Long story short - I AM IN NEBRASKA!!!! As a friend put it, 5 years ago, if somebody asked me where I would see myself in 5 years, would I ever think Nebraska??!! Heck no!!! Nebraska was never on my mind. Maybe Georgia. But probably not since Georgia is hot. I also did not even know where Nebraska was. I thought it was East of Ohio. Turns out I really don't know my geography (Riya, still need your help in this). But alas I am here in Nebraska. So take a seat and let me tell you the tale of how I got here.
I came by car. No trains. No planes. Just a car. A kick ass new car in fact. A decision I am still thinking is quasi irrational, illogical and down right crazy but at the moment it happened, I figured it was the only way I could logically and financially get down here. Still wondering about that whole idea. Although I am in love with my new car (sorry old car). The trip started at home and got a little delayed due to the snow storm that came through. Which caused a little panic and worry with my Mother. I honestly did not know how she was going to handle my journey down but I think she handled it admirably. All in all it was a long trip - 3 days worth of driving and worrying about how fast I was going and what would happen if I got pulled over and if they would even let me into the country again.
The first day I made it to the bottom of Saskatchewan where I spent the night at my Aunt Felicia's and Pius' place. They were kind enough to let me crash there for the night before heading into the States and man do they ever have a nice house and are very hospitable for the people who venture their way. I have a feeling they will be a common pit stop whenever I come home. The next day, it was time to venture into the States. Before I got to the border, I was having a little bit of anxiety. Okay, a lot of anxiety. I called Amie in a moment of panic, wondering what would happen if they didn't let me through and what my phone call would be to my aunt if I had to head back to their place to finalize all the stuff. Just bad thoughts all around. I got to Portal, North Dakota and found my way to the border crossing. I tried to not look panicky or stressed or worried. And I think it worked. However, and this is my luck, I think the border agent I got either was new and did not know what they were doing or hated their job and loved passing their misery on to others as I am pretty sure he did not do his job correctly and I am now paying for it.
This is how the conversation at the border crossing went: "what brings you to the States?" "I got a job here in Nebraska as a therapist" (passed him my passport and Visa) "Do you have an I-94?" (I panic) "No I don't." (I actually totally forgot what this was and how I got it so maybe this would explain my current potential predicament) "That is okay, I don't think you need it" (maybe that would explain my current potential predicament) "I have a copy of my job offer if you want to see that" "No, that is okay" "I also am bringing my car into the states and realize you need to fill out a form or two to allow me to do that" " I will take these documents and just have a seat and I will call you up when we are done". I go sit down, panicking about not having an I-94 and what would happen if I needed it and didn't have it. The minutes ticked by so slowly I thought all the bad things that could happen. He finally asked me to come back up to the counter. "Fill out this form regarding your car" (the form is not user friendly and was confusing to fill out). He stamped it, provided me a "released" notification and said I was done. That simple. Nobody searched my car. I didn't have to claim anything. And they only provided me one form that they filled out regarding my vehicle (which is giving me enormous grief at the present moment trying to register my vehicle). But I did not question his methods, probably a mistake in hindsight with some issues I have now, and made my merry way into the States.
The drive, very boring. Fields upon fields of nothing really. Especially in the winter. Probably in the summer it would be a lot nicer drive. Some valleys but for the most part, very flat. There was a some nifty little lakes that I had passed that would be gorgeous in the summer, especially me being a lover of water. And, just an fyi, taking pictures with a camera while driving in a different country - quite a skill. I wish I could have taken my time and actually stopped and take pictures but I was in a slight time crunch so I had to do the fly-by camera taking nonsense. I was so excited to see the Missouri River and would cross it when I got to Pierre, South Dakota, but since I left Pierre around 5:30am, it was dark and thus I did not see the Missouri River. Probably the ONLY form of landscape that would have been really cool to see and I missed it.
One thing I was very excited about, but was short lived once I experienced it, was to be able to have pictures of the Welcome to North Dakota, Welcome to South Dakota, Welcome to Nebraska signs. I got the Welcome to North Dakota. I got the Welcome to Nebraska. THERE WAS NO WELCOME TO SOUTH DAKOTA. Now if people were geographically challenged, like me, and thankfully if people are somewhat observant when driving, sometimes like me, the only way I knew I was in South Dakota was that the roads changed slightly and there were a crap ton of signs regarding vehicles and whatnot for the road. But no Welcome to South Dakota sign. I was very let down.
I also learned that driving in the States with no GPS/Google Maps and just the print off of the trip can be very unnerving. Especially since the road signs in the States can be slightly confusing. How can one be heading East on Route 54 and also South on Route 281??!! The good thing with that signage system is that as long as I saw the number in any of the signs, I knew I was going the right way. Unless if the sign said West or North. Then it was not good. Thankfully I had my music. Because when I found myself in Deliverance country, I had the music to make me fit right in. 3 days of road tripping tunes, car dancing and singing at the top of my lungs. It was wonderful really.
So that is kind of the story of how I got to where I am. I could go on about what this place is like and all that jazz, but I will save that for a different posting. I finally decided to see if I could change the name of my old blog to reflect the new status in my life. So please note that. I am not sure if, if you are signed up for the automatic notifications, if it will switch over to the new blog or not. It is my old blog (you can still see my Washington posts) but with a new name and new url address. However, I will update you guys on what work is like and what it is like living in Hastings.
Love and miss you all!!!!
