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. :-)

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.

Jenna,

If you were my daughter, my advice to you would be, to have fun and enjoy life, but before you decide to get merried with your Italian boyfriend, become an affirmed professional, first.

Ciro

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

Jenna,

I have been meaning to ask you: have you shelled out for an immigration lawyer to make arrangements to move to another country? If so, was there a lot of red tape? I think you might know, not sure, but I am planning to move to California to live with Angie. Talk about a big step. I have vssen an immigration lawyer who has quoted around 45-hundred. Hmm, makes me wonder if there is some other way.

-Victor

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.

Jenna,

It is a delight and a treat to see how happy you are.

Michael

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

God, you guys are so cute. Love the tree !! Congrats on the second go around. Unfortunately Victor and I have run into some problems but very soon for us too. Once we get over a few hurdles, I'll be on my way. I put in another expedite for my birth certificate and should be here very soon !! Chris will be taken care of for the May 23 to 31 time I'll be gone. Thereafter it will be much easier for both of us to hook up more often. God, I can hardly wait. Congrats, Jenna !!

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.

Jenna,

I have to giggle with you because Victor is kinda stuck in the middle ages still when it comes to technology such as cameras and Ipods. LOL Btw, Victor honey, just kidding. I think it is cute, honey. I'll more than likely be buying him an Ipod soon eventually anyway as I know he will absolutely love it. But Jenna, he's not much of a techno type of guy. We've been sending pix of each other since last September or so and I just recently sent him a video. I have a few recent pix of him but I'm hoping he will upload some more onto that site. I went down late last year and picked up a camera and have been playing with it much and I was going to wait until me and Victor finally got together before getting a website going. But I figured what the hell, might as well do it now !! So since he is stuck in the dark ages a bit still, I think the more recent photos will be when we finally meet. Hey, I'm slowly bringing him into modern times. LOL

I've been doing some research off and on with photo sharing websites. How do you like flickr? Photobucket is okay but I don't really like their sub albums and the way it is set up and plus it is so blah looking. I checked out Image Station last night and they definitely have more features but some drawbacks to them. Kodak also has a photo sharing site but way limited on storage unless you sign up for a year membership. I like the format that flickr has and the features but still researching the other ones out there. So how do you like them?

Edit: Oh, and trust me, Victor doesn't dress like that now. He's a very nice dresser. In that sense, he is more up to date. But techno-wise, I gotta help bring him into this century. He's willing so it will be fun and interesting.

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

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

Jenna, how about this little tune for a 'love theme'--something we can direct towards our significant other?

BE MY BABY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCZA3NrpkE...ted&search= ( :heart: )

My first time in Thailand, in 2001, passed without a hitch. Of course, I didn't do anything remotely adventurous except for walking down the streets of Bangkok midday, but my mother can do that without a problem. This time, I was a bit more adventurous, and for my efforts I added Yet Another Scar to my body.

I have multiple scars, but most of them are from lung surgeries for random pneumothoraxes that keep happening... well, randomly. My doctors don't know why I get them, but as far as 2006's CT scans go, they've gotten rid of all the possible ways in which I could get another pneumothorax. So I'm used to scars, bandages, tapes, stitches, etc., but all the times I've gotten these incisions was when I was unconscious.

In Thailand last month, I finally received my first completely conscious experience of slicing my flesh open deep enough to need stitches. And I walked about a kilometer while bleeding from it to boot.

The rocks that we wanted to climb was on the west side of Tonsai Bay on Phi Phi Island (see map), past the hospital, and even past the light-tan "beach" area. During low tide, people can walk across some very sharp coralized rocks, some the size of a bungalow. Most were the size of generators or smaller; in the day time, it's very easy to see where to step because the sun shines bright in the tropics, even during cloudier days.

So Jogl's and my schedule for the day was to check out the rocks on that side as they were on the easy side and apt for me to learn rock-climbing on. I'm fine with that, so we stumble our way over these crazy-sharp rocks over there at 1 pm or so, stopped on a teeny tiny beach for Jogl to boulder on a giant rock sharp as razor blades. By that I mean that touching the rock and putting your weight on it was like hanging while clutching to a rose bush-- it's sharp on your hands. It can cut if you're not careful.

Then we move on to the roped climbing, and I have a lot of fun because it's not something I completely suck at even though there's a learning curve at some points, and I'm "stuck". I ended up enjoying this sport because once I'm climbing, there is a sense of focus along with being aware of your entire body and where it is. Towards the end of the day, the mosquitoes come and chase all the climbers (except for the very stubborn) away from the rocks, so we decide to head in for the day. Jogl goes ahead of me through the dense trees, which have vines that look like snakes-- and are very scary looking in the dark. The sun is setting fast.

But suddenly Jogl stops, and I come up beside him to gape at the black water where there used to be land.

"Where the hell did all that water come from?" I ask, even though I knew. I was more asking, "Do we have to swim our way back to beach, which is who-knows-how-far away? With your giant backpack? Over the sharp coral rocks?" But I don't ask that because I already know the answer.

It doesn't sound scary until the scenery is in front of you: black waters rising, trees with vines hanging into the water, sharp coral rocks underneath the water, no one around at all, in complete blackness because there is no light out here and no people. The lights seem far away, and I have no idea what lives in the ocean here at night, or, for that matter, on land.

We go anyway, wading into the water and immediately tripping on the rocks. I'm wearing a tank top, very short swim shorts, and beige slip on shoes. Jogl hoists his large backpack, carrying all our stuff, including my new camera, his ropes, our money, etc. onto his head and proceeds to walk as if fording a river. He's had to do this in India, while I'm never had to do this. But I'm doing it now, and boy, is fear a powerful thing.

When we reached a house on stilts partway back, I desperately wanted to climb up onto the platform with the Thai living there and just sleep over. I did not want to be in the water anymore, but Jogl kept going because we couldn't just crash this bungalow with the ten Thai men sitting there. They weren't very inviting, and they were staring at us like we were ghosts. So we left them and swam on, past their bungalow-on-stilts, and they were nice enough to shine a large light for us so we could see ahead for a bit. Then it was darkness again.

Fear can also be a cause of not remembering what I said or did during that one kilometer wading and paddling through black chest-high water. I don't know if I was whining the whole way, or was silent. I don't know how I am during these kinds of things, as this was my first time. All I hope for now was that I wasn't a pain in the ass. I know I freaked out on a few occasions: rope hanging from a tree into the water that caught on my ankle and held me; seeing this scaly alligator-like creature the size of a very large cat splash into the water in front of me; and when I fell. And when you fall, it's deep enough that your head is submerged; however, I found out that if you cut yourself, even deeply, the rocks are so sharp that it doesn't hurt and the salty seawater on top of it keeps the pain away. As well as the adrenaline rush and the desperate need to KEEP GOING.

We finally emerge onto the beach but keep walking. I have no idea if Jogl is even scared, or shocked, or in pain. He kept his cool the entire time, probably because he ice climbs in the Alps where they have avalanches, or maybe because he's gone through some interesting stuff while riding an old, old motorcycle through the Himalayas. I don't know, but I felt like part of me had just went away for awhile until I got to the beach. Then I calmly said, "We should stop by the hospital to check our cuts to make sure we're okay." After that, I felt immense relief as the fear slid from me-- all of a sudden I felt tired; and then a lot of pain. I look down, and there's blood that looks black and thick, running down my left leg into my shoe. "Oh, my god," I said, and we limped on, me leading him towards the hospital. I told Jogl, "I really, really, really want a whiskey right now. Let's go get some whiskey." I think he laughed and said "of course."

At the hospital doors, I sit down to check my leg. Sometimes, the pain doesn't come until you see the cut. Maybe this could be a reality-doesn't-really-happen-until-you-see-it scenario, which is exactly what happened to me. I knew I had a nasty cut, but when I saw the cut, and saw the yellow fatty tissue and muscle poking out into the world, my heart lurched and the pain, following the thought "NASTY-ASS CUT", really came. Jogl goes into the hospital and comes back with two band-aids. My cut is still oozing blood, and I try to hold it closed but it won't stick. I don't want to hold my cut closed all night long, and I don't want to bleed all night long. I especially don't want an infection. "No, no, no, I need stitches!" I yell, because I can't look at my cut anymore so I don't know if it's to the bone or not, and the pain is coming like a train. It doesn't hurt as much as I thought, but it does hurt like hell.

Jogl carries me into the emergency room, and all the staff-- who had been watching TV-- gather slowly easy their way around my leg. They ask me what happened. "The rocks!" we say, and point towards the beach. The pain is really screaming now; I wish I hadn't looked at my leg at all. Apparently the doctor on call agrees with me that I need stitches (wow, physiology knowledge is useful after all), so the nurse shows me a gigantic hypodermic needle full of anesthetic and proceeds to give me-- in or near my wound, I can't tell since the pain is the same-- the most painful shot of my life. I'm amazed that my eyes stay completely dry through this whole ordeal, but I scream like a banshee when that needle goes into my leg where the cut is. Jogl held my hands, and I think when I screamed out a few choice words was when he was finally in pain. Ah, a woman's vocal cords...

So I get all numb and happy, because pain is such a huge burden, and two of the staff gives me four stitches. They bandage me up, give me painkillers and antibiotics, make me pay the $70 for the service, and out we go. We hit our favorite restaurant that plays U2 all the time, me limping and him blind because he fell also (and escaped cuts) but he lost his glasses in the ocean. The wounded leading the blind... for dinner I swallow a painkiller, which makes me drunk; he drinks a few beers, and we stay at that restaurant for a long time. I cannot have my whiskey because of the painkillers. I don't care, as long as I have something that soothes my frazzled nerves. Finally we stumble home, numb, laughing about the whole thing. My sleep that night was a sleep of coma.

Later on I realize that the menus all around this area contain barracuda, one of the fresh fish caught around the area. The kind of shiver that ran up my spine was uncomfortable, as I could not have known what creatures were gathering around my leg that was bleeding into the ocean during the half hour I was wading after I'd fallen. I realize during this event that my biggest fear was pitch black-- I'm not afraid of the dark, but I'm very uncomfortable being in strange, foreign situations while in pitch black darkness. I'm a highly visual person, which would make sense. At the same time, I'm not sure that if I had a headlamp while wading, I would feel better-- as that kind of light does not penetrate deep enough and I'd be left to rely on light patches and my imagination. And my imagination can be my worst enemy.

And I will never, ever forget about high tide.

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.

Oh, my GAWD, Jenna, you guys are so cute together. I looked through your shots and you guys look so happy together. The comfort level with each other is amazing to see. You guys obviously click so well. Oh, my heart aches, GOD, I so can't wait to see Victor. *sighing* Soon enough. I'm really starting to lose my patience but hangin' in there for the time being. But we got a date pretty much set and now working around some obstacles to make it happen but will definitely happen around the time we set. Even if the days have to be adjusted a bit, it's all GOOD !! I told Victor that Guitar, Interrupted was my favorite of the ones I've seen of you guys. The looks and huge smiles from ear to ear on both of you truly says it all. Congrats, Girl. You deserve it !! I hope you guys are able to be together soon rather than seeing each other through trips and emails and phone calls.

Angie

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...