afuna: Cat under a blanket. Text: "Cats are just little people with Fur and Fangs" (Default)
There's certain questions I want to ask, but there's a huge thread going on in Ravelry right now that makes me feel a bit scared that if I do ask, people will look down on me for not being smart enough or else think I'm being too lazy to dig things up on my own /o\

The problem isn't that I can't figure out what to do, it's that I can see two different ways to do this thing, can think of a reason for having each be better than the other, and a third reason besides that basically means it doesn't matter which one I pick. And if I explain my thought process, maybe I'll come across as overthinking, or if I don't explain maybe I'll come across as under...thinking.

Guh social stuff /o\

So I'm promising myself that I'm going to stay away from the forums (except free pattern testers <3) and switch back to using Ravelry to keep track of my projects and stash. (<33 projects and stash pages)


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I just finished a pair of fingerless gloves just in case I need them for the trip :D I am excited because it's cooooooold over there (though I get the impression that it's getting warm, or at least not chilly. But I'd prefer to overpack rather than underpack, assuming I don't break my suitcase trying to stuff everything in...)


I'm just, look okay , I'm completely ridiculous when it comes to cold weather. I LOVE IT and also I end up shivering uncontrollably because I overestimate my capacity to handle the cold. I feel that 25 degrees is nice: slightly chilly but nice, and anything below 23 degrees is for bundling up or hiding under a blanket. So, yeah scarves and vests and sweaters and... stuff. I will look ridiculous /o\ BUT AT LEAST I WILL BE WARM. (I hope)


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I've been packed and ready to go for almost a week now. That's kinda amazing because I usually put off packing until the night before any trip :D

But then again I don't usually take trips that are over two weeks long on my own money and with everything planned by me....


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SO NERVOUS IT ISN'T EVEN FUNNY. Except for how I'm spending a lot of time grinning in anticipation. Four days! Or three plus travel time plus change.


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I have withdrawn dollars and have converted some to pounds and my credit card company rushed me a card in the nick of time (who was careless and accidentally lost her credit card the week before she was leaving the country? THAT'S RIGHT). I've done some research (not all, there's still time for that later), and have a tentative plan for what to do with whom where and when ...assuming I didn't forget to get back to some people O_O I wouldn't be surprised if I did. Didn't? Planning is not my strong suit /o\ Neither is not losing things /o\ /o\


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I intend to relax and enjoy this trip, treat it like a low-key meet-friends kinda thing rather than a stressful must-see-all-the-sights whirlwind tour. So um. ummmm (if applicable): HI


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GEEEEEH.

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YAAAY

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Geeeeeeh ;_;

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YAYYAY

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I'm promising myself to only buy a couple balls of yarn from each country I'm in rather than trying to single-handedly bring the entire yarn inventory of the UK back home. :-D Since I only have limited luggage space and I'm on a budget, this should be an easy promise to keep.


(until I actually walk into the store. Then all bets are off)


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Geez, I'm all ready to go, why can't the weekend be over yet? But also I'm nervous, and I'm kinda glad that there's still three more days to get ready.

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I'm slightly anxious about customs. A friend of mine was telling me about how she was pulled aside while entering another country ( not England ) for a very pointed interview, because she was travelling alone while single, female, and holding a Philippine passport. (oh hi there)

I mean I'm almost certain that I'll have no issues -- there are so many other people going through customs every day, there's very little chance they'll have time for me, you know? Plus totally different country altogether, and also going to a different country is a privilege not a right so if necessary they do have the authority to turn anyone away blah blah blah it's not like anyone is guaranteed to be able to enter any other country: I'm not unique in that. It's just. I'm anxious.

What if I look suspicious? or say the wrong thing? or give the wrong impression? and get kicked out before I so much as even set foot outside the airport? What if I'm shifty-eyed or too I dunno. SUSPICIOUS. Whatever. eh. It's not going to happen (most likely!). I'm still anxious.

And there are the other things, but I like to pretend that they don't exist as considerations because if I think about them my head will explode I'll be so nervous I'll start looking more worthy of suspicion.

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INSTEAD I will think about the other side! and getting past paperwork and bureaucracy! and being somewhere cold! and meeting friends! people! other friends! and concentrate on not losing my passport or my visa or my money or my credit cards or my clothes!

Just, stuff.

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Suitcase is really heavy now, but a lot of that is stuff that I'll be giving folks when I get to the other side. I should be able to free up space and weight for the trip home :D

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I love flying. I mean literally just everything about it, even the long lines at the airport and the ridiculously tight seats in the economy section. (It helps that I have really short legs). Just something about the whole process that I love *_* I go really hyper the day before a flight, and just before the flight too. Though thankfully not so much on the actual plane (other than grinning like an idiot and peering out the window even though I've seen similar things many other times before *G*). If I were as hyper on the plane as I am in the airport, they'd have probably kicked me out an emergency exit a long time ago >_>

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I have one knitting project in my carry-on (an unstarted Noro scarf), half of another in my luggage (half-finished Clapotis), an iPad, a phone, Jim Hines' Goblin series (which I haven't started yet or even read any reviews about, but going off of his fairy tale princess series I think I'll like it).

I'm considering whether to bring along C. Valente's Palimpsest novel. On the one hand I do have plenty of ebooks so I shouldn't need to bring so many physical books. On the other, I have that ten-hour layover in Bangkok, and I don't remember if they have wall sockets for passengers to plug in there.

One weekend + one day + one travel day left...

Germany probably off

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011 11:53 pm
afuna: Cat under a blanket. Text: "Cats are just little people with Fur and Fangs" (Default)
Germany is most likely off. For various reasons let's not get into (partly it's my incompetence, partly it's that the entire process feels designed to trip up anyone trying to go through it, exacerbated by how the people in the call center entered the wrong information for my application), my appointment today didn't even get started; I have a new appointment for June 1.

That leaves me in a bind. The visa process is going to take either 10-12 working days, or 10-12 calendar days. That means at best I have a week's leeway, and at worst I have one day to get my passport back, with no way to make concrete plans in between now and then because I may or may not have a visa in the end.

I don't think I can relax until this is over :( I need to sleep on it, but as of tonight I've talked myself into making this a UK-only trip, and scheduling a different Schengen-countries-only trip (time and money willing!)

See, if I'm not going to have to save up for the Germany leg, I'll have enough money to choose one or two more places around the UK, and in hindsight it makes sense to not stress about getting two visas each on two trips, and I'd only need to deal with one currency at a time (everything in the UK uses pounds sterling right? Will research that).

That is, instead of doing London + Germany this trip, and Wales + France to a second trip, why not do London + Wales this trip and Germany + France + ??? the next? Makes sense right?

Also it'd give me time to be a good traveller and pick up usable bits and pieces of the languages of my eventual destination Schengen-area-countries :) Trying to decide whether I'm sour-graping and giving up too early, or bowing to practicality. MAYBE BOTH.

My apologies to everyone who I have made tentative plans with that just fell through ♥ So so so sorry for all the fuss and effort!

eek, eek

Monday, May 16th, 2011 12:13 pm
afuna: Cat under a blanket. Text: "Cats are just little people with Fur and Fangs" (Default)
I don't dare talk about Germany right now. I have an appointment at the embassy for Wednesday morning and I'm nervous and flaily.

One reason is that I just found out that the the credit card company rejected my application after two months (they rejected it faster than that, but there was no notification of failure, and the lookup tool on their website didn't work, so I only found out when I stopped being patient and called them up).

Anyway, so I submitted much the same kind of documentation to the credit card company as I am about to to the German embassy. If the credit card company doesn't think my application is okay, then will the German embassy? I lucked out at the UK embassy, because they have laxer rules if you've been to certain other countries (which I had). There was no indication of that at the German embassy though.

(I'm also grumpy because the visa application requires you to, among other things, present them my bank account records and credit card records for the past six months which I feel is none of their business, but if I don't play along I can't get in? But it just feels annoying and creepy, and it makes me so grumpy :()

URGH. So anyway, not talking about it, I will post / comment / reply to messages about plans once I know one way or another. CROSSING FINGERS.
afuna: Cat under a blanket. Text: "Cats are just little people with Fur and Fangs" (Default)
I guess this is for real? I've just reserved an apartment in London from June 22-29.

Next up is getting my Germany visa :)

But anyone interested in meeting up in either Germany or London* **?

([personal profile] yvi will you be around those dates, or will I manage to miss you somehow? D:)
([personal profile] dani_the_girl I owe you a comment!)

* comparing a country to a city isn't fair, but I have figured out lodgings in England while I'm still trying to figure out lodgings in Germany, if I can even get my visa in time *G*

* Also I say London... but I'm trying to figure out day trips outside and stuff**

** I am not precisely the most organized person around, in case that wasn't obvious