That was fast.

Ok, an eventful week so at Christine's request, an update!

I'll start with the followup to the last post. I had my citizenship interview today. I was nervous and excited, didn't really know what to expect. The form I received said to allow 2 hours for the interview (seemed long, since all they do is ask some civics/history questions, make you read a sentence and write a sentence, prove you can speak english, make you prove you're actually married and not a fraud, and some other mundane things).

Interview time was 10:20, and it said not to arrive more than 30 minutes prior. I get there at 10 to 10. I already knew where the building was, and it is about 5 minutes from my work, so no problem there. Walk in, through security, up to the second floor and put my form in a bin - not even a person there to say put that here! by 10am i was already in the interview - it is a legal proceeding, so i swore to tell the truth - no problem. Asked me all the above (you know, between the brackets), while checking things off on my forms (no idea what he was even checking off, it certainly wasn't civics questions) Asked if I'm married, looked over my bills and said no problem there, made sure I'd never stated I was a citizen, or that I'd voted in the US - no and no. He used to work in customs, so we talked alittle shop (being that I'm in anti-money laundering, I know all the schemes they deal with). After the civics questions he asked me where they brewed Labatt's - funny guy! I then had to prove I can read and write - I read, 'It is sunny outside today' and wrote 'I live in Minnesota.' Tough stuff. That was about it, I was done and in the car at 10:15. So it is close to the next ceremony, which is on aug. 15th - i might get into that one, otherwise it will be at the end of september (that is a big one though, downtown MPLS and one of our senators and the US attorney general are speaking at it, so that would be interesting).

So I guess I'm pretty up from that, it was a breeze and I'm almost an American now. Prior to that, a pretty depressing week I guess. I haven't been able to lose any weight in the last month and a half (at least I haven't gained anything) - its still my fault, changing diet can only help so much, I need to start exercising. But on top of that, one of my coworkers is quitting for a better job too, he's pretty much the last to leave of the people that I talk to on a regular basis, so that really sucks. I need a change. I wish i could be a photographer, but where do you even begin?! maybe i'll take some classes, or read some books, but that still leaves me at work most of the time, which is becoming increasingly boring and now with pretty much no one to talk to (at least another guy that is my age) its gonna suck even more. Then of course the bridge collapsed in MPLS on wednesday evening, pretty scary, and definitely tragic, not to mention it will take a good two years + to replace and cause major headaches (i'm thinking for the general public as we live on the southside and don't use it that often). I went down to see the bridge (but couldn't see much) after my citizenship interview this morning to see for myself, and take a few pictures (nothing breathtaking as you can't get close, but you can see them on my facebook). Anyways, that brings me back to my interview this morning.

I don't need to become a citizen, I could live here the rest of my life without it. But I knew I eventually would. My dad asked me to - I can petition for him to become a permanent resident, which is what I am now. He is far from perfect, and I easily could not speak to him for some of the things he has done. But he's still my dad, and maybe he can have some sense of normalcy again - it seems like he is always moving to me and never in one place anymore, although he has changed, he does seem to be happy, and I can do this one thing for him. So he prompted me, but he is not the reason why.

I moved to the US just before sept. 11th. I couldn'tve cared less where we lived, we'd just gotten married, had hardly no money, and chose the cheapest option. I learned what it was to be an American back then though. That they do care when it matters, and take action. Like them or not, they show their cards, and when push comes to shove they make the right moves. I'm not talking about the government, I'm talking about the people. I saw that again on a smaller scale on wednesday night. Americans are about action, and I hope that I can be the same. So I'll be an American and hope that I can live upto what that means.