JennaW

Photion, a Gibbon daemon, because I am modest, shy, a leader, spontaneous, and solitary; 3.5% of people have a Gibbon daemon.

Congrats on finally meeting! It looks like it went beautifully!

I've loved martial arts forever. I just got started into rock climbing. And I like yoga for its physical exercise only. I dislike team sports...

Ciro-- he's not Italian, he's Austrian. :-)

I haven't talked to any immigration lawyers at all. Coming into the US is different than entering into the European Union. However my man knows the US Ambassador's assistant in Vienna and I will be asking some questions about living there and gaining citizenship... but right now, my very vague plan is to work and save money (already doing that-- working 7 days a week for 6 months!), then move there at the end of December (already bought my one-way ticket) for 6 months. During the 6 months we'll see how things go, and if it's working out well, we'll marry. If not, then I can always move back and stay at either my parents' place or my best friend's place until I find a job and an apartment. So, by the time we marry, it'll have been almost 2 years of knowing each other. Don't rush into things and decide life-changing events right away-- if it's going to work out, it's gonna happen. Just give it time to develop-- living with him is different than traveling with him is different than camping with him is different than etc. etc. Moving is a huge step and I didn't officially decide until we saw each other two times... and even then, I have a "back out" plan. Just take it easy, get to know the person face to face, and don't sweat it when you find out that some things they do annoy the hell out of you. I'd meet more than once to decide to move-- my 2nd time with him was a lot different than my first. I found out a lot about how he lived and it ~is~ different than how I live, so I know all the things I have to get used to and how to incorporate my style of living with his. That's all I can remember to say right now (it's 11:30pm and I have to move out by the end of May so I spent all day packing and donating things and organizing, etc.). If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer... I just don't know the immigration ones to the US. --Jenna

I saw this on IMAX. The special effects were really cool (v. photographic) and intense, but the dialogue was really, really lame. I almost wished that were no speaking lines in the movie at all, as I think it would have been understandable without them.

Thank you! And, same to you! Yes, with jobs and school and etc. it's hard to make trips... but it's all about juggling. Well, I'll be moving out of the States in December, so I have 7 months left here to enjoy. I think I'll try life as an expat, that should be exciting.

I've been busy with school and work the past week or so, but put up some photos of Italy... if anyone here gets a chance, go to northern Italy in spring! It's beautiful, especially the sunsets on Lago di Garda.

I'm back, and it was fantastic! Austria is beautiful, and he took me to Italy, which is also very beautiful. In December, after Christmas, I'm moving there. I'm still uploading photos very slowly, and reeling from exhaustion and jet leg and missing him... hopefully there will be another visit in the summer and hopefully he will make his first visit to the States in autumn. Ange & Victor-- glad you are finally meeting. I can't believe the patience you have. My advice is to be open to how they are in person, it could be different than what you imagined, so let yourselves get used to how the other person lives in their body.

Thank you both! Well we met up early (after 4 months of email) because both of us are impatient and spontaneous. And we've traveled before so we have all our documentation all set. I've never had my name on a tree before! Well first time for everything! So I really hope you two do meet up. It's like the final step, and I couldn't rest easy until I met him. --J

Today at 7pm I go on a flight to Vienna, Austria, to meet my man for the 2nd time! Hopefully if I get internet access there, I'll post photos. :-)

Well Flickr is down at the moment, they have a tech problem that's giving them a hard time. But it's only happened once in the year that I've been on flickr. Overrall, if you get a free account you can post up to 200 photos and make 3 albums (or sets, as they call them). If you buy an account (for $25/yr.) you can get unlimited everything. I like it a lot even though I have some suggestions. The best part is that you can block people who are creeping you out (which I have done), and you can write little notes on other people's photos, and you can join "photo forums" where you can discuss things and post photos that people in that forum can see. Basically, it took me awhile to look around on Flickr before I found out how neat it was, so it takes getting used to. When they're back up, make an account and play around. It's pretty neat.

I started to giggle when I saw Victor's black-and-white pics, total greaser/James Dean/rebel But then I read the thread. I was gonna say that if you come to SF, you'll find lots of vintage clothing here (and tons of 20-30-stomethings that dress like that and play in rock bands) that's perfect for that look! It's nice to see more of the forum's faces up in photographs. I really do think that photos speak a thousand words.

Postal Service -- Such Great Heights

Can't believe no one linked to The Cure's or . They're great songs even though Robert Smith looks like he's, um, a zombie?

I have a soft spot in my heart for Fly me to the moon. He also sent me the score of You Are the Sunshine of my Life. And put it on a mix CD he made for me. When we hung out at night in our bungalow, we'd play some Keith Jarrett, the Koln Concert. I can't find a youtube video of that. But it's beautiful.

Haha, I like that song! Been listening to it since it was on the soundtrack for Dirty Dancing (when I was about 10 years old, on VHS). Not sure about the good-looking attracts good-looking... I've dated mostly in-shape, active guys although I haven't always been the same. I think, physically, all the features that I loved on a guy was finally all in one person. And I wasn't the one who hit on him, either. He was the first to make the move! & when I saw his picture, I was like, "Wow, he's gorgeous!" Thank goodness he liked me out of all those other women

When do you two meet? The tension is killing me! I'm seeing him again NEXT MONTH. 2 weeks again. Yay! I uploaded more photos today. It always looks like I'm bigger than he is, but it's because I'm always sitting on or leaning in front of him. He's at least half a foot taller than me and 24 kg. heavier. And yes, Victor, he's a fantastic kisser :heart: p.s. that Love Theme song was soooo schmaltzy... yeah, Victor, make sure you're holding a long stemmed rose in your teeth when you walk through that door. ;) Goes good w/ the music.

Hey all, Everything was wonderful. Being on tropical beaches probably added to the whole thing, too... I just have to say, after the fact, that love can't be distilled down into a list of things, described before you experience it, or cordoned off with rope under a specific heading. Part of it is undefined, in my experience-- there are so many instances of being in love where there are just no words for it, that I could not have known before experiencing it. There are instances that are unexplainable except only to the people involved. I think any love experience is individual for each couple; so for me to explain my experience probably wouldn't translate so well to help anyone else. Despite the language difference (Austrian German & English), we understood each other more completely than many people who I have met who speak English perfectly. I had to come face-to-face with someone who grew up European, which is different than someone who grew up American. His mannerisms, habits, and outlook are all European, and there *is* a difference. So we've had to explain each other's cultures, and deal with that, which is fun (and sometimes puzzling) because both of us are open-minded and have seen some of the world. Also, we're both easy-going people so we could deal with a large variety of issues (unexpected high tide, injuries, crappy rooms, food poisoning, rock-climbing safety), so small issues weren't a problem. I think it just depends on who you both are as people, how you deal with things and with each other, and if the equation is balanced (both people are strong), things will be fine. I didn't have a checklist, but I knew what I *didn't* want. When I started knowing Jogl, something clicked, and I knew that this was going to be something special. I don't think I should try to force out a list, or write down why or how; it just all lies in the person that he is, in the person that I am, in the people that we are when we are with each other. I think this is like that saying, where the relationship isn't the couple looking at each other, but both looking forward in the same direction.

Thank you everyone! And I look forward to reading/seeing more of Victor/Angie and Kat/Michael's stories! Here are photos of my boyfriend: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennaw/sets/72157594500074542/ (and me, if I'm involved somehow). General Thailand photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennaw/sets/72157594442146693/. I'll try to write more later, I'm still organizing my mind after this whirlwind of a month!

:-) Things worked out just peachy.

Great, Angie & Victor! On Jan. 11th I will be picking up my boy from the airport in Bangkok, so, 8 days away for us! Yay! I know two personal friends who are traveling far to see their special others this month. What a great way to start the year! :-)

I totally didn't know you guys lived apart, as you seemed so close that I thought you were already living together! But anyway-- congrats!

I think if things work out between me and the person I'm interested in, we can meet each other 2-3 times a year until I get my Master's (up to 2 years). Then, whether it works out or not, I'm moving to Europe... preferably Italy. There's a school in Trieste that I'm interested in. Conveniently, Trieste is right smack next to Austria... but I'm also thinking, if things don't work out between us, I'm in ITALY for crying out loud...

Haha... well, I just don't even think of the naysayers enough to think to tell them they're assholes. People would think it's trouble if I paid attention to them, but seriously, it's when I ~don't~ think of them is when they're really inconsequential! --J Oh, believe me I am and do live my dreams, but I like to take every opportunity to tell the naysayers what assholes they are. I get a little kick out of it. :devil: