I have it!

Yesterday I got my Green Card in the mail! I am now officially a Permanent Resident in the United States of America!

With the letter I also got a folder pointing me to a guide called "Welcome to the United States - A Guide for New Immigrants". I am now officially an Immigrant.

In the folder, under the heading "Getting Involved in Your Community" I read:

The U.S. government is a government of, by, and for the people. This means that people can shape the government and its policies. Each person has an important role to play in his or her local community. You can get involved in your community through local organizations, your place of worship or work, your neighborhood, or your children's schools. Welcome to the United states gives ideas for getting involved in your community and learning more about life in this country.

The United States presidential election of 2008 is scheduled to be held on November 4. The average voter turnout in the US is around 50 % depending on what source you quote. These statistics puts it at 48.3% which would land the country a 139th place in the World Cup of Voter Turnout. So right now it seems like the U.S. government is a government of, by, and for half the people.

The short of it: I wish I could vote as a permanent resident.

At the Immigration Office

Our interview yesterday went very well! The interviewer was easygoing and we talked for a pretty short time and he asked us some questions, and that was basically it. Autumn had spent quite a lot of time preparing these photo albums with a lot of photos showing the two of us together and with friends and family. Did they guy even look at these!? No. When the interview was almost over and we realized that he was not going to look at our super nice photo albums, with pictures of mostly us, I pointed it out to him that Autumn had prepared them. He still did not look at the photos.

I had an appointment for the 19th of September for my biometrics (basically fingerprints), but during the interview the officer gave us a new appointment for the same day. So after the interview we went and got the biometric scan done, which saved me a trip back down to LA!

The officer told us that I will have the green card in about 3 weeks. All in all my experience with the immigration authorities here has been surprisingly smooth. The paperwork, rules and regulations have not been that much fun to deal with, but when we have met a person behind all that bureaucracy they have actually been pretty friendly and human.

Thank you for all your support during this time!

Today has been a very warm day here in Pasadena, where we are house sitting until Saturday. I walked to the library and got some work done and now I have just come back from boxing at the YMCA. It was good to see some of the old boxing gang.

Tonight we are going out for dinner to this place with some friends of Autumn that I have not met yet. It is nice that it has been cooling down a bit since the heat of this day.

This is all for now from Pasadena.

Bona Fide Marriage

On Tuesday the 11th of September(!) we are going to our interview at the immigration office in down town LA. The interview is to prove/show that our marriage is a real one. We are putting together all the information we need to bring with us, and it is quite a lot of stuff! And some of it is what I would call 'private'. Such as our email correspondence from last summer when we had first met. But if this is what they need I guess that this is what we will give them in order to show that we have a Bona Fide Marriage. So wish us luck for next week!

Sunny Saturday

We just came back after a sunny day at Refugio Beach. It's a nice weekend.
I hope you are all doing well!

Ps. I will have a headset pretty soon

Great photo, as always.

At the library

Not so many days ago I got myself a proper Library Card in Lompoc. Right now I am sitting in that library, using their wireless connection to look for jobs. Some ten meters in front of me there is a glass wall/sliding door to the outside. It is sunny. I can also see posters with famous people such as Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas and LL Cool J telling me to "READ". It is quite in here. Which is not something to take for granted in a library.

Outside the window there is a (to me) strange collection of trees. I think it is the birch mixed with the palm trees that does it.

Yesterday we watched Hitchcock's Rear Window. Good movie.

Back to work.

Stieg Larsson

I just finished the second book of Stieg Larsson's Milennium trilogy. And I am surprised that no one has mentioned his coffee hang-up. The characters seem to be drinking coffee without any regard for the hour of the day or what all that coffee will do to the general well being of the stomach. If that is any sign of Stieg Larsson's coffee habits he must have been a rather energized person.

So which book is the best? I guess that if the first book is Alien then the second book would logically be Aliens. Both good movies but in quite different (and similar) ways.

Back in the US

After having had our flight canceled on Friday we finally left from Stockholm on Saturday. Arriving at Philadelphia we then missed our connecting flight to Los Angeles due to the fact that we were delayed from Stockholm. So all in all it has been a rather long journey.

US Airways...what can I say except, do NOT fly with them! That cheap price might look tempting, but then ask yourself "What have they cut down on to be that cheap?". The answer seems to be: most things, including all the organizers.

But now we are finally here. Last night we spent in Pasadena and drove up to Lompoc today. It's sunny and it's great to be here!

I hope you are all doing well!

In the moving business

Yesterday we moved out from our appartment here in Linköping. We had plenty of help so it did not take us that long. Today, and probably tomorrow, we are going to clean out the place and take care of the last things that are still there.

On Wedneday we are going up to Stockholm to stay with my sister for a few days. Then on Friday it's time for the flight back to California.

At the moment we are staying at Emil and Linda's place, with their two cats. Now it's time to go over to our appartment. I hope you are doing well!