Yes, dearly beloved Schlecklanders, don't faint but I have FINALLY managed to get together:
1) Passport form
2) Documentation
3) Old passport (having found it, lost it, and found it again.)
4) Photos (*screams in horror, don't look, don't look*) (and before you say it, we're not allowed to have big cheesy grins in our passport photos here in the UK, we have to look grim and determined.)
5) Huge cheque to pay the fees.
They are all in one place: in fact, even better, they are all in one envelope, and that envelope was just taken to the Post Office by me, and upon payment of yet another fee, it has been sent off to the Passport people.
There you go!
Soon, oh so soon, you won't have to listen to me bleating about not having a valid passport. In fact, in due course I might even be Tweeting "Am sitting in airport, 8 blokes with funny shoes and very big bags have just walked past".
Wouldn't that be fun!
Yay! Now how long until everything is filled out and in the mail? In the U.S. we aren't supposed to smile for our passport photos either. I got mine done last year and she said "don't smile". I listened and then she said "well you don't have to look mad". So confusing. And now whenever someone looks at your passport you need to try to make that same face.
ReplyDeleteYou can just SEND it?! In Denmark we have to turn up at the city hall between 10 and 15 (and missing a whole day of school) to be "measured" (woman at the counter casting a glance at you, then writing down random height).
ReplyDeleteOh, and I had to look grim and determined too. Seems it changes every other year. In my old passport I was all smiley now I look ready to kill someone.
Looking forward to various airport tweets! :P
Good job Coug! So that means you're going to the TdF, right? ;)
ReplyDelete@Emily We can't smile in ours? I'm smiling in mine, but it's old and almost expired. The grim look would be more representative of how I feel in airports.
Coug, do you know how long it will take to receive your shiny new passport?
I'm going to second Natasha's motion. You ARE going to the Tour de France, yes?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't give the passport photo a second thought. I always look freshly interrogated in mine. In Canada, we aren't allowed to look happy on any official documents. I suspect it's the government's way of deterring immigration--if all of its citizens look like they spend their days in a gulag, no one will come hither.
A nice trip to beautiful Lux?
ReplyDeleteGood job!!!
Totally unrelated, but look what I heard on the local radio this morning . . .
ReplyDeletehttp://aracityradio.com/Portals/0/Podcast/News/Schleck%20Interview%20Remix.mp3
Hey Gang! Another two days without the internet - I am going to have to pedal harder, I can see that! So apologies for the lateness of my replies to your many and interesting comments...
ReplyDeleteIn order, then: Emily, yes, I have been practicing pulling the "miserable face" so that when I go through customs, I can pull it to order. When I flew recently (only a domestic flight, so I didn't need a passport) I inadvertently set off the airport security alarms and had to be "scanned" - this meant an instruction to hold my arms out to each side. "I can't," I said "You made me take the belt out of my trousers and if I let go of them, they'll fall down!" By the time they had scanned me one arm at a time, all the security guards were laughing as much as I was, so none of us looked like our photos.
Susanne, yes, we can post them. There is only one passport office in the whole of the UK, so although we can go there, it's not recommended, unless you are really desperate for the passport. It often means sitting and waiting for up to 5 hours. So we send them by post.
Gnasher, "no idea" just about covers it. At busy times, it can be 3-6 months (!) or it could be back in 2 weeks, who knows. I'm hoping that this is not a busy time. TdF? It's less than 3 weeks away, so "no chance" I think! Well, not this year, anyway.
Figgy, I read that as "spending all their days in a goulash" which provoked strange cannibal images....
Barbara, Lux? One day, maybe, one day...
And Amanda, what a great podcast! Andy asks "shall I put these tights on" A-ha-ha neighing, well, we know he meant bib-shorts or possibly leg warmers, but it still sounded funny. Thank you for the link!
Finally, great search terms of the last 24 hours:
1)"are banana skins waxed?" to which the answer is, of course, "no", but I hope you enjoyed reading about cycling.
2) "cougar dominating a girl" (*raises eyebrows*) this is obviously a wild-life type of search, so I regret there are no suitable pictures or stories for you, whoever you are, but I hope you enjoyed reading about cycling.
3) "andy schleck girlfriend 2011" blimey, you don't give up, do you? Hello to our slightly-obsessed follower in Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain: as far as we know, he doesn't have a girlfriend this year, or should we say he doesn't have one that is public knowledge.
It's possible that he's had other things on his mind this year, what with being the figurehead of Team Leopard, having all the hopes of Lux and half the rest of the cycling world resting on his shoulders, etc.
Or there could be that "very nice girl" in the background, quietly ironing his kit and oiling his chain, and if he wins the TdF there will be a JVS moment when he hugs her, all sweaty and dirty (it's going to rain on the final day) and we all go "Awwwwwwwww!" in harmony.
Talking of which, none of my business, but somehow I can't see Jakob's lovely but rather languid LouLou (*sniggers*) standing at his kitchen sink scraping off his chamois after training, can you?
Coug
Sighing with relief at being able to get emails and blog comments again!
Another link to a story about Andy in California, alas, only in Luxembourgish.
ReplyDeletehttp://tele.rtl.lu/waatleeft/replay/v/20110613/9/43203/
25 minutes long.
Thanks for the link Amanda!
ReplyDeleteThings I learned from watching the RTL video, despite not speaking a word of Luxembourgish.:
1) What not to wear: The lady in the leopard print cocktail dress--sorry, it's not cool. She looks like she's about to attend one of those bachelor auctions, where you "bid" for your date.
2) Solvang, with its timbered houses, looks like a miniature Bavaria / Alsace-Lorraine. I love that an establishment called "Jules Hus" is next door to a needlework--all they need is a candlestick maker, and it looks like Andy is hanging out in the Middle Ages. Come on, somebody give that guy a tunic, and a Sutton Hoo helmet.
3) Did I hear Trek Travel mentioned somewhere near the beginning of the video? Do they mean Stalk-a-Schleck / Track-a-Leopard vacations? I've mentioned here before, that some of their tours include something dubiously called "LEOPARD TREK Team & Team RadioShack Access".
I kind of feel sorry for the cyclists. It must be awkward meeting and greeting people that you're obliged to shake hands with, because meeting you is part of their "tour itinerary", and something they've paid for.
4) Nurses, when not in their scrub suits, wear Leopard Trek jerseys :P
5) Andy wears orange shoelaces.
If Andy was any cuter in this interview, people might keel over and die! /crazydramaticfangirlmoment
ReplyDelete@Expatresse Thank you for sharing the link!! It's always fun to relive the ToC even if I don't understand most of what's being said. lol I wonder what he said about fans and being popular?!
I remember nurse fan. She was chatting with a few team support guys, now I realize it was about the RTL interview! I know exactly where I was standing then. Hm, it's a shame they didn't interview Luxembourg Grandma or Honorary Schlecklander girl who came all the way from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Poor Linus & Brian look ignored at the Stalk-a-Schleck party. lol
Jens!!!
Bobby Julich speaks francais. Bravo!
And there's my buddy, Bernie Eisel. We asked for a picture and unintentionally interrupted a fan who was making her ~moves~. Sorry, girl. Worst part, I didn't even realize who he was. Sad, but true. Sorry, buddy! :p
Whew!
ReplyDeleteThings I learned from watching Amanda's video, despite not speaking a word of Luxemburgisch (apart from the words of Eisen Andy, of course):
1) They say oi-ro! Darn, I have just trained myself to pronounce it yew-ro.
2) Dandy-mania? A-ha-ha neighing!
3) Poor Linus (and Brian) left sitting in the corner at the party! What did you call it, Gnasher? Stalk-a-Schleck, great name, A-ha-ha neighing again!
4) Even when racing, Andy is still looking over his shoulder - for Nim, no doubt.
5) The cycling (as opposed to standing around) jerseys no longer have the name on the collar. They have them on the back instead. Hey, just as I suggested! But they're a bit too small to read from the helicopter shots...
6) The nurse could be a Schlecklander - she had the uniform socks! (Hmmm, I didn't notice any other giveaways, I mean, she wasn't singing the song or doing the dance...)
7) "Tiptop!" said the soigneur, while fondling a jar of, er, cream in a faintly worrying way.
8) Velosexpert? Am I the only one who thinks that is wrong, just wrong?
9) The cabin bags with the logo - I want one!
10) Figgy. my pet, you are watching these videos entirely too closely...... background details? I was concentrating solely on OGL, as you would expect!
And yes, Gnasher: in tones of Chandler from Friends: could he BE more cute? And so good-tempered! With all those people pushing and shoving and yelling for him... sigh.
Coug
PS I'm getting worried about my jokey underground cycling comments, there are still 20-25 people a day coming here from the Russian cycling site - oooer, no offence or insult meant, guys. Really!
Coug, at least give me credit for my insane coinage of phrase. I said Stalk-a-Schleck the first time I mentioned Trek Tours :P
ReplyDeleteBut I like Natasha's addition of the word party!
Stalk-a-Schleck party is definitely Figgy's creativity, and it's so true!
ReplyDelete8. "Velosexpert" should be part of the Schlecklander vernacular.
2. As should "d'Andymania" ;-)
7. LOL! I missed this!! Clearly, I need to watch the video again.
Except I have to study. Grr...
Natasha, I am loving d'Andymania--it reminds me of elementary school French lessons about "Élisions", and dropping mute pronouns for an apostrophe.
ReplyDeleteToo bad I have a sieve-like memory for languages, "Tomatoes aren't so bad, Andy" would have sounded a lot more alluring in French. :p
Oh, and Coug, silly background details is what happens when English majors can't find summer research work. *whimper of boredom*
Also, memo to Mr. Schleck: Pull your sweater down, Sir. I personally do no want to know if you wear boxers, or briefs. I'm fairly certain the anonymous legion of grabby hands would, but they hardly need that sort of encouragement.
Good luck studying Natasha! An observation: A lot of Andy's fans seem either to have attended / are currently attending university, or in Fede's case, an amazing liceo. I feel like there's a research paper here, just waiting to be written. It would have to have an absurdly long pedagogic title like:
"A Dialectic into the Phenomenology of Girls and Women who like A. Schleck"
"A Monograph on the Psychosomatic Causes of Luxembourg-is-Following-Me Syndrome"
Thanks Figgy. :) If only one of those brilliant topics or something, anything, related to Schlecklet, procycling, or heck, even Luxembourg could be part of my dissertation study. I would whine less.
ReplyDeleteLes tomates sont pas si mal, Andy? Or is it mauvais?? *head scratching*
Just saw a biography of the Doors/Jim Morrisson. I'm so sad now, because I'm afraid we all pushing and stalking our dearest too much. It's so difficult to be not involved and how could a young boy from tiny, tiny Lux just preditcs that the whole world would talk about him and his private life...
ReplyDeleteStill: Eisen Andy gewinnt den tour 2011!!!
Barbara, what a strange coincidence. I was listening to the Doors this afternoon, and thinking I might visit Jim Morrison's grave at Père Lachaise, when I'm in Paris next month.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think that none of us are prying too much into Andy's personal life--honestly, Toblerone clocks, and maps made in the shape of Andy's nose, it's all just a bit of goofy fun, and has nothing to do with the intimate details of his personal life. General silliness with tomatoes and clocks, that's my area of interest :)
Besides, none of us here, as far as I know, have installed a GPS / satnav device on his bike so that we know where he is at all times--obviously at home with the Claudia shirt :p Joking!
Where was the bit where his sweater was riding up?
ReplyDeleteA-ha-ha neighing, only joking! (*looks over shoulder in hunted fashion, expecting imminent return to Andyhab, or possibly Dandyhab*)
Jim Morrison went from nothing to superstar in a short time, which went to his head: and with all due respect to OGL, I think the hysteria he generated was a lot bigger! Also there was an awful lot of drink and drugs....
OGL has grown up being a big fish in a small country, and he doesn't seem to have a drink or drugs problem, so I think he can probably handle his fandom. (Although we all know about That Person who took things rather too far... let's hope there aren't too many weirdos like her out there.)
If you watch the videos, they are hardly screaming fans: on Andy Goes West they were shouting his name, yes, but there were only a dozen or so, not exactly a mob, and they were standing politely behind the barriers, not exactly climbing up the outside of the bus.
I think he'll be ok.
But I do agree that there should not be stalking and prying into his private life: I still have my doubts about the post Liege-B-Liege snippet, that seems just a little like looking too much into someone's private moments, but it was in broad daylight, and very much in public... (*pulls slightly worried face*)
General silliness about tomatoes and toblerone is about right, though.
(I think it's mauvais, Gnasher, but I'm happy to be corrected!)
Coug
Great video, really wish a understood what they were saying. And that they wouldn't speak over the people I would actually be able to understand. What happened to subtitles?
ReplyDeleteStalk-a-Schleck party looks really awkward. The guests are all dressed up and the team is just wearing those t-shirts with the logo. And poor Brian and Linus. Linus looks really miserable!
Martin M. playing the piano is adorable!
Solvang is supposed to look like Denmark. Not that it does. We don't have needleworks on every other corner. Isn't the place next to it called "Jule Hus"? As in "Christmas House"? (If so, it's on word, not two :P) And the timbered houses looks very fake - definitely not like our old barn!
Must have those bags with logos! Coug, you ought to add them to the Schlecklander uniform :P
Nurse fan says something about Martin P. whilst talking about the socks. Is she saying that he has them too? Is he a Schlecklander? :O
Finally, I love the fan yelling, "Make sure you kick Contador's a..!" (Sorry about the language).
I think it's mauvais too. And you're missing a ne: Les tomates ne sont pas si mauvais. But I'm not sure at all. I graduated high school with an A in French only a year ago and yet I'm quite blank. Shame, really...
Thats really weird about Jim Morrison/Doors. Before I jumped on the net about an hour ago I was reading our local paper and they had an article about some bar in france? getting a legal letter from remaining Doors members about infringement issues regarding some drinks/bar name or something of the sort. Strange -very strange.
ReplyDeleteI also agree slight difference(hopefully) between OGL and Jim M's drug and alcohol indulgences. However I'm always suprised how much into red wine these pro cyclists are( you would think they would go for a lower calorie spirit).They seem to really like coffee and red wine.
I can't believe I watched a 25 min video where I couldn't really understand a word they were saying. Also missed the underwear bit. May be forced to watch the video again to spot important detail.
Is the nursey fan Irish or American?
Brian and Linus look like poor nerdy lads at the pub who aren't drunk enough to get up and chat up ladies. Poor loves.
I don't think any of these blogs are intrusive to OGL and others. Its not like anyone is going through his rubbish or following him around Lux ( I think).I also would think when he gets a regular g/f or reveals one that it is unlikely to be a beiber/gomez situation where she will get death threats (sorry to compare OGL with prepubescent boy).
I mean we could talk about his pedal cadence versus his bilateral posterior tibialis weakness but I would rather talk about his cute overbite and his tuftiness. Yes I appreciate cycling and pro cyclists but I am also an oestrogen driven fan girl who enjoys perving on cute cyclists ( especially if they are a Schleck).
Got to go and watch that video again to find offending underwear. Cindy
Susanne, French classes are mandatory in Canada from grades 1 through 9--I managed to remember nothing, except that there's a Carnaval held in Québec city every winter, and that it has a mascot named Bonhomme :P *total disaster with languages*
ReplyDeleteI don't think Solvang, and places like it, are really going for authenticity--in a way, they're designed very much like theme parks. I certainly don't expect to find needleworks everywhere whenever I visit Copenhagen, but I'll be SORELY disappointed if I don't find a variety of chocolate shops, and a DAY outlet :P You had a timbered barn? It must be wonderful to have property that has a history.
Cindy: Around the 23:20 mark. Notice the cameraman decides to focus at this point. I'm surprised that RTL didn't edit it out.
Hmmm, 23.20, oh yes! A-ha-ha neighing! Lovely, just what we wanted to see. I vote for briefs. Anyone else have an opinion?
ReplyDeleteOh Cindy, thank you for bringing up his bilateral posterior tibialis weakness, you are so right. And as for his pedal cadence, well! (*looks impressed*) what can I say? (A-ha-ha neighing in the background)
Love the idea of "someone" going through his rubbish, (*cackles madly and unsympathetically*) and following him around, yes, we're not going there. But you know what I'm thinking. Just don't say it, anyone, don't say it!
Yes, watching a 25 min video in an utterly foreign language is a bit bizarre, but not as bizarre as enjoying it! Besides, there were bits of French and German in amongst it... btw, anyone know what Jensi was talking about? Lots of "nicht" and "kein" so I got an impression of general negativity, but concerning what? I can't follow German unless it's dealing with industrial chemicals..... honestly, everyone else learns the "tourist" phrases, but not me, no, I get lumbered with the technicalities of non-anionic surfactants...... and now, I can't even remember those (*sighs with relief and vows privately to never work for a German company ever again*) (unless possibly it has something to do with organising pro-cycling events: naaah, I'd rather stick to gardening).
Coug
(*slightly embarrassed*)
Languages have always been my strong side, so it's pretty sad that everything's just gone, ha, ha xD I took French for fun - and to avoid German!
ReplyDeleteI sure hope they're not trying to make Solvang look authentic! It was on the news here last week because our lovely Prince Henrik was there on visit. Some lady was singing the Danish national anthem (quite poorly) and everyone was all excited.
We still do have a timbered barn. Dad doesn't like it because it needs a lot of maintenance but it's very pretty to look at :P
Jensi talks about Wouter at one point? I don't really remember but I'm guessing that's were he's being negative. I can only follow German when it's spoken with thick Danish accent.
Nurse fan is Canadian, isn't she?
Oh, and if anyone is craving more videos in foreign languages here's something in Danish: http://www.dr.dk/Sporten/Dokumentar/AndySchleck/20110609204022.htm
Parts of it in English too. It's not really news so some of you have probably seen it already but for those who haven't, there's a good couple of minutes with an almost naked Andy :P
Susanne, brilliant video (plus one of Jakob for all his fans - such good value!) it sounds as though they are making a documentary about OGL, so we'll all be looking forward to that one.....
ReplyDeleteManaged to watch most of TdSuisse over the weekend, two final stages to go: the commentators were being pretty mean about OGL I thought, so I'm very glad to have seen him get that green jersey, yay, Andy!
Mind you, the coverage we got wasn't very good: we joined it to see OGL just cresting the hill, so we missed all of the attack and the climb, plus it cut off right after the main bunch arrived at the finish line, so we didn't get to see the podium.
So well done Figgy for that photo of OGL in a very loose-sleeved green jersey (do KoMs normally have big muscular arms?), otherwise I wouldn't have seen him in it.
Ahhh, just two weeks to TdF!
Oh, and Figgy, I'm so glad you provided that link to the Conti story, as the commentators mentioned it ( = "laughed about it in an unsympathetic manner") during TdSuisse, so at least I knew what they were talking about!
Coug