Time's flying!

It feels like yesterday when I first started counting the weeks left before my flight to Vancouver on August 22nd. That was 7 weeks ago and of course as soon as I had started paying attention to it time started slipping through my fingers!

So much is happening. Had a load of questions about the visa application process and the embassy doesn’t take phone calls and needed 3 weeks to reply to my email. Last week I finally got my German Certificate of Good Conduct and that meant it was time to head over to the Embassy in Berlin. I didn’t dare to send the study permit application by post - that would have added WEEKS to the process.

That meant I could visit Magda again! The two days were way too little time to actually catch up - hadn’t seen her since March last year - but she will soon have internet so we’ll stay in touch.

The weekend before that I was in London. Wanted to meet with two friends but both cancelled, which honestly sucked. But I met another gaming buddy and the only downside to that was having to pay for the trip to Luton. But the evenings were nice and relaxing and you can’t go wrong talking Music, Movies, Roleplaying and Nintendo Wii!

During the London Film and Comic Con I got to sit next to Alexander Siddig (Best known as Dr. Bashir of DS9) and he really was a nice guy! Sadly he got sick after just a couple of hours so my first job as guest assistant was short indeed.

Nevermind. Just over three weeks left now! Need to start packing! Lots to do! And while sitting on the train to and from work I write my comic DoM - Dream of Me. It’s coming along great! I am currently revising issues 1 and 3 and will then get started on issue #4!

Got lots of drawing to do, too! Drawing a 14-page Ronin story and got three commissions to do, one of them being a paid one so that will have priority. Hopefully I’ll get that done this weekend.

Now I’m just waiting for the response from the embassy regarding my study permit.

Lots to do! Let's do it tomorrow!

Pissed off. Stressed. No wonder.

The whole Vancouver thing is of course incredibly positive and exciting! But nothing is set in stone since theoretically the embassy could still thwart my plans. But why should they? Unlikely.

That’s not the source of my stress/bad mood.

I am sooo looking forward to Vancouver and it’s not the first time I am moving house (oh no it’s not) or even leaving a country.

I am currently busy filling in a form that requires me to enter all of my addresses of the past 10 years… YOU KIDDING ME??? I’m still busy with research. I have counted 10 addresses so far and I haven’t included another address because I never registered it. Do I remember all the post codes?

I am confident I’ll find a room or room mate with flat as well as a job in time for the course. I’ve never had problems with stuff like that since my standards aren’t very high. “As long as I can pay my bills". And I won’t have much stuff so I’ll be able to move again soon if the first room I find should turn out to be a dump.

Why the hell am I so stressed?? I’m not doing much - because I’m doing it all tomorrow. That’s partly it. The other part is that moving has never been so… permanent.

When I moved to the UK it was tough on some of my family members, like my Dad and grandparents, but after all they were just an hours flight away. Canada is something different. Especially because I actually intend to stay there. I am truly tired of moving around all the time. I am looking forward to calling Vancouver my new home - I haven’t had a home since I came back to Germany because I always knew I wouldn’t stay here.

One of the reasons why I haven’t been as active about moving to Vancouver as I could have been during these past few years is that I worry about my grandparents. For a few years now we have always celebrated Christmas as if it were their last because some actually believed it would be.

Now it looks like I’ll be moving to Vancouver in August, knowing that I will be away for at least one year - the course only gives me a total of two weeks holidays and I’m sure there will be course work, as is the nature of acting courses. Besides - I don’t have the money to fly back and forth until I have a steady income over there which won’t be soon - and most probably not before the end of the course.

So when I say goodbye in August my grandparents will think the same as me and it horrifies me: we might not see each other again.

Nothing stopping me now!

Well, except…

OK. I got the spot on the course. I got the financial side of things worked out. I have sent payment for the deposit. I have the money for the flight, which I’ll be booking next week.

Just waiting for the Letter of Acceptance so I can go to the embassy in Berlin - and I can’t think of any reason why they would not allow me to study in Vancouver.

By the end of the month I’ll have all depts paid, as small as they may be. I will also terminate any contracts I still have running, paying them off if necessary.

BURN, bridges, BURN!

I can't give guarantees for tomorrow, but...

Today life is good.

Yesterday was very inspiring. There was an “end of month” event at my music/drama school, where I take my private acting lessons. Which means roughly 15 people sitting in a room watching 5 or 6 people perform, one after the other. Three were singing, two were playing the piano and then there was me. I am one of the few acting students there and I performed a short monologue. Way too short, cause it way really enjoyable! Got some nice feedback, too!

I’ll be back next month. It’s a goal after all, which will do me good. And I LOVE performing in front of an audience!

All the singing has inspired me to finally take some singing lessons, too! I’ve been meaning to do that all my life! But since I can’t really afford many of them I’ll get a free lesson to see how it goes and then decide whether I wanna go forward with it. I’d have to commit for about 12 lessons, which is a lot of money! First lesson will be right before my acting lesson on Feb 13th. Can’t wait!!

Then this morning I squeaked! which told my Mum that I had reached a certain mark in terms of diet that marked a half-way point. It means I have lost 12 pounds since I started and there’s another 12 pounds to go. Wow. Feels good to dig through old pairs of trousers and find that they finally fit again!

This was also the long awaited moment to arrange a new photo shoot, so I sent the email today. Same photographer, but more instructions from my side this time. I am now more aware of what I want and what I need than I was last year. I asked for a shoot at the end of Feb to give me the chance to possibly lose a couple more pounds til then.

And the photoshoot means I have a reason to go shopping for a nice new dress!

A warm welcome to the year 2008!

Here it is. The year that has me planning the move to Vancouver. Except… there is still no money!

WORK: I will stay with my current office job until further notice because I now only work 3 or 4 days a week (so even more flexibility than before) and earn about 150€ more than before every month!

I ran a promotion in December (as an independent adviser so to speak) and it didn’t work out. Printed 10000 flyers and got just ONE call! Never even got the chance to advise anyone! Luckily I have a pretty good idea what I did wrong: wrong choice of offers, too many flyers printed, need to add order form and website address.

So the next promotion is already planned. I just need to design the damn flyer. Which I can’t be bothered to do at the moment. Because…

ART: I am drawing again! Hooray! I finally almost finished that commission from last year and I have also been working on that Sailor Generator kisekae set, that most of you probably haven’t even heard of. It’s art with programming: FUN!

I have also agreed to drawing a 5-page sequential and have started work on page 1. That will be my priority - artwise - for the next few weeks. Though the promotion is more important.

PERSONAL: Hope you had a wonderful holiday season! I did. This was the best Christmas I’ve had in a while! I had to work on the 27th and 28th but that was OK, cause while at work and on the train to/from work I just worked at my laptop on SailorX, which I’d have been doing anyway! (I love my job.)

No acting news. Well, I did have that one acting job I mentioned in my last post and it was great fun! I’ll focus more on applying for student movies and recording studios for acting/voice jobs.

So, dear 2008, I hope I’ll get to move to Vancouver this year!