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[floatingleaf]

Just got back from seeing my parents, which turned out to be a very brief visit due to the fact that I missed the first early afternoon train to the northwestern suburbs and had to wait almost 2 hours for the next one (the suburban rail service doesn't run very often on Sundays). Not my fault, btw - the bus was late - so I don't even have to feel guilty about showing up for less than 3 hours.:P I took tomorrow off, btw, but they don't know it - so there was no mention of me staying overnight. And no one questioned why I was leaving already - because, well, the train won't wait. When I stil had the car, I kept telling them how bloody hard it was to find a parking spot on my street on Sunday nights - and still, my mother would often give me this wounded look when I got up to leave. Now, I didn't have to offer any explanations, and I didn't have to spend 30 minutes looking for the damned parking spot either. It's a win-win situation... lol.

And here is the first part of an alphabetic meme stolen from my new friend goddessofchaos:



At what age did you first consider yourself to be an adult?

Probably some time after my parents both left for the U.S. I was over 21 by then, though I forget the exact year, because there was so much going back and forth between Poland and the U.S. in my family that it's virtually impossible to remember who left or came back when and for how long, lol. For a few years, my parents "took shifts" coming here, so that one was always at home with me and my sister - but when my sister was ready to go with them, they all packed their bags and left. I stayed, because I was still waiting for my immigrant visa at that point. So, suddenly I had the flat all to myself, and had to actually start taking care of bills and stuff. I'm not sure how "adult" that made me, but I certainly felt more responsible in the "practical daily life" department. As for emotional maturity, though, I certainly wasn't at that level in my early twenties. Maybe I'm still not there, and maybe I never will be - who knows?... *sigh*

At what age did you first drink alcohol?

I might have taken a sip of leftover vodka from someone's glass while helping my parents clear the table after a party when I was in my early teens, or thereabouts. It was absolutely disgusting.:D I still can't drink hard liquor all by itself - not that I ever felt pressured to try, lol (except that one time a friend bought me a shot to celebrate my university graduation - I downed it, gasped, coughed and immediately ran to the bar to ask for a glass of juice...:D). Sweet girly drinks and wines are another matter - but, in general, I don't really enjoy the feeling of being drunk; slightly tipsy, yes, but it takes very little for me to reach that state, and anything more than a glass or two usually results in a nasty headache. Which is too high a price for a tiny bit of woozy fun, imo.;)

At what age did you first move away from home?

Now, that one is a bit complicated. I stayed away from home during my university years, but at first I felt a bit overwhelmed by the students' hostel and tended to go back to my parents' every weekend. After they got me a room with a private landlord, I felt a little more at ease and gradually started coming back less often. After my parents emigrated, I was still technically "living at home" - except they weren't there, lol. I went through a long series of rented rooms/shared apartments while I studied, but my parents' flat was still my official address during all those years. I didn't really "move away" permanently until I left for the U.S. as well - to stay with my parents again, at their new residence across the ocean. So you could logically say that I first moved out at age 32 - even though I lived by myself, on and off, for years before that. I just didn't have to pay the rent out of my own pocket...

And that is all for now. Next part will follow sometime in the quite undefined near future...;)