Cassie: I forgot to mention in my post last week that I watched your brother's Twilight video and really liked it! I haven't had enough free time to sit down and watch the rest, but I'm looking forward to it and I'll let you know what I think when I do.
Carlyn: I'm curious, do you want to visit an actual elephant graveyard, or the colloquial kind? Also, does the goal to sit in a tulip field in Scotland come from something specific, or is it based more on how pretty and cool that would be?
Alexandra: I'll add to the well wishes in getting your residency! Once you're married should it be relatively easy? Maybe I'm just being naive in thinking that if you're married to a Canadian citizen they wouldn't kick you out of the country. Either way, best wishes!
And now onto my bucket list! This was a really good topic this week because by complete coincidence I met up last Wednesday with a guy who lived in my dorm hall two years ago and one of the things we talked about while drinking delicious Sangria was bucket lists. I've never really spent too much time thinking about a bucket list, but I do have a few things that have been floating around in my head for awhile now and I'll start with those.
1. My main bucket list goal for quite a few years has been to learn all the languages of my ancestors. This week's topic being bucket lists, the idea has been right in the forefront of my mind and I've been putting even more effort into figuring out definitively what countries my ancestors were from. Now my mom's side of the family is easy and I've known it my whole life, her dad's side of the family is completely British (came here from England long, long ago, signature on the Declaration of Independence kind of British) and her mom's side is Swedish. My dad's dad came here from Russia with his family when he was just 4 in 1912. My dad's mom was always a mystery though; my dad didn't know what her background was and seeing as she passed away six years ago, we can't really go and ask her. I emailed my aunt yesterday, however, and she had a bit more information. Turns out my grandma's parents were from.... Russia! So I am officially half Russian (then why can I only handle 2-3 shots of vodka?). What I'm still trying to figure out is what language that side of the family spoke. I initially assumed Russian, but they were all Jewish, so it was probably Yiddish... but maybe it was both? That's what I'm trying to find out currently. Okay, that was a very longwinded way to say I want to learn Swedish and Russian and/or Yiddish before I die!
2. My second goal that I've had in mind for awhile is tied to the first: I want to visit the countries that my ancestors are from. Easy enough in theory, I just need to make it to Sweden and Russia sometime in the next 60 years or so (80 if I'm being optimistic). I would like to do it while I'm still on the younger side of life, though.
3. Related to goal number 2, I'd like to visit all seven continents. I won't be heartbroken if I don't make it to Antarctica though. ;)
4. Live abroad for an extended period of time (come next year I'll be able to cross this one off!)
5. Become completely fluent in French. This one is kind of crossed off. I don't feel comfortable saying I'm completely fluent in French now, but I'm just so close. So... almost, but not quite yet.
Now for some goals which I have little control over, but would like to do all the same:
6. I want to live to see gay marriage completely legalized with all the same rights as heterosexual marriage.
7. I want to fall in love. I've never been in love, which I'm okay with, but I'm now 22 and it would be really nice if that would happen sooner rather than later at this point... I still have yet to meet that "someone" though. And it's not like I'm putting too much effort into it right now, to be honest.
8. I want to have my children while both my parents are still alive so that they get to meet their grandchildren. And also because I can't imagine going through the whole process without my mom there.
I'm sure there are more, but they're escaping me at the moment!
As for a project, I've been trying to come up with good ideas all week and I haven't yet come up with something I really like. I'll keep thinking! A basic idea I had to build on, though, is that something Harry Potter-related would be nice to commemorate the end of this era and all that.
I also just wanted to mention John's video from today about just taking the train to Belgium on a whim. It got me even more excited for France next year, if that was possible. Like I mentioned before, Lille is right on the border of Belgium and now my head is full of daydreams in which I tell myself, like John, "I think I might just go to Belgium today." What have been you guys' favorite recent vlogbrothers videos?
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