Markum Inn
My belly is stuffed beyond normal expansion. They had to open another whole wing in that department to make room for all the guests. That was one hell of a satisfying dinner. We dined exactly as we had planned. Though I was planning on going with the single-stack Jumbo Markum burger, Kristen talked me into a double (which is what I had last time). It's a perfect American burger: a wide toasted bun, two 1/2 lb patties of exquisite American beef, two thin slices of ham, cascades of melty American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, special sauce. We couldn't kind put our fingers on why it was so good but I think it has to do with the quality ingredients (go figure) and the perfect interplay of textures from the crunchy interior surface of the bun, the firm but yielding beef patty, and the soft cheese. Their fries are great with the little remnants of potato peel on the ends. Then, of course, the aforementioned Markum Mud dessert. Hooo dawgy, dems some good eats!
And to make the Farewell American Dinner even more perfect, the waitresses set up a table for 25 near us and in walked 12-15 cowboys with thier gals. They were dressed like cowboys right out of a western flic, minus the six-shooters. Down to the hats, scarves, and spurs that jingled as they walked. They just came in from a nine day ride from Eastern Oregon. Well, needless to say, our night was complete.
--RP--
Sunday, August 31
Saturday, August 30
Add another expensive aspect of expatriation to the list...
We just went to the UPS Store to ship our computer. Ended up costing a little over $300! After getting over the shock, we deliberated on it a while and decided to go with it anyway. It's a great computer and well worth the cost. It will be much cheaper than buying a new one in Europe, certainly. Plus, it's set up the way we like it and has another year of warranty left on it. We feel good about the decision. It's just a big nut to give up. And, of course, it had to go on credit.
We were originally going to ship at the Postal Annex in Canby (much closer than The UPS Store in Tigard), but when we got there we found out they had special "holiday hours" and had closed two hours earlier than usual. Too bad they didn't say that on their voice-mail which we had checked in the morning. However, it ended up being a good thing that we had to drive out to Tigard instead. Postal Annex apparently charges about $50 more for shipping than where we went. The proprietor's of the store we went to used to be a Mailboxes Etc. They said The UPS Store prices are much cheaper. Anyway, we should have our computer by Sept. 9th or earlier.
So, now we're computerless. One step further away from self-reliance. This blog post was typed at Jake's computer! It's the purging process before we are "reborn".
On the down side, I won't be able to ship my box of 140 CDs like I had planned. Not spending another $200-$300 for that! Sucks because I like my CDs and I like having options of what to listen to. I'll just have to narrow it down even more (140 was narrowed down from about 500 total). Shove some in the suitcases and then just bring some more when we are back in this neck of the woods.
This morning Jake and I brought the large items that didn't sell in our yard-sale over to a neighbor's yard sale. Our table and chair set sold by mid-day. Cross that off the list! I suddenly feel much lighter.
By the way, I called the INS (or as it's now called the BCIS) to find out about how long I am allowed to stay out of the country before something happens to my residency status. Officially, it's a year. I asked the guy how they know when someone leaves, since they only check you when you come in. He said that when you enter the other country, it is reported back and that "things are more connected than you think". Sounded very ominous. It was kind of a creepy conversation. When I got through to this guy he first asked me what state I was calling from and then if "there was a name he could call me for the duration of the call". And if I start thinking of Orwell's "1984", would I be off-base? That's not a criticism. This country should tighten up the borders a little more. As a whole, people are not responsible enough to handle total freedom. But, I digress. If I wanted to stay out of the country longer, I can file a form pleading for "Advanced Parole" which extends the period of vacancy to 2 years. However, it takes about 15 months to process the form and costs $110. I think I'll hold off on that. Anyway, if I understand the instructions on the form correctly, I won't lose my greencard if I'm away longer than a year. The only thing that happens is that I will have to wait another 7 years before I can apply for "naturalization" (becoming a US citizen). I've been eligible since about 1995 or so and I still haven't taken that leap of faith. What's another 7 years? The only thing you get in return is the ability to vote and that isn't all that useful as was made abundantly clear in 2000. (I'll refrain from the political debate). Again, I digress.
All we have left to do is finish packing and make one final trip to the storage room. Tomorrow night we are going to Markum Inn for dinner. It's a perfect slice of Americana... a country family restaurant in the middle of Oregon farmlands. Steaks, burgers, and cheap beer. Really good food. Their famous burger is the "Jumbo-burger" and let me tell ya, it is HUGE. First time I ordered it, I thought "Yeah, right... we'll see how big it is". I had to cut it in four pieces to be able to eat it and even then I could only do 3/4ths of it. Mind you, I should have stopped at 1/2, especially since we ordered a dessert that made you want to end it all, right there! Markum Mud... a banana-split-sized "boat" with a gooey, warm brownie, three of four scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. Not exotic, but unbelievably good. After that dinner, I was painfully stuffed. So, to say farewell to the United States properly, we're going to stuff ourselves with a fattening dinner and top it off with a sweet dessert. Then we're going to go home and go to sleep!
--RP--
We just went to the UPS Store to ship our computer. Ended up costing a little over $300! After getting over the shock, we deliberated on it a while and decided to go with it anyway. It's a great computer and well worth the cost. It will be much cheaper than buying a new one in Europe, certainly. Plus, it's set up the way we like it and has another year of warranty left on it. We feel good about the decision. It's just a big nut to give up. And, of course, it had to go on credit.
We were originally going to ship at the Postal Annex in Canby (much closer than The UPS Store in Tigard), but when we got there we found out they had special "holiday hours" and had closed two hours earlier than usual. Too bad they didn't say that on their voice-mail which we had checked in the morning. However, it ended up being a good thing that we had to drive out to Tigard instead. Postal Annex apparently charges about $50 more for shipping than where we went. The proprietor's of the store we went to used to be a Mailboxes Etc. They said The UPS Store prices are much cheaper. Anyway, we should have our computer by Sept. 9th or earlier.
So, now we're computerless. One step further away from self-reliance. This blog post was typed at Jake's computer! It's the purging process before we are "reborn".
On the down side, I won't be able to ship my box of 140 CDs like I had planned. Not spending another $200-$300 for that! Sucks because I like my CDs and I like having options of what to listen to. I'll just have to narrow it down even more (140 was narrowed down from about 500 total). Shove some in the suitcases and then just bring some more when we are back in this neck of the woods.
This morning Jake and I brought the large items that didn't sell in our yard-sale over to a neighbor's yard sale. Our table and chair set sold by mid-day. Cross that off the list! I suddenly feel much lighter.
By the way, I called the INS (or as it's now called the BCIS) to find out about how long I am allowed to stay out of the country before something happens to my residency status. Officially, it's a year. I asked the guy how they know when someone leaves, since they only check you when you come in. He said that when you enter the other country, it is reported back and that "things are more connected than you think". Sounded very ominous. It was kind of a creepy conversation. When I got through to this guy he first asked me what state I was calling from and then if "there was a name he could call me for the duration of the call". And if I start thinking of Orwell's "1984", would I be off-base? That's not a criticism. This country should tighten up the borders a little more. As a whole, people are not responsible enough to handle total freedom. But, I digress. If I wanted to stay out of the country longer, I can file a form pleading for "Advanced Parole" which extends the period of vacancy to 2 years. However, it takes about 15 months to process the form and costs $110. I think I'll hold off on that. Anyway, if I understand the instructions on the form correctly, I won't lose my greencard if I'm away longer than a year. The only thing that happens is that I will have to wait another 7 years before I can apply for "naturalization" (becoming a US citizen). I've been eligible since about 1995 or so and I still haven't taken that leap of faith. What's another 7 years? The only thing you get in return is the ability to vote and that isn't all that useful as was made abundantly clear in 2000. (I'll refrain from the political debate). Again, I digress.
All we have left to do is finish packing and make one final trip to the storage room. Tomorrow night we are going to Markum Inn for dinner. It's a perfect slice of Americana... a country family restaurant in the middle of Oregon farmlands. Steaks, burgers, and cheap beer. Really good food. Their famous burger is the "Jumbo-burger" and let me tell ya, it is HUGE. First time I ordered it, I thought "Yeah, right... we'll see how big it is". I had to cut it in four pieces to be able to eat it and even then I could only do 3/4ths of it. Mind you, I should have stopped at 1/2, especially since we ordered a dessert that made you want to end it all, right there! Markum Mud... a banana-split-sized "boat" with a gooey, warm brownie, three of four scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. Not exotic, but unbelievably good. After that dinner, I was painfully stuffed. So, to say farewell to the United States properly, we're going to stuff ourselves with a fattening dinner and top it off with a sweet dessert. Then we're going to go home and go to sleep!
--RP--
Friday, August 29
Well, all of our "big things to do" have been done. We just turned in the Jeep to the dealership, so we're carless. Apartment is secured, financial aid has gone through, storage room is paid through 9/18/04, yard sale is done with. Now all that is left is to pack our clothes (which we will do over the next couple of days), take some stuff to Postal Annex to be shipped, and a few other odds and ends.
Feels pretty strange to be without a car. On one hand, we have become more and more unencumbered over the last couple of months, but on the other hand we have become much less self-reliant (living in someone else's house for free and now having to rely on borrowing a vehicle for further transportation, for example). I guess we had to do that in order to become more self-reliant than we were in the beginning. Our move to Belgium will be a HUGE excerise in self-reliance. And it's going to be great!
The final three days are going to fly by. In no time we're going to be standing in line to board an aircraft. Everything familiar and safe is going to be replaced by a great unknown. I have not a single clue as to how this coming year will play out. Not a clue! Will I find a job in a brewery? Or a job at all? Will we be able to assimilate before our spirits are crushed by feeling like outsiders? Strangers in a strange land. Things as simple as buying groceries or getting a hair-cut could potentially be a lot more difficult than ever because of language issues. "Sprekt u engels?" and "Parlez englais?" are going to be our catch-phrases.
My head's swimming...
--RP--
Feels pretty strange to be without a car. On one hand, we have become more and more unencumbered over the last couple of months, but on the other hand we have become much less self-reliant (living in someone else's house for free and now having to rely on borrowing a vehicle for further transportation, for example). I guess we had to do that in order to become more self-reliant than we were in the beginning. Our move to Belgium will be a HUGE excerise in self-reliance. And it's going to be great!
The final three days are going to fly by. In no time we're going to be standing in line to board an aircraft. Everything familiar and safe is going to be replaced by a great unknown. I have not a single clue as to how this coming year will play out. Not a clue! Will I find a job in a brewery? Or a job at all? Will we be able to assimilate before our spirits are crushed by feeling like outsiders? Strangers in a strange land. Things as simple as buying groceries or getting a hair-cut could potentially be a lot more difficult than ever because of language issues. "Sprekt u engels?" and "Parlez englais?" are going to be our catch-phrases.
My head's swimming...
--RP--
Thursday, August 28
The ongoing complications between the Unversity of Kent and SallieMae appear to be over. I just checked my financial aid status online and the money is finally on its way. I have never used financial aid for college before, so this has been a new and unpleasant experience for me. The learning process started when I realized that I would not be able to pay my tuition on my own (due to our paychecks for May and June remaining unpaid). I did some research and found that Stafford loans are the best financial aid for graduate school, with super-low interest rates and flexible repayment schedules. Most European schools don't accept U.S. financial aid, so I really expected to be taking out a personal loan. Around mid-June I checked the University of Kent's website to see what my options were. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the university would accept U.S. federal Stafford loans, so following the school's instructions, I filled out the appropriate forms and sent them to the financial aid office. They processed them and sent them to SallieMae here in the states. The forms were mailed from England on July 10 and received by SallieMae on July 18. I heard nothing for weeks. Finally, in mid-August I figured I better check on the progress of my loan and contacted SallieMae. After what may have been the longest phone call ever, I learned that the school had neglected to tell me which lenders they would certify and did not indicate on their form which I was supposed to use. My loan had not progressed at all. Frantic emails between SallieMae, the UK and myself eventually resulted in the selection of a lender that we all could agree on and I thought this would solve the problem. I waited a week and heard nothing. So, I called again (the second longest phone call ever) and was told that the university had put two different dates for my end of loan/graduation date. The dates must be the same, so again, my loan was halted. SallieMae apparently was unable to compute the time difference between the east coast and the U.K., and could not get any answer from the school. By the time I contacted the school and the school faxed SallieMae, another week had gone by. The problem this time? The people at SallieMae read the dates wrong on the forms - because Europeans write the day and month in opposite order of what we are used to. It makes me wonder how anything involving different cultures in different countries ever gets done! I'm just happy that this is something I don't have to worry about any more! Yay!
~K
~K
Wednesday, August 27
Updates on the impending move...
We just sent another big chunk of change off to our landlord in Belgium. Two months rent (1790 euros or about 1944 dollars). That's one of the things that has been frustrating in this adventure. Because the US economy is piss-poor right now, the dollar is weak against the euro. So the exchange rate is really boning us, as you can see. Paying an extra $154 is not a happy feeling! On top of that, there are the fees for wiring money internationally. Washington Mutual charges $40 each time. The good thing is, now we're solid. The apartment is officially ours and we can move in when we arrive on the 3rd. Now, that's a happy feeling!
Task-wise, we're pretty close to being able to leave. The car is being inspected and returned on Friday. We have three big suitcases to pack our crap into. However, we still have to package the computer and accessories for shipment, put the remainder of our stuff in storage, sell the table and chair set, finish packing, and take care of a few more chores around the house, etc. Other than that, we could almost leave tomorrow.
There are less than 6 days until we leave. The reality of what we are doing is becoming more and more clear every day. Think about it, next Wednesday morning we will officially have moved to a foreign country! A country we have very little experience with and the majority of whose inhabitants speak languages we are just now beginning to fathom. This is not going to be easy! Then again, we never thought it would be. It's just so crazy, our future is pretty much wide open and completely unpredictable. That's scary and liberating all at once! Keep your fingers crossed for us.
--RP--
We just sent another big chunk of change off to our landlord in Belgium. Two months rent (1790 euros or about 1944 dollars). That's one of the things that has been frustrating in this adventure. Because the US economy is piss-poor right now, the dollar is weak against the euro. So the exchange rate is really boning us, as you can see. Paying an extra $154 is not a happy feeling! On top of that, there are the fees for wiring money internationally. Washington Mutual charges $40 each time. The good thing is, now we're solid. The apartment is officially ours and we can move in when we arrive on the 3rd. Now, that's a happy feeling!
Task-wise, we're pretty close to being able to leave. The car is being inspected and returned on Friday. We have three big suitcases to pack our crap into. However, we still have to package the computer and accessories for shipment, put the remainder of our stuff in storage, sell the table and chair set, finish packing, and take care of a few more chores around the house, etc. Other than that, we could almost leave tomorrow.
There are less than 6 days until we leave. The reality of what we are doing is becoming more and more clear every day. Think about it, next Wednesday morning we will officially have moved to a foreign country! A country we have very little experience with and the majority of whose inhabitants speak languages we are just now beginning to fathom. This is not going to be easy! Then again, we never thought it would be. It's just so crazy, our future is pretty much wide open and completely unpredictable. That's scary and liberating all at once! Keep your fingers crossed for us.
--RP--
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