Mr. Borkström

I had my interview on Monday and everything went just fine. They had received the medical. So now I'm just waiting for my visa to arrive! Yay!

Grattis!

Our house still hasn't sold, so we are still stuck living with my mother . Sell house, sell!

As much as I dig my in-laws, that would suck. Fingers crossed Nola!

Actually it probably hasn't sold because it was so hot inside the house that all of the candlesticks melted over and shampoo bottles were filled with super warm shampoo...

Wow! Please to tell me where you live so I can avoid ever going there in the summer, kthnxbye.

I talked to the doctors assistant just now and they haven't sent the medical yet(!). She said they are doing that tomorrow. This makes me both nervous, angry and confused.

Don't worry, you should be fine.

Others may have to correct me, but from what I understand, assuming you "passed" the medical and you pass your interview, if the embassy doesn't have the results from the medical by then, they will wait to make a final decision until they have the results. Which should mean nothing more than a delay for you. At least this is how I think it works. Your interview is August 12? There's still time. The embassy will have the results of the medical in time, I'm sure.

I am enjoying the summer. Although I am enjoying myself regardless of what season it is.

It was terribly hot and humid here in Pittsburgh for about a week. It was horrible! If it hadn't been for our window AC unit, I would have perished!

We went to a baseball game on July 13. The hometown Pirates beat the NY Mets. It was a lot of fun. I'm really warming up to baseball.

My wife, her daughter, my wife's friend and I are going to Ocean City, MD for a weekend in September. Looking forward to that.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

Can't watch the vid rid now. Are they kinder eggs?

No according to what my friend said they're about twice as big as a Kinder egg.

A friend of mine has a son who turns 3 by the end of this month. My friend asked me if I could perhaps buy a couple of Disney eggs and ship them so he can give them to his son for his birthday and Christmas and such.

He sent me a Youtube clip to give me an idea of what these eggs are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWv8RLnfeSg&feature=youtu.be

Does anyone have any idea where I might find these eggs?

Last movie I saw was Dogma. Loved it. Hadn't seen it in at least ten years.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120655/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Kung Fu Hustle

7/10 A little awful but it made me laugh a few times.

It has its ups and downs, but on the whole I like it. Made me laugh a lot too.

a black lead guy in the 60's, that's ahead of it's time!

That's the only thing I liked about it.

Last film I saw: Night of the Living Dead http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/?ref_=sr_1

I didn't care for it. It felt terribly dated. Sure, it's a low-budget movie, but still... I was not impressed.

Last Movie I watched - Fierce Creatures. I give it a 10 outta 10 - it's got my fav ensemble cast plus some newbies thrown in.

John Cleese etc? I love that movie!

Last night: Salsiccia with pasta sauce and pasta (DeCecco's Fusili Corti Bucati no. 98). Delicious!

Thanks to Parma Sausage Products Inc. and Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. for hooking a brother up!

We got our interview date! August 12. I'm super nervous now But also happy!

Break a leg!

Happy anniversary!

Sunday was our second anniversary too, and like you guys we didn't spend our first together either.... But since my husband has a memory of a goldfish he forgot the anniversary so we haven't really celebrated it yet... He is in the dog house ;-) but promised to make it up too me this wknd.

Ha, that's a funny coincidence. Happy anniversary.

Did you have to change the setting in Itunes to get to the different store? Or is it because you set up the account in Norway originally?

I changed my debit card information, the billing address and country on my iTunes/Apple account. I have the same account (login and password and such) as I did back in Sweden, but I had to update certain information to be able to use it here in America.

Or maybe I didn't have to but chose to. I'm afraid I don't remember which.

My wife, her daughter and I spent the weekend in Detroit. We visited my dad's cousin and her family. It was a lot of fun.

It was also very nice to see my dad's uncle and his wife who were also there visiting. My grandma (farmor) had six siblings, and this uncle and one of her other brothers are the only ones who are left. My farmor and him were very close; my farmor was sibling # 6 and he was the baby brother of the family. My farmor died on December 23, 2011 (which is kind of weird since I moved to America on December 23, 2012). Of all her siblings, this uncle is the one I know by far the best (I don't know how many of the other siblings I have actually met), so it was very nice to see him again. Who knows if I will ever see him again. He's in his 80's. And since I live in America now... you know.

Sunday was our second anniversary. We didn't get to spend our first anniversary together, so it was nice to finally get to do that. Since we spent a great deal of our anniversary in the car, we went out to dinner last night instead. We went to a hibachi place in Settlers Ridge. It was the second time I've been to a hibachi restaurant, I like it. I appreciated the show the chef put on more the first time, but the food was excellent, although I was a little disappointed in the dessert. We had tempura bananas. Similar to deep fried bananas you get at Asian restaurants in Sweden, but not nearly as good. And we got whipped cream (probably Cool Whip) instead of ice cream. And they had drizzled chocolate syrup and sprinkles on everything. I like it better with vanilla ice cream and (sugar) syrup. Oh well.

Unfortunately I also found out yesterday that a friend of mine who I worked with at a school in Västerås died yesterday afternoon Swedish time. He had cancer. He was 24. Life is so cruel sometimes. I thought James Gandolfini was too young to go, and he was 51! 24? That's just unimaginable. And I know people always say that about people who die, but my friend really was a wonderful person. He will be greatly missed.

I think you're out of luck if you're hoping to speak Swedish with them. The Scandinavian society in Pittsburgh is about exclusively older, second/third/further-out generation Scandinavians. None of them speak the language anymore, and they aren't all that familiar with actual Scandinavian life anymore. I've found exactly two other Scandinavians in Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas - you're one, and the other one just moved home with her family.

Hmm. That's a bit of a letdown. I may still have to check it out some time though.

She lives in a community north of downtown Detroit. The place is called Washington.

Me, my wife and her daughter visited my dad's cousin and her family in Detroit this weekend. It was fun.

Woooooooo..... Im so excited... Flying to US tomorrow... Cant wait to start new life with my baby

Congratulations! Where are you moving?

Fiance just had his interview that took only 15 minutes total. We were expecting it to be a couple of hours. He received the 221g form because of the medical...but, they said once they receive that, the passport will be mailed out to him.

Great news!

They didnt have him sign part 2 of the 230 form though. He asked about it and they said it wasnt needed for the k1. Is this correct? Will he sign it later during the AOS?

Hmm. Sounds weird to me. I don't know. I suppose the people at the embassy know what they're doing, or should know at least. Maybe someone else who's applied for, and received, a fiancé visa can answer this question?

My wife and I had homemade frilled chicken hoagies last night.

Has anyone here ever had Swedish meatballs? I've heard that Americans think Swedish meatballs are big, baseball-sized monstrosities. Good Swedish meatballs should never be that big. In this case, smaller is better.

My wife and I have made meatballs a fair number of times since I came here about 6 months ago. We usually eat it in the traditional style, that is to say with boiled potatoes, cream sauce and lingonberry preserves. Furthermore, you can also have pickles, and a lettuce & tomato salad with the meal, if you are so inclined. I hear they serve meatballs with mashed potatoes and cream sauce at IKEA, even back in Sweden they serve it this way nowadays, but we always had boiled potatoes when I grew up.

Y'all should try it some time. It's very good. if anyone wants the recipe, I'd be glad to share.

No problemo.

I got plenty worked up before my interview. I really felt like the outcome of the interview would have great impact on the rest of my life, and accordingly, I was very nervous. When I was on the bus back from the embassy to downtown Stockholm, I thought to myself "that was it? That was nothing to get worked up over!"

That said, my thinking was "hope for the best and prepare for the worst" and I would rather look at it that way than to think the interview is going to be a walk in the park. You won't get your visa unless you pass the interview, so it is important. But you know what I'm saying, right?

Hello everybody...yes, it is me again! Lol

Just curious...what happens if my fiance goes to the Interview with too much information? I think we may have overdone it with all the proof of income, etc... Do they send back what they don't need? Does he have to take everything out of the packet for them, or do they just take the whole packet? I know he may be a bit nervous and finding the documentation, if he has to go through the binder, may be hard to do when the nerves start acting up.

I read that some of you received documents back. I would like to have some of the documents, not just copies, for the i864 thst needs to be done next. Hoping I will get some of them back.

Thank you!

It's been a while since I had my interview (September 28, 2012), and I applied for a spousal visa, not a fiancé(e) visa, so I'm not a 100 % sure the process is the same, but... I brought some stuff to the interview besides the documents that I and my wife had sent in to the USCIS... and the lady who interviewed me didn't even look at the stuff I brought to the interview at the embassy. I brought (among other things) copies of pay stubs my wife had sent me since she had started a new job after the NVC had "taken over the case" from SCS, and I told the lady who interviewed me that my wife had a new job and that she was making more money than she had with the documents we had sent in to the USCIS, but the lady never asked to see the pay stubs or anything.

And I think I got all my documents and stuff back after the interview was over (in the mail with the passport with the visa). There are some originals that you want to hang on to (for me, marriage certificate, for example).

That doesn't mean your fiance shouldn't bring supplemental proof, if you have it. Don't take anything for granted, taking it for granted is probably the worst thing you can do. But don't get too nervous either. If you have a straight forward case with no red flags, I'd dare say the Stockholm embassy is definitely a friendly one. Stockholm isn't Lagos.

We received more details today on Dr. Bulow. We were told that he had planned on retiring at the end of June or July...then something happened and he went into the hospital. It sounds like he may be ok, just went into retirement sooner than he anticipated. I really hope that is the case.

I see. Glad to hear he seems to be OK.

If it like the one near us, they have a once a week or more afterschool Swedish program and then Swedish summer camp. I think you said you had a step daughter? I'm half tempted to send my daughter to the Swedish one since there is no comparable Danish save at the Seaman's Church in Brooklyn and that is a long trip.

My husband is just not speaking enough Danish at home.

Exactly, I have one step son, he's 18 and he graduated high school yesterday. And I have a step daughter, she'll be 13 at the end of July.

Whenever I try to teach my wife a little bit of Swedish, it's a lot easier for her daughter to pick up on the pronunciation. I don't think my wife will ever learn Swedish. Well I think she will be able to listen and read and understand, but I don't think she thinks she will ever learn to speak Swedish, so we'll see. We have talked about moving to Sweden some time in the future. I think it will take for us to move to Sweden for my wife to learn to speak Swedish. But who knows what will happen? I'm not taking anything for granted. Once her daughter's done with high school and college and such, I may not want to move back either.

I hardly ever speak Swedish. I have only skyped once or twice with my mom and once with my family (mormor & morfar, one of my two brothers, and some other relatives (aunts and cousins and such), that must have been Easter. I've called my parents a couple times on the phone, though, and they've called too, and they were here in Pittsburgh for a week in May, that was so nice to show them around my new home town. They are getting a new television set with a built-in Skype camera, so hopefully we can start talking more often soon. I write fairly often on a blog I have, so I don't feel like I'm losing my (Swedish) language. I keep in touch with everyone back home via Facebook and I try to keep up with the news (Sveriges Television; local Västerås newspaper's online version; Aftonbladet etc). I think that helps a lot.

Are any of you involved with your local Scandinavian Clubs? I've been to ours before briefly, but they are having a traditional bonfire and witch burning this Sunday for the Danes (the Swedes were earlier). I've convinced my husband to go and it should be interesting and nice for him to speak with a couple of other Danes. I don't know how many real Danes are going, but I know some live in the area where the club is.

It has been going super well in America too. I think I've mentioned that our neighbourhood is kind of "little Scandinavia", but we met another Norwegian neighbor. My husband was sad that she couldn't understand Danish, probably because she had been gone from Norway for so long. Is that common? My husband feels a little like he is losing the Danish.

I believe there is a Scandinavian society of some sort in Pittsburgh. I have the link to their website, but I haven't really looked it up yet. I may do that, though. It would be fun to meet other Scandinavians, maybe speak Swedish with someone, and "compare notes".

We were all set. Just focusing on the interview paperwork. Then....we received an email stating that the only Doctor that is eligible to perform the medical in Stockholm was ill and in the hospital, not to return.

What do you mean "not to return"? If it's the same guy I saw, Göran Bülow, I certainly hope he's OK. He was very nice, courteous and funny.

And good luck to you with your medical and interview, btw! I think there are panel physicians in Malmö and Göteborg, if that is of any help.

Yay... approved....! Just waiting to get my passport back. How long does it normally take for them to send the visa??

Sweet! Great news. Congratulations!