definitely coming home we are also definitely going there. I hope my life makes a little bit more sense by then but eh who knows Im kind of also enjoying life not making sense at the moment (more on that later in the post).

I love the whole two awesome jet-setters making our way. This trip is so very different from my trip last year because its not a tour and everything isn't planned for me. That is probably also why I'm a little bit more stressed about it ( in a good way) because I want to make sure we cover all our bases. That and like I said before my mom pretty much just trained me to be this way, because she always planned everything out and because of that we had minimal setbacks during our vacations so that was nice. I think if there is one thing I learned from last year's trip though is that some things you just can't control and have to go with it. Last time it was getting sick, it was awful but hey I still made it (which reminds me we should pack some vitamin c and medicine just in case otherwise know how to say tylenol in norwegian). Ditto for the weather thing.You feel like we keep only talking about the Norway part of our trip and not the Denmark part? I feel like Denmark feels left out.

I may be overwhelming on Sunday but I think we will figure out a style that works best for us and it will be great. Should I still come and have lunch or just eat at home then come? I think also with the fjords and everything we will probably need some time to just kind of stare anyways. I may not be making any sense for which I apologize, I thought about waiting till tomorrow to write this but I figured eh Im here might as well.

I think I may have some adapters lying around but if not we can always get off amazon. When you said transformers I thought you were making a joke but I think there is actually something that changes the voltage on certain things. I don't think we will need it since phones usually work in both, but if we plan on carrying other appliances we may need it.

I am definitely not opposed to the Airbnb thing, im all about having new experiences on this trip so as long as we are safe I am down! We can look more into that on Sunday.

I'm glad you enjoyed my story about the shower, I was thinking that its a little silly to write the whole thing down but I wanted to tell you so I did. They did not make a hat but they did make a bouquet out of all the ribbons so that was nice ( I was amazed by that as well). I totally see where you're coming from with the idea of a wedding sounding unappealing. I'm not sure I feel quite so strongly about it but at the end of the day I was telling my friend how stressed out I would get if it was my shower because I would feel personally responsible that everyone had a good time.  Also the shower for me would be completely optional since thats more of an american thing, but I had fun so I would want others to as well.

In other news I had an interview today. I had an inkling that I may not want this job but for some reason I decided to go on the interview anyways (i mean its still good practice i guess) and going on it solidified that I didnt want the job so that was good. The role itself I knew I wouldnt like and the people were kind of negative because they kept bad mouthing the systems they worked with. That and I asked one of the guys "Where do you see this team in 5 years?" and he went "Nonexistent" so that was a new one. I could write a book on this stuff.

I have another one tomorrow which is for the company that made me write 4 essays when I first went in (did I tell you about this?). Originally my second round for them was cancelled because they already filled the roles but apparently something opened up so they called my recruiter again and asked for me so thats good I guess? I'm not sure, I'm going into it with an open mind and we will see what happens.

To add to all this chaos, I had a meeting at work today with my two VP's who told me that they would like to me to move into a different part of my team since the projects Im working on are on hold. This is great because 1. I will actually have work to do now and 2. Ill get to learn something new and get a new experience and basically get to have a whole new job in my current job.

So with all this Im kind of just going with the flow and seeing what happens. I still haven't heard a final yes or no for the job I interviewed for with my director. According to my recruiter they liked me but they don't know if they have the right role for me since I still don't have that much experience which is a valid point.

It will be interesting to see how all of this ends up but for now I'm just kind of enjoying the ride (what am I not enjoying is the subway rides downtown for interviews. Why is downtown so far?)

Ok and with that I bid you an Owen Wilson.

It really depends on the movie

TRIP TALK:

I agree that this has lost some of it's magic and intrigue, but that's good because when we started talking about it in real life it made it seem more real. You know, like real life? WE'RE BOOKED WOOOOOOO! So exciting we are officially going. Just two awesome jet-setters making our way. I hope this is forever how I see myself.

Seriously, though I am very excited that we are booked and only a little bit nervous about how overwhelming you're about to be on Sunday. Woohoo! We'll probably spend most of the time figuring out the stupid, non-user friendly train websites. Damn Norwegian train people. I feel like I should load up my ipod with Norwegian Recycling Mash-ups to get pumped. Not that I really need the help. It'll be good to solidify our schedule a little more and give Mette an official report of when we'll be there so that she can figure out when she needs to take off. I do think we should keep in mind though that it could be rainy and some of these things may need to be weather permitting. We'll see. I also think (and maybe this doesn't need to be said, but) that we don't necessarily need to figure out every activity right now since there is still research to be done. Of course, we can fill in the more basic stuff that are must-sees, like the Viking ships and the Mermaid. Also, let's keep in mind figuring out the power/outlet situations and if we need to buy adapters or transformers.

I will try and find my combination lock and, perhaps more importantly, remember the combination... The more I think about it, the more I feel like doing Airbnb in Oslo might be really nice. Personally, I just think it would be nicer for Shabbat, but also, we'll be just off a lot of travel and activity from the Fjords and it might be good to have a real bed and shower and kitchen and all that. Plus, because you book as two people, the cheaper ones don't come out to that much money at all. I'm not against hostels though so if you'd prefer that we can, or we can see Sunday what's available.

Moving on.

Your story about the shower made me laugh. Actually I've only seen the wine bottles thing a couple of times. My sister did one for her friend and it was awesome. I think Jewish and non-jewish (or less religious) traditions tend to be different too (though not as much) so I get where you're coming from there. I missed out on one of my non-jewish friend's shower because it was a Saturday, but it would have been interesting to see. Did they make a hat out of all the wrapping paper? I like that when I get married I'll get to make my sister make me things for the shower. She'll like that probably until she gets uber stressed about it. Of course by that time she might have too many kids or something (this is based on nothing other than a general timeline). The idea of a wedding sounds so unappealing to me. All the work and trying to make other people happy. Maybe when you have a person to marry it seems worth it, but right now it really doesn't. Even the shower and the parties and all that.

I'm so glad to hear you had a nice talk with your mom. That was an interesting and surprising outcome (sidenote based on typo: Income and Outcome- not opposites, completely different words... weird.), and I'm glad you were able to reach it. I don't know if this is the case with you, but sometimes I find that a lot of my difficulty with my mom comes from the fact that we have very different communication styles. For me, simply understanding this makes it easier to handle and accept, but she doesn't really understand what I mean when I say it so, it's not all the useful I guess. I too am much better at expressing myself in writing. Somehow, the words just flow better. But more than that, it's nice being able to really think through what you're saying and make sure you want to say it. It's a quality I have mixed feelings about to be honest. On one hand, I like that I think before I speak and say (I think) fewer stupid things than a lot of other people. On the other hand, it can be exhausting worrying so much over something like what to say.

I feel like I have a lot of other things to say, but I don't really feel like writing them all right now so we'll leave it there this time. A happy Owen Wilson to you madam.

I've always liked Owen Wilson

So I wanted to write this during the weekend but it kind of went by way too fast and before I knew it was monday. So that sucked. But I went to my first ever bridal shower this weekend and it was really fun! It was for the wedding Im going to in October (for my friend Sophia from work), and one of my other friends from work slept over my house as the shower was in NJ.  It was really funny because since it was my first shower I kept being amazed by everything like the bridesmaids did this thing where they got the bride a bottle of wine for the couple's each big moment during their first year (wedding night, first fight, first christmas, first anniversary etc.) and I was like wow thats so creative and just all around impressed whereas everyone else was lik...this happens at all the bridal showers.

It was also just an insane amount of food. I filled up on appetizers not realizing they were appetizers and then they brought out the entree and I was dumbfounded. So yea it was basically a whole lot of being amazed. It was also interesting to see because this is a mixed wedding (the bride is indian and the groom is italian/catholic) and some of the traditions are already so different. Like you would think that wouldn't really happen at the bridal shower since its not like there are as many traditions as in the wedding but one funny-ish thing that happened was with the cake. Indian people have this weird tradition where whenever we cut a cake (like at birthdays/anniversaries/weddings), we proceed to feed our close family members a small piece. To indian people this is completely normal and even borderline compulsory but obviously to everyone else its just weird. So when the bride cut the cake she gave a small piece to her mom, and her mom was insisting she do the same with her mother-in-law, while the mother-in-law was just like umm..im good thanks. So yea that was interesting.

My tense situation at home is finally better. I had a long and emotional talk with my mom. I wont go into details now since Im going to be seeing you this week in any case but basically I just need to learn to be a better communicator and tell my mom more things about my life so she isnt shocked when I tell her certain things. This wasn't really the conclusion I thought our talk would reach but Im glad we brought this out in the open so at least I can work on it. I don't think I'm a particularly great communicator with anybody. I definitely prefer writing to talking in that sense because Im just better at expressing myself this way, but again its all me so I think with time things will be good.

It's funny you mentioned the fight with the jelly because I think about that all the time in like a very different kind of way. To me it was kind of an example of how great we were at living with each other because even when those little personality quirks came up we were able to get past them with no resentment or issues. Also it was pretty much the only problem we had ever so we were definitely lucky in that sense.

Wait what pinecones? My normally stellar memory is seriously failing me. I vaguely recall something about a perfectly shaped pine cone, again this might just be me knowing that you appreciate perfectly shaped things (like that 7).

It is kind of absurd how taxing errands can be. Like seriously sometimes I think I get most exhausted on the days where all I do is run errands. Speaking of I have a lot of those to actually run like buying a bed and whatnot.

--cue theme music--

TRIP TALK: I have to say this segment has lost a little of its juice since we keep communicating about the trip in so many different ways, but I do feel good that we're gonna get the tickets tomm. It's about time we had this thing locked in. I totally get what you mean about feeling like you are in control of your life, Im not sure if I feel that way yet but it definitely does make me feel really independent. I dont think we need to bring combo locks but it doesn't take too much space so why not.

I think this is what we should do while at your house (I think im just going to come on Sunday because that will be most efficient for booking things):
1. Book our hostels
2. Book our trains if possible
3. Book overnight ferry if we are doing it
4. Make a list of things to pack (like sheets for hostels, unfortunately the hot plate is with my dad in India but I have a rice cooker I can bring which we can use to make ramen, oatmeal, rice, soup, and probably pasta but we would need sauce)
5. Make a detailed itinerary ( I think we can fill in with things like attractions/food places to try during the week)
6. If we need advance tickets for any attractions we should buy them
7. Try to see if we can specify our food preferences on our flights

Thats all I can think of for now but we will be in touch!