but all that i can see is just a yellow lemon tree

Jet lag blog # 2: Now with more coherency!

I had an English book in 10th grade which boasted in a bright pull out star: "Now with more analogies!" We made fun of it quite a bit.

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My sister, Llama, sleepwalks/talks more than anyone I know. I share a room with her over holidays and she generally manages to mutter something more than once a night. Due to my special hours right now, I've been awake for several of these occasions, and they are rather entertaining. Apparently she gets very stressed when she's asleep, because she's always frustrated when she talks.

Last night she got up out of bed mumbling something about writing a letter to mom. She walked over to the desk by my bed and started sorting through papers. I told her that she didn't need to and she was supposed to go back to bed. She obeyed - as a sleepwalker she's very compliant.

A couple weeks ago, she woke up in the middle of the night, worried about the piles of laundry on the bed that needed to be put away. She got up and scooped them off the bed, taking them into Ammadeus' room. She walked back to her bedroom to go back to sleep and became very frustrated when she saw that her comforter was gone from her bed. She looked all over the room and couldn't find it. Later she realized that the "piles of laundry" she had removed were actually just her blanket. Tricksy.

These are the types of actions she does in her sleep. When she talks, she switches between English and her own made up language which has rules unto itself - there is a clear consistency nouns and verbs. Conversations are always enjoyable, and I've always wanted to record one - maybe if I'm still jetlagged tomorrow night I will. And hey, maybe I'll post it on here.

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My good friend Nony used to tell all her secrets in her sleep. Her parents would sit up at night and ask her questions about her life. Kind of like a natural truth serum. How much privacy do kids deserve?

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Simply Sweden: Yes, I have a million of these sub-headings and don't keep up with them, but I figured I needed to have a special Swedish one for the things I'm learning in Sweden. I was trying to get an alliteration thing going, but it came out strangely, so any ideas would be appreciated.

Today's Simply Sweden is the conundrum faced when seeking employment as a foreigner. Christophe and I are filling out work permit paperwork which requires us to have a Swedish job sponsor - but before we can get a job we need to have a permit. How does that work? I'm not quite sure, but it will.

We are also applying to get a "person number" as they call it. We've been very excited about becoming persons. Thrilled, even.

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I feel the need to apologize for the current photo header. Yes, it hurts my eyes too. I plan on taking a high res one of somewhere pretty tomorrow. Stay posted.

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Tonight I met a fellow from the Embassy who used to be on Broadway. Specifically, he was in Cats in the '80s. (He also did a bunch of other theatre, on and off Broadway.) He then decided theatre wasn't his route and considered law school. He wasn't sure how law school worked, so he wrote to Harvard (because it was famous) and asked if an undergrad BA in Music would be appropriate to build a law degree upon.

Harvard wrote back saying that a Music degree would not be a good foundation for a law degree. He then took the LSAT, aced it, and was accepted at Harvard Law among other places. He sent them a rejection with their previous reply photocopied and stapled to it, and wrote that he didn't think a Harvard Law degree would be a good foundation for law.

So he went to Stanford Law School which he loved, but after practicing as a lawyer for 8 years decided it wasn't his thing. So he joined the Foreign Service.

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What I loved about his life story was that he always followed his dreams. I know it's very Disney of me, but I think it's really great when people believe in themselves and aim high. Clearly this guy had a lot of natural talent (singing, logic, etc.), but he also had a lot of gumption. Even if he had done some small town theatre and unaccredited law school, at least he would have been making his way, pursuing what intrigued him.

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This will probably sound really ignorant, but I didn't know Pterodactyls still existed. But they do. In Sweden! I always thought they were extinct (like turtles and alligators), but they aren't. I promise.