I GOT TO AMERICA

12 WEEKS AND 6 DAYS

omg where u moving

I need to start a thread where I go somewhere. maybe I should just line up a multidestination vacation like Ned, except NYC + SF + Boston + London from DC doesn't really fit into a comprehensible geographic itinerary

hey tombot you can have my room when i leave. $120 p/week (nz dollars), we have a wicked awesome dog called bella (she's the BEST). and we live 10mins walk from the central city but up in this valley so it's like being in the country and you can see all the stars at night.

HOOS i'm moving to oakland, california.

why u movin

OMG hoos i thought i had blabbed this all over ilx already like a milllion times for the last 6 months...

love of my life is there! so i must move there to be with him.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2258/2315750268_8b28e2b565_m.jpg

i do not read sheepfuxxorz thread!

that is hooray news good work

actually i don't think i mentioned it on sheep fuxxors thread since i hardly post there, but i've chattered about it quite a bit over the months.

thanks hoos!

xxpost it's 'shop, in case you couldn't tell from the pixels

I could definitely tell.

'cuz of the pixels, right?

I could tell cuz of the pixels.

xpost

i thought so

87 days

Excitementt.

Also, I want to go to the US :(

My boss just got back from the US, he was there for a couple of weeks for seminars. We had a staff meeting the other day and he was bullshitting on about his trip and said something like "but holy shit you get sick of the american accent quickly" and a heap of people in the room were like "too right!" and i was like "u_u".

such a typically ignorant Australian attitude

hahaha, which American accent?!

yeah i'm wondering how weird it's going to be, surrounded by american accents all the time

although i'm gonna be in oakland so it'll probably be a more like mexican accents.

maybe i should learn spanish.

In Oak-town, y'r gonna get a real smorgasbord of accents, from African-American to East Asian.

And yes, including Mexican.

rr, he is cuet. well done!

and yay! moving!

What part of Oakland, anyways? Hope it's the sideshow-free parts.

Draggers couple days ago incinerated an Oakland house at 4:30AM, crashing into it.

Broke a gas main.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8912802

east 19th street, which is i think an okay-area?

xpost tza, i know ;) i want to post all the cute pics i have of him, but he would be mortified and you guys would think i was weird

That's medium-OK for Oakland.

We won't think y'r weird and we won't tell so go ahead and post-m-up.

i'm at work so i can't... but he reads itr so he's bound to find out if i do!

...okay i found one in my email, which i took on webcam... DON'T TELL HIM!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2232/2411662413_c1fa3c1a7c_o.png

i guess i can always pull it off my flickr account if he gets mad

that picture was taken on my parents' burgundy velour couch. i won't make rubyredd sit on furniture that ugly when she comes to live with me, don't worry.

no, but you are going to make me live in a house that has a giant wolf rug :/

is the wolf named conner?

be careful little rubyredd riding hood

it's the ugliest rug you've ever seen. it's not like an *actual* wolfskin or anything crazy. it's just a really ugly picture of a wolf. but owning a fugly rug is pretty much jordan's worse 'flaw' so i guess i'm pretty lucky.

curt1s, it's called 'wolfie' (for realz).

:)

That rug for President '08

I am leaning toward voting for that rug, but would like to see a photograph first. It can't be less attractive than John McCain.

HIDERE/JUSTEN/WOLFIE '08

There's a joke in there somewhere about which candidate needs to shave most desperately, but I just don't know how to get to it.

But yeah, you can count on my vote anyway.

OH MY GOD... i can't believe Wolfy is being discussed on ITR. this is the happiest day of my life. of course, it will be demoted to #2 once RR gets here, but for now NUMBER ONE!!!

i'll post a picture soon.

guys this is supergood handclap disco you should all download it not just cuz of the name

Woolfy - Odyssey

84 days

Oakland yesterday. Have fun!
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1750/oakqy0.png

i look retarded but couldn't be bothered trying to get a better photo - most unusual for me, considering how vain i normally am.

the photoshopped picture looked more real ;)

wot a fine looking pair.

awww<3

You look very, "Yeah, I'm good, and he knows it." Which is not an untoward approach.

Now what TRUE FACTS have you discovered about America so far?

Oh wow congrats! This makes me all nostalgic :) Mrs Poo had to do the same thing 5 years ago. Lazy blokes making girls travel all across the world for them, I dunno.

awes

Fantastic photo!!!! Thx for sharing. You guys are *glowing*!!!

Makes me almost nostalgic for an LDR! Almost.

You really are a cute couple. Jordan is HANDSOME. And he reminds me of me just a tiny bit...

hell yeah

you guys need to go here: http://www.thetrappist.com/

Fantastic. You guys give me great hope for the arrival the object of my of my LDR in september.

My two LDRs have both involved said girl moving to London to be with me, becoming miserable and overwhelmed and the relationship collapsing. Just in case you needed the other side of the coin :(

Well, we will probably end up back in america or doing LDR with positions reversed for a bit as well.

That sounds wrong.

(Anaheim plan still in place, right Ed? Went to one of my favored vegeterian restaurants in OC, Au Lac, yesterday -- completely remodelled and as fantastic as ever, you gotta go.)

i am starting to wonder if i should start looking across the pond or to another hemisphere for better luck...

Not wrong just a logistical nightmare.

Anaheim is definitely on although, as yet we have no accommodation. Trying to get priceline to work for us. Flights are booked though so we better get a move on.

tza, it seems to work for me, it is hard work, though and I have had one failure at the intercontinental LDR before, but I had a lot less money then and money does make it easier, being able to hop across the pond has been beneficial.

Anaheim is definitely on although, as yet we have no accommodation

Step on it. Not trying to be flip, you just don't want the Disneyland visitors booking you completely out of the area.

hi everyone!

ok, jordan is at work today so i will give big update:

(first of all - i HIGHLY recommend letting go of your inhibitions about internet/LDRs and attempting to find someone by unconventional methods. i didn't exactly go looking for jordan, but when i found him i didn't dismiss what we had just because of the circumstances in which we met.)

plane ride was pretty awful. don't want to do that again in a hurry.
customs was weird. when i went through the first customs official - the one where they get your fingerprints/eye scan etc. - the guy held me up for quite awhile because my sevis # (the number on my DS-2019 form that permits me to work) wasn't also on my visa. so then i had to go to a secondary customs office, and be questioned by a big scary black guy. it was really really hot in the airport, i was completely dehydrated, nauseous and incredibly anxious (close to having a panic attack since about an hour before landing), and i couldn't breathe properly, so of course i looked suspicious. but the guy just made me sit there for awhile why he sorted out my visa, after asking me about my plans.

so i get out of there and go get my luggage. i had been told by the customs guy that my luggage would be searched because i had declared all those goddamn lollies on the customs form. so i get to federal inspection and prepare to load my bags up on the x-ray thing. but the guy sees my form, asks me about the food, i explain they're new zealish lollies, and he just waves me through. i was completely confused - i was expecting to have to go through more, but suddenly i was in the arrivals area and there was jordan.

it was so so SO weird - i saw him standing there and i couldn't really comprehend it. i had thought i would probably bawl my eyes out, but i was so overwhelmed and so nervous that i didn't! at first, he looked really different: i don't know how to explain it, but i guess it was just seeing him in 3D. we hugged and it was sort of awkward - neither of us could really believe this was actually taking place.

but then on drive back to his place it started to be more real - i kept looking over at him and he started to look more and more familiar. i have to say that he is honestly even more hot in person than i thought, and i already thought he was gonna be a total babe. so then we got home....

TMI ALERT:

i absolutely will not go into detail here about what we did within 5mins of getting in his front door, but i will say this: everyone who went on at me about 'pheromones' and the importance of attraction in person blah blah blah and about how there was a good chance that in person we wouldn't be into each other at all: you were all completely wrong!!! if anything, the physical side of things was even more intense than i had imagined. from the first hug, all i could think was how fantastic he smelled, and how great he felt to touch. so yes: to sum up, we had amazing, amazing chemistry :) :) :)

so that was thursday. on friday we went bookstore hopping and hung out on telegraph street, saturday more book store hopping and my first burrito, sunday we went for a big hike. it's been an amazing four days - all those little things we haven't been able to do together before, those have been so incredible, just simple things like sitting on the couch and watching tv, getting to hold hands and walk down the street. just stuff like that.

while things with jordan have been fantastic, it has been extremely overwhelming being here. on the plane, about an hour before we landed, i suddenly started to panic when it well and truly hit me, the enormity of what i was doing. it was incredibly hard to deal with. everything here feels totally alien to me; the streets freak me out because the whole system is different, and i get scared just crossing a busy road. i'm really really nervous about finding a job, trying to not think about it for the next week while i settle in. and i've already encountered a problem with my visa: i'm supposed to log on to the govt visa monitoring site with my contact details, which i tried to do last night, but it said there was a problem. i've emailed, and will call later today, but it has me a little worried.

i guess that's about it for now!

oh, and some more photos:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2668301012_4595552c9d.jpg

Is fine by me, that means we can go and stay on the Queen Mary.

xpost

TZA you might just need a different state?

WOAH xpss

awww.....rr. all of that sounds VERY familiar. im so glad you got here. xxxx<3<3<3

Nice work rubes (I think I've said that before). BALD MEN ARE THE SEXIEST

i absolutely will not go into detail here about what we did within 5mins of getting in his front door, but i will say this: everyone who went on at me about 'pheromones' and the importance of attraction in person blah blah blah and about how there was a good chance that in person we wouldn't be into each other at all: you were all completely wrong!!! if anything, the physical side of things was even more intense than i had imagined. from the first hug, all i could think was how fantastic he smelled, and how great he felt to touch. so yes: to sum up, we had amazing, amazing chemistry :) :) :)

Ah yes, one of the great LDR things is the unleashing of certain pent up desires once you finally manage to get together.

Admin stuff sucks. I hate the visa line coming in and I am always just on the no moral turpidute green form which is much less painless than your experience. Perhaps should have warned you not to declare the food on the form as that can be tricky, can't be infecting US candy with new zealish chocolate viruses.

Mark C is on dodgy ground here.

omg ruby, how lovely! i am soo soooooo happy for you guys!!

yeah sunny, maybe different state. i know this sounds ridiculous, but i don't think living in new york is actually helping me in this area.

Yes sorry Ed, long, impossibly matted hair with god knows what living in it is sexier :P

Tehresa, you could get any number of UK boyz. Give it a go!

hmmm...

Mark C has a very hygienic head.

nothing wrong with that.

RR, wow it sounds great - except the end of the plane ride and the culture shock part. The trouble you went through to bring New Zealish candies! Good heavens.

SO glad you are here in the U.S. - and hang in there - it probably will get less overwhelming with time. I imagine that if I tried to move from Northfield (small, rural-ish college town) to New York City that would be a huge adjustment... and you have that on a MASSIVE scale.

i'm not sure how many of the lollies are going to survive... jordan broke his ethics and tried some gelatin-containing pineapple lumps and a perky nana. i need to mail them out soon before i eat them all!

now, what i'm going to do is buy little bags and split the lollies up. here's who is on my list:
lxy
jergins
remy
lingbert
sara
john justen
ned

am i missing anyone?

wow I had no idea you were in Americas, congrats! You're last little update was very sweet and has given me HOPE for LUV.

awww, rubyredd, you are sweet. (& congrats -- i have been following your move w interestz). when are you coming to seattle?

xp Awwwww, you are sweet, RR. You have to send me your address so that I can send something to you! Although I really think I should do this when the weather is cooler, because if it's not chocolate, I don't know what to send...

guys pineapple lumps are INCREDIBLE

remy, when i met estela we seriously discussed an ITR fap in seattle or portland. estela visits this part of the US fairly frequently, so figured maybe some time early next year, next time she's over here.

also: i will just send yours and lingbert's lollie bags to lxy and jergz's address, okay?

i don't know how to explain it, but i guess it was just seeing him in 3D. we hugged and it was sort of awkward - neither of us could really believe this was actually taking place.

Ha - I totally know how weird this is. The first time L and I met in person at the airport we had said beforehand that we'd just kiss right away so that we had a plan and would skip the awkwardness. We totally both fumbled the kiss were like two pubescent idiots. We figured it out a couple mins later in the elevator but it was still pretty funny.

Hope the immigration wesite stuff gets sorted out soon!

yeah, it's funny how awkward it is at first, but how incredibly quickly it dissipates. i still can't stop staring at him, it almost hurts my eyes because he's just so beautiful. he still makes me feel sort of weak at the knees! there is definitely something to be said for getting to know someone from a distance for a long time; i know i've said it before, but there's a kind of intimacy i have with jordan that i've never had with anyone else. i would go so far as to say that despite having had several other long term relationships, i honestly feel like this is the only time i've been truly in love.

rubyredd, this whole thing you've done is pretty amazing to me. congrats.

yeah, sending my LOLlies to lxy/jergins works just fine.

Thank you!

yeah, it's funny how awkward it is at first, but how incredibly quickly it dissipates . . . here is definitely something to be said for getting to know someone from a distance for a long time; i know i've said it before, but there's a kind of intimacy i have with jordan that i've never had with anyone else.

Very v true - enjoy it! There is honestly nothing quite like it. It's an amazing experience.

ps - You can expect something in the mail sometime next week. ;-)

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks erica <3

relax, have fun! sounds great!!!

Good happiness to all this. :-)

I've done LDRs before -- didn't work out and I will not repeat that again just because I realize that ultimately it's not the best for me (and therefore would not be the best for the other person). But that is just my experience, and much here on this thread sounds quite familiar. And I smile to think about it. :-)

I remember the crushing weight of "OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE" in the car when leaving the airport when I went over there. Even through I was only going there for a set amount of time (which ended up being shortened due to circumstances beyond my control), already had a job over there and wasn't going over to meet anyone, I was totally freaked out by everything...

...and then we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts.

Anyway, great to hear about the chemistry! (I think.)

yay, thanks, rubes. i can't wait (also it gives me an excuse to see jerg & lxy again)

ummm don't get too excited... there's a good chance we might accidentally eat them all before i get round to posting them out... ;)

:-(