Floating Leaf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
floatingleaf) wrote2014-05-13 08:55 pm
floatingleaf) wrote2014-05-13 08:55 pm
Entry tags:
a bonus surprise post... LOL
I called in sick today. My period is relatively mild this time, all things considered - but still, I felt very sluggish in the morning and couldn't quite make myself get up... plus, there isn't much of anything going on at work right now, so I have zero guilt about taking a day to chill out.:P
And, since I have been neglecting LJ of late, I'm going to use the extra time to start another meme.:) Another 30-day meme, actually. It's a bit different from the one I finished recently. Some questions are similar - so I will skip those. Anyway... here's the full list of topics (stolen, this time, from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
goddessofchaos):
1. Your name
2. All the places you’ve lived
3. Your first best friend
4. Your childhood fears
5. What you were like in high school
6. Your favourite and least favourite subjects at school
7. Your first boyfriend or girlfriend
8. Your oldest hobby
9. Your sexuality
10. What you look for in a partner
11. Your kids, or your feelings about having kids
12. Your pets, past and present
13. Foods you love and foods you hate
14. What your life was like ten years ago
15. How much alcohol you drink
16. Your worst illness
17. What you do at work
18. A question or comment people should never make to you
19. The style of clothing you feel most comfortable in
20. Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert
21. Who you have a crush on
22. A friendship you lost
23. Three achievements you’re proud of
24. Your political views
25. Your religious beliefs
26. Your perfect night out
27. Whether you like to plan ahead or be spontaneous
28. What you look for in a friend
29. Whether you’re a night owl or a morning lark
30. How you would like people to remember you
I'm skipping the first one, because my name (the one I chose, and the one I actually identify with) is Floating Leaf, and I have already explained the philosophy behind it a number of times.:)
All the places I've lived... Well, for the first 19 or 20 years of my life I lived in a tiny, backwards town in the south of Poland. The name of said town doesn't matter - it's too long anyway.;) It had a population of about 15,000 at the time. There were three elementary schools, one high school (which I attended), one or two vocational colleges, two churches and an old, neglected synagogue (it had been a mostly Jewish town before the war; no-one with a basic knowledge of European history needs to be told why it isn't anymore). I hear the building has been recently renovated, though, and is now housing a Jewish cultural center and a museum. Which is awesome. Oh, and I almost forgot about the one and only cinema in town, open only on weekends!!! Yes, we had culture. *snort* There were also some historic cemeteries and a lovely park on a hillside, perfect for sledding. For the first seven years of my life, I lived with my parents & grandma in a tiny one-bedroom flat at the bottom of the park (grandma slept in the kitchen). Then, before my sister's arrival, we moved to a slightly bigger (two-bedroom) apartment in a block of flats on the other side of the park - right next to my school. We were on the third floor, with a little balcony which looked out on the lawn ringed by a row of trees. The view from that balcony still comes back to me in dreams every once in a while...
I still technically "lived there" until I moved to the US in 2002 - except not really, since between 1990 and 2002 I spent most of my time in Krakow - the city where I studied. There, I went through a long series of rented rooms/dorms/shared apartments that I couldn't possibly recount in any reliable order anymore. On average, I would say I changed this temporary abode at least once a year. I lived in several different parts of town - some more than once. I can recall at least 10 rooms/apartments right off the top of my head - and I must be forgetting some, too. At one point I went back home to my parents for about a year an a half - after I quit my studies due to a nervous breakdown - but that wasn't doing me any good, so I eventually returned to Krakow for some more studying/therapy/unsuccessful job searches/socializing etc. The later Krakow years were definitely better than the early ones. In the so-called meantime my parents moved to the US (taking my sister with them, since she was still a teenager; I, being over 21 at the time when my mom obtained her legal resident status, had to wait a few more years for my immigration papers to arrive). After they left, I was suddenly more willing to spend time in their empty apartment.:) For the most part I lived in Krakow, but I sometimes escaped to my little hometown for a day or two at a time (the official excuse was "taking care" of the place they left behind; but really, I was indulging my hermit side, since in Krakow I could never afford to rent out a place on my own and always had to share).
So, those were the first three quarters of my life so far. In May 2002, I moved to Chicago and lived with my parents again for about a year and a half - first in a rented two-bedroom apartment, then in the three-bedroom house they had eventually bought in the northwestern suburbs (and where they live to this day). In November 2003, I moved out into another rented room with a friend of a friend who had a big place all to herself and wanted some extra income. I stayed there until March 2007 - which is when I was finally able to rent out a studio apartment ON MY OWN. At 36. For the first time in my life. And let me tell you, I am NOT going back to sharing my living space again unless forced to do so by truly desperate circumstances... LOL. So, this is it so far. I am still in the abovementioned studio apartment (which is on the northern outskirts of Chicago itself, not in the suburbs anymore). Not quite as enthralled with it as I was at the beginning... but I can probably endure another year or so, until I can figure out what my options are. I do want to move out of here eventually - but I certainly hope for that next move to be final (or, at least, semi-final...;), and so it will not happen until I find something really great (as well as affordable, I might add). Or until my parents find something really great that they are willing to buy for me - whichever happens first. Any good thoughts and wishes concerning the above are highly appreciated...
And, since I have been neglecting LJ of late, I'm going to use the extra time to start another meme.:) Another 30-day meme, actually. It's a bit different from the one I finished recently. Some questions are similar - so I will skip those. Anyway... here's the full list of topics (stolen, this time, from
goddessofchaos): 1. Your name
2. All the places you’ve lived
3. Your first best friend
4. Your childhood fears
5. What you were like in high school
6. Your favourite and least favourite subjects at school
7. Your first boyfriend or girlfriend
8. Your oldest hobby
9. Your sexuality
10. What you look for in a partner
11. Your kids, or your feelings about having kids
12. Your pets, past and present
13. Foods you love and foods you hate
14. What your life was like ten years ago
15. How much alcohol you drink
16. Your worst illness
17. What you do at work
18. A question or comment people should never make to you
19. The style of clothing you feel most comfortable in
20. Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert
21. Who you have a crush on
22. A friendship you lost
23. Three achievements you’re proud of
24. Your political views
25. Your religious beliefs
26. Your perfect night out
27. Whether you like to plan ahead or be spontaneous
28. What you look for in a friend
29. Whether you’re a night owl or a morning lark
30. How you would like people to remember you
I'm skipping the first one, because my name (the one I chose, and the one I actually identify with) is Floating Leaf, and I have already explained the philosophy behind it a number of times.:)
All the places I've lived... Well, for the first 19 or 20 years of my life I lived in a tiny, backwards town in the south of Poland. The name of said town doesn't matter - it's too long anyway.;) It had a population of about 15,000 at the time. There were three elementary schools, one high school (which I attended), one or two vocational colleges, two churches and an old, neglected synagogue (it had been a mostly Jewish town before the war; no-one with a basic knowledge of European history needs to be told why it isn't anymore). I hear the building has been recently renovated, though, and is now housing a Jewish cultural center and a museum. Which is awesome. Oh, and I almost forgot about the one and only cinema in town, open only on weekends!!! Yes, we had culture. *snort* There were also some historic cemeteries and a lovely park on a hillside, perfect for sledding. For the first seven years of my life, I lived with my parents & grandma in a tiny one-bedroom flat at the bottom of the park (grandma slept in the kitchen). Then, before my sister's arrival, we moved to a slightly bigger (two-bedroom) apartment in a block of flats on the other side of the park - right next to my school. We were on the third floor, with a little balcony which looked out on the lawn ringed by a row of trees. The view from that balcony still comes back to me in dreams every once in a while...
I still technically "lived there" until I moved to the US in 2002 - except not really, since between 1990 and 2002 I spent most of my time in Krakow - the city where I studied. There, I went through a long series of rented rooms/dorms/shared apartments that I couldn't possibly recount in any reliable order anymore. On average, I would say I changed this temporary abode at least once a year. I lived in several different parts of town - some more than once. I can recall at least 10 rooms/apartments right off the top of my head - and I must be forgetting some, too. At one point I went back home to my parents for about a year an a half - after I quit my studies due to a nervous breakdown - but that wasn't doing me any good, so I eventually returned to Krakow for some more studying/therapy/unsuccessful job searches/socializing etc. The later Krakow years were definitely better than the early ones. In the so-called meantime my parents moved to the US (taking my sister with them, since she was still a teenager; I, being over 21 at the time when my mom obtained her legal resident status, had to wait a few more years for my immigration papers to arrive). After they left, I was suddenly more willing to spend time in their empty apartment.:) For the most part I lived in Krakow, but I sometimes escaped to my little hometown for a day or two at a time (the official excuse was "taking care" of the place they left behind; but really, I was indulging my hermit side, since in Krakow I could never afford to rent out a place on my own and always had to share).
So, those were the first three quarters of my life so far. In May 2002, I moved to Chicago and lived with my parents again for about a year and a half - first in a rented two-bedroom apartment, then in the three-bedroom house they had eventually bought in the northwestern suburbs (and where they live to this day). In November 2003, I moved out into another rented room with a friend of a friend who had a big place all to herself and wanted some extra income. I stayed there until March 2007 - which is when I was finally able to rent out a studio apartment ON MY OWN. At 36. For the first time in my life. And let me tell you, I am NOT going back to sharing my living space again unless forced to do so by truly desperate circumstances... LOL. So, this is it so far. I am still in the abovementioned studio apartment (which is on the northern outskirts of Chicago itself, not in the suburbs anymore). Not quite as enthralled with it as I was at the beginning... but I can probably endure another year or so, until I can figure out what my options are. I do want to move out of here eventually - but I certainly hope for that next move to be final (or, at least, semi-final...;), and so it will not happen until I find something really great (as well as affordable, I might add). Or until my parents find something really great that they are willing to buy for me - whichever happens first. Any good thoughts and wishes concerning the above are highly appreciated...
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In the so-called meantime, they found out that there was a lottery for a legal resident status; anyone could fill out the application and mail it to the immigration office, and then some people would be randomly selected. So my mom sent in her papers... and she won.:) The legal status was valid for the applicant + their spouse and any children under 21 - so it also included my dad & sister. I was over 21 by then, so I had to fill out a separate application and wait a few more years (there was no doubt it was going to be approved, the waiting was just a formality; but obviously tons of people fill out such applications every year to join their families, and the bureaucratic machine isn't famous for speed... LOL). After you acquire legal resident status, you have to wait 5 years before you can apply for citizenship - and while you wait, you are not allowed to leave the country for more than a year at a time. That's really the only requirement, I think. Oh, and if you do NOT apply for citizenship within 10 years, the immigration department might question you about your plans. We all applied within due time and passed the citizenship exam easily; but I think one of my uncles failed, because his English wasn't good enough (it's really hard to fail, you have to be pretty much unable to put three words together... LOL). As far as I know, though, he is still here - so they didn't kick him out of the country or anything. He probably got another chance...
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Keeping my fingers crossed that you find somewhere great to live in the relatively near future!
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Haha. I feel so provincial now...;)