The last year is now packed in two suitcases, one carry-on and one big “purse”. It still doesn’t feel real though. Was I packing for someone else? The two big suitcases are 48 and 49lbs, and my Victoria’s Secret tote (my personal item) is filled to the limit with heavy stuff like papers. I think I have to go through my clothes and be brave and throw some away. I want to do it now, but staying up past midnight last night wasn’t the best idea when a long day was waiting today. So that is another day’s project. Hopefully before my goodbye dinner on Sunday when I’m giving everything I can’t bring to Lovisa and Johanna.

This morning I didn’t have any fun emails and I started the day by driving the girl to a hangout (=playdate for older kids) with some friends. She was there pretty much the whole day so it was just me and the boy. In the morning he went to the doctor with his mom and the results were Pneumonia. Poor little guy. But the only symptoms he has are fever and some coughing. So that’s good. Otherwise he is like a normal and healthy kid. Today he was full of life and wanted to play board games the whole day. I have no idea how many games we played, but it was a lot!

I also called the DMV. And I can’t say anything else than that I hate them with all of my heart. Two days ago they told me to fax my papers and today (after like an hour of trying to get through) when I asked if they got them they said yes but they aren’t gonna give me my driver license because my DS2019 expires on Jan 17^th. I got really angry and asked them why they treated me differently when everyone else with the exact same papers as I have got their driver licenses without any fuss. I am the only one that I know of that had to send in the papers myself. And why the fuck couldn’t they tell me that I had to do that? I’ve called them several times this year and asked about my license, but they just said I had to wait… Stupid fucktards! Now I won’t have a cool souvenir to show off with when I go back…

I’ve finished the goodbye gift to my hostfamily, my packing is (almost) done, so I guess I am ready to leave. I’m glad I packed last night since I won’t have time this weekend and I didn’t want to do it a couple of days before I leave. What if I had to send something home?
I felt like it was time to leave last night. When you’re done packing, it means you’re ready to go somewhere. Even if I’m not, it’s a little bit hard going on like normal when everything I own here is in suitcases and I’m just waiting for the next big adventure. At the same time I don’t want to leave.
I think you all understand how mixed my feelings are at this moment and it feels like that is the only thing I’m writing about nowadays. It’s very hard to describe these feelings…

Tomorrow’s Friday, then comes the weekend and a couple of days later I’m leaving…

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

Late last night I managed to call Liseberg and change my interview. Apparently it wasn’t a big deal at all to change it. So now I have it on Monday February 10^th instead of 6h after I land in Sweden. Definitely better.

This morning when I woke up I had a new pretty nice email waiting. CSN told me that they had approved my application for money while studying. I really don’t know how to translate that into better English… That means that I will get money as soon as I’ve started studying when I go back. I’m only gonna get 75% but it’s still some money. My apartment is awesome in Sweden, but it is too expensive for one person so I’ve actually already started looking for a new one.

The relief this morning felt really great and I was in a very good mood. But then something happened. My cold is still here, even if it is not too bad anymore, just a stuffed nose. But this was something else. I felt like I was really drunk this whole day. And not the good-drunk feeling when you’re all giggly and happy, but the bad-drunk feeling when you are nauseous and feel like you are gonna throw up. I don’t know if my body reacts to the antibiotics or what it can be, but it’s been horrible…

It was a pretty calm day though, so that was nice. We played a lot of board games, watched a little TV, made Rainbow Loom bracelets, played Skylanders on Wii and that’s it I think. The girl went to a friend’s house after lunch so it was just me and the boy for the rest of the afternoon. I finished his Hexafish bracelet first and then I made him a Rainbow Loom turtle. It is very cute!

My last Wednesday in San Diego is gone. Even if I have long days now they still go by super fast. So I think I have to start packing now since I this time have to put a lot of thought into it so I can get everything home.  I also have to finish my hostfamily’s goodbye gift and go to bed early. I still feel drunk…

😦 7 days left 🙂

The turtle I made for the boy. Its head and legs are blue and the shell is grey/white, really cute. Tomorrow he wants me to make him a shark ;).

I can’t believe it, it’s been one year since I left Sweden.

12 months.

365 days have I spent in this amazing place called San Diego (technically no, since I was in New York my first 4 days, but who cares). And as little as I can believe that I’m leaving it in 8 days, as little can I believe I’ve been away from my first home for a year already. This has definitely become my second home and at the moment I can’t recall how it was like living in Sweden. At the same time I remember everything, but I just can’t imagine living in those memories anymore. I’m so used to this life now. Going to the beach and palm trees are part of my everyday life and I am really gonna miss that! I think this is where I belong, where I don’t have to freeze most of the months of the year. I’ve been truly happy here. I can’t remember when I honestly could say that in Sweden last time… BUT, this is the magical part about this adventure. I’ve grown so much, I’m not just one year older, I’m still the same person but with better views on life and that is gonna help me so much when I come back in just four weeks. I’ve learned that it doesn’t matter what exactly everyone thinks about me. I don’t have to be friends with everyone. It totally makes sense now (weird that it never did before, isn’t it?) that I should only choose to be surrounded by people that make me happy. I’ve learned the ability to forgive and forget. Well, not forget completely, but to let things that doesn’t matter go. I wasn’t able to do that before. I am proud of myself and I really like the new me.

Even if I’m sad about leaving everything and everyone here, I am happy.

It has been a very eventful day here in the house. I woke up tired and grumpy as usual, but when I checked the night’s emails I got happy in the second I read what the top one’s subject was. Invitation to interview. Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg thought my summer job application was one of the better ones and asked me to come to a group interview. It was a long preparation email and it didn’t even occur to me when I was gonna do this until I was done reading and the date and time was right there. February 4^th 13:15. That’s 6.5 hours after I arrive at Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg. Shit. Apparently it wasn’t enough with the airplane torture, they want me to go for a job interview right after! I tried calling them today to change the date to at least Thursday. But they didn’t answer, it was 7pm in Sweden so they probably weren’t there. I will try later tonight and if that doesn’t work I will call again tomorrow morning at 6am (3pm in Sweden). After that I will send an email and if that doesn’t work I will tell them that my mom will call them and change the interview for me. I think they will understand that I want to be at my best at an interview for a job I really want. I am really excited about this!

Before lunch me and the kids watched the last Harry Potter movie. The boy is still sick, but even if he had 103F (40C) he was surprisingly unsick. Kids are weird. But we had a very nice day together again. For lunch they wanted Swedish pancakes with ice cream. Since I’m leaving soon I’m actually spoiling them a bit and letting them have stuff that I was strict about during the rest of the year. Even if I knew they loved me before it feels good with the happy faces they give when I surprise them by saying yes.

We also played board games, such as Forbidden Island again, and we actually lost! Then we also played the Star Wars Lego game I gave the boy when I arrived.

For dinner I made homemade pizza from scratch. Half pepperoni and half pineapple. It was good but because of my stupid tooth infection I couldn’t eat more than a small slice. Speaking of that infection. I called the dentist and told them the infection was back and without any further questions they just gave me a new prescription for antibiotics and painkillers.

I also called the DMV today. Two hours waiting, but fortunately they have the recall function. They told me to call another number and ask about my driver license I still haven’t got after almost 9 months. The guy said it was pending because of my immigrant papers. Seriously, they couldn’t tell me like five months ago that they needed me to fax them? And seriously #2, why couldn’t I just send an email with those papers scanned to .pdf’s? My hostdad was so kind and helped me with the fax they have in the house so I sent them and in two days I will call back for Joe and ask if everything is alright. I hope I will get my driver license when I’m on Hawaii so I at least can bring it home to Sweden. Otherwise my hostparents have to send it later. I seriously hate DMV! They are f-ing retards…

What else happened today? Probably not much if I can’t remember it…

😦 8 days left 🙂

The boy is sick, like almost everyone else in this country right now. I don’t know if it’s just a cold we have here, but my hostdad thought it might be the H1N1 virus that’s viral again. I don’t think it is the flu, but I don’t think it’s a normal cold either. I’ve been ill for, I don’t know how long, but I’m tired of it…

It was a very lazy day, me and the girl played a lot of board games and read. There isn’t much else to do when you can’t leave the house. For lunch I made stewed macaroni and meatballs. And for an early dinner we had Caesar Salad upon the girl’s request. It was good! But food is so hard to chew with the tooth ache. I’m gonna call the dentist tomorrow. The best would be to go there and ask him if it is a new infection, but I don’t think I have time to do that, so I’ll probably just ask for a new antibiotic prescription.

Now I will watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 because the kids’ wanted to see Part 2 tomorrow. After that I will meet Lovisa in Del Mar for our probably last “late night coffee”. It still feels so unreal! I know the end is near, but I just can’t understand it…

I didn’t have to go to the meeting today, it’s only 12 that’s included in the program, but I wanted to say goodbye. It wasn’t as hard as I imagine, but I really liked my LCC, she was nice and caring. We were at her apartment today and we just talked for a couple of hours.

My cold got worse yesterday when I thought it was getting better so the rest of the afternoon was spent on Chad’s couch reading and watching the 49ers game. It’s playoff so it’s either win or be gone. They won in the last few seconds of the game. I still don’t understand the rules but it’s entertaining sometimes to watch.

At 5pm we drove to his parents’ house to have smoked rib for dinner. It was delicious but I couldn’t eat more than two ribs because my tooth ache is back. And I fear that it is another infection… I hope I have time to go to the dentist to get more antibiotics this week if that’s the case. The boy is really sick so I can’t leave the house… I guess I just could have called the office, if I didn’t throw the card with the number away just two days ago…

After the dinner I watched Rabbids Invasion, a very silly show, but funny, while Chad did some studying.

I probably should go to bed so I can get up tomorrow at 8.

This post used to contain pictures, but due to new storage limitations from WordPress, I had to fix the problem and decided to create a new blog that works as an archive for all the posts from my two years in California. This full post can be found here.

This day was very nice. My cold is almost gone, my nose has been a little stuffed, but otherwise I’m feeling fine. Which was awesome because that meant that I could play beach volleyball today. I felt bad for Chad, he had gotten my cold but played with me anyway. We played very well today and it always makes me extra happy. There was something else that made me super happy about going to the beach today, and that was all the dolphins. It wasn’t just one school of dolphins but several at the same time and at least 5 dolphins in each. There were dolphins everywhere you looked! And I couldn’t have been happier :). How often can one play beach volleyball with real dolphins in the background?! It was kinda distracting to be honest.

After that I had an early dinner with Lovisa and Johanna at Stacked. I had my usual with a few differences, a salad with dried cranberries, caramelized pecans, chicken, red bellpeppers, cranberry/walnut dressing and feta cheese. Thank you and goodbye Stacked!

Now I’m heading over to Chad’s again, we are gonna watch Turbo (well, try; we both are very exhausted after the tough morning at the beach). I can count the rest of our days together on one hand…

Between the two guys are a few dolphins :).

I can’t believe I’m still sick. Usually I don’t even get sick and when I do it’s over right after it started. I really hate it. But I had a very nice day with the kids at home. The girl made muffins for breakfast and for lunch we had Swedish pancakes, well they had. I had leftovers from New Year’s Eve. Still as good.

We played one of the game’s the girl got for Christmas, Forbidden Island which was a very fun game actually. You have to, as a team, retrieve all the four treasures before the island sinks by drawing cards and moving around.

The rest of the afternoon we watched Harry Potter 5 and 6. I’m still not feeling too well to do anything. It is getting better though, but slowly.

Now I really want to see the last two Harry Potter movies, but apparently I left those on my external hard drive in Sweden so I can’t watch them quite just yet…