procrastination

after the initial excitement of receiving notice from the embassy that my visa was ready for sticking (as opposed to collection because i need to leave my passport with them overnight for their special glue to dry), i completely forgot to submit my passport for sticking!

well, not exactly forgot but because the embassy is only open 11am-1pm and i've french class 9am-12pm monday to friday, it leaves me with a tiny time window to get it done. it's been awhile since the embassy emailed and i sure hope they haven't revoked the visa in the interim!

in other departure-related news, it turns out that something's cropped up on the homefront and i'm likely to delay my outward bound flight. so much for doing the lone female asian backpacker thing for a fortnight prior to orientation!

edit: turns out i remembered wrongly and the embassy is open 9am-12pm. learnt the hard way when i stood outside the reinforced door and patiently rang the bell at polite intervals for 10minutes, before reading operating hours sign. bummer.

warmth

met with j for tea. he's just come out of self-imposed home quarantine (because he's civic-minded that way) and i needed to get the oracle(s) from him, as well as d's address, the nice boy who is guarding my (soon-to-be) stuff in the interim. thank god i can move into j's stockholm life, if only possessions-wise, and am very fortunately inheriting, among other things, a heater, kettle, textbooks and notes.

but the take-home from tea that really really excited me was the prospect of my very own sauna. well, 'very own' is a bit of a stretch but apparently everyone and their mother has a sauna in sweden, and where i'm staying is no exception. this personal sauna is now an integral part of my body heat conservation plan come winter! in fact, i might just hibernate in the sauna and emerge in spring.

equally importantly, i now have the names of and directions to the asian grocers (absolutely crucial) and am relieved to find out that there are communal washers and driers, albeit of the non-human kind, in the building. things are shaping up! now i just need to decide if it's practical to go to stockholm armed only with a dutch oven and the set of clothes on my back. because the 20kg weight limit is forcing me to choose between being warm and being full. while i'm certain i can buy clothes there and not a dutch oven, i'm equally certain that i can cook with another pot.

and so the p(l)ot thickens...

all systems go

just a quick one to say

and it's T-3 weekends!