Second week of summer starring severe storms, amazing scenary, and more fireflies

Kl er 8:30, Kristian og Teresa er oppe og løbe 5km løb I Livonia I øs pøs regnvejr (her er et billede fra for 2 uger siden, hvor jeg godt gad med  - det gad jeg nemlig ikke I dag!)

It is 8:30AM, Kristian and Teresa has gone to Livonia for a 5K run in pouring rain (here is a picture from 2 weeks ago, where I did want to go – today in the rain? Not so much).

Ulrik sover stadig efter en hel uges computer camp på universitetet hvor han har lært at kode spil, besøgt et computerlab med robotter samt en virksomhed, og har sluttet ugen af med både diplom og en håndskrevet poster om sit spil. Vi har stået tidigt op hver ENESTE morgen og har cyklet 10km ud til North Campus for at fragte ham frem til Bob and Betty Beyster Building, og vi har mødt en hel del hjorte samt en enkelt kalkun grib. Mandag måtte vi dog kapitulere, da der var lovet det vildeste torden og tornado risiko. Jeg kørte tidligt af sted fra arbejde for at komme ned til hans bygning, hvor vi lod cyklerne stå og ventede på bussen I stedet. Himlen blev mørkeblå og det begyndte at buldre og regne og vi var vældig stolte af vores gode beslutning om at stille cyklerne. Et kvarter senere var vi nået ind til byen, hvor solen nu skinnede fra en skyfri himmel, og der var en let brise. Suk. Og lige der blev jeg så uendeligt træt af overreagerende meterologer og advarsels systemer. Vi tog på Starbucks og hang lidt ud I Ann Arbors svar på Faraos Cigarer, nemlig “Vault of Midnight” og daffede hjem for at spise aftensmad og see Sharknado (fantastisk underholdende med det mest usammenhængende plot, jeg nogensinde har set!). Så alt I alt en hyggelig og fredelig aften…….. Lige indtil kl 1 om natten hvor sirenerne hylede, telefonen bimlede af tornado warnings og det tordnede så meget at bygningen rystede. Føj! Det var det værste uvejr jeg I mit liv har prøvet og Ulrik og jeg endte ude på toilettet, der er vores bagerste rum uden vinduer, da vi ikke turde risikere at få smadret glas på os, hvis stormen blev rigtig slem. Der endte med at være flere små tornadoer her I Michigan, men udover 40 døde køer på et smadret landbrug og et par ødelagte huse, fik de ikke udrettet mere skade og ingen kom noget til. Som dansker er det super overvældende når naturen går amok og jeg tør slet ikke tænke på hvordan det må være at bo I Texas hvor den slags er mange gange mere almindeligt end her.

Ulrik sleeps after a full week of computer camp at the university where he learned to code games, visited a computerlab with robots as well as a local company and concluded the week with both a diploma and a hand-written poster about his game. We have been up early EVERY single morning biking 10km out to North Campus to get him to Bob and Betty Beyster Building, and we have met quite a few deer and a single turkey vulture. Monday there were warnings of severe storms and tornados. I took off early from work to get down to his building where we let the bikes sit and waited for the bus instead. The sky was dark and it started to rumble and rain and we were very proud of our decision to not bike. Fifteen minutes later we had reached the city where the sun now shone from a cloudless sky, and there was a slight breeze. Sigh. And right there I was so infinitely tired of overreacting meteorologists and warning systems. We went to Starbucks and hung out a little in the local comic book store, the "Vault of Midnight" and strolled home to eat dinner and see Sharknado (very entertaining and with the most ridiculous plot I have ever seen!). So all in all, a pleasant and peaceful night ...... .. Until at 1 AM when the sirens wailed, the phone went off with tornado warnings and a thunder storm shook the building. Yikes! It was the worst storm I have ever tried and Ulrik and I ended up out in toilet in the back of the apartment, where there are no windows, since we did not dare risking getting shattered glass on us if the storm was really bad. There turned out to be several small tornadoes here in Michigan, but in addition to 40 dead cows on a smashed farm and a few destroyed houses, they did not do more damage and no one was hurt. As a Dane, it is super overwhelming when nature goes berserk and I dare not imagine what it must be like to live in Texas where such storms are many times more common than here.
  

Kristian, Teresa og Luca, har været oppe og campe ved Sleeping Bear Dunes, der meget berettiget blev kåret som den smukkeste  nationalpark I USA for et par år siden. Selv Teresa havde haft en fest med hike og Luca levede efter sigende af ristede pølser og s’mores. Og der blev også klatret op ad klitterne for at løbe ned MANGE gange (se bare her). Sommerferie I Michigan med en far med al tid I hele verden er faktisk ikke helt dårligt.

Kristian, Teresa and Luca, has been gone camping at Sleeping Bear Dunes, which has been (rightly so) named the most beautiful national park in the United States a few years ago. Even Teresa had fun hiking and Luca apparently lived off fire roasted hot dogs and s'mores. Also they got to climb the dunes and run down MANY times (watch here)  on top of bathing in lake Michigan. Summer vacation in Michigan with a father with all the time in the world is actually not too bad.
 

Her i ugen har vi også nået at sige både goddag og farvel til nye venner på bare 2 dage. Ad lidt knudrede bagveje fandt vi frem til en dansk læge fra Hjørring, der har vareret 2 mdr på universitetet for at forske. I sidste uge blev hun genforenet med mand og børn og Luca har været vild af forventning om at få lov til at møde en anden dansk dreng, der spiller “world of tanks” så de kom alle 4 til middag hos os I torsdags hvor både børn samt forældre fik hygget sig mega meget OG Luca fik fanget sin første ildflue. Det var stort.

During this week, we also experienced saying both hello and goodbye to new friends in just 2 days. By slightly odd circumstances, we got in touch with a Danish MD from Hjoerring, who joined the university for 2 months to get some research done. Last week, she was reunited with her husband and children and Luca has been overly excited about getting to meet another Danish boy who also plays  "World of tanks" .The 4 of the came over for dinner with us Thursday, where both children and parents had a good time AND Luca caught his first firefly ever. It was awesome.

I går besøgte vi så dem i det lækre hus, de har fået lov at låne, og så gik den vilde idlflue jagt igen. Det lykkedes dem at få proppet 10 ilddluer ned I et glas, før vi stoppede dem, da det efterhånden nåede dertil, 2 fluer var ved at blive mast hver gang de forsøgte et stoppe endnu een ned I glasset. Her ses de stolte travle jægere :-)

Yesterday we visited them in the gorgeous house they have been lucky to rent, and fire fly hunting started all over again. The boys managed to stuff 10 fire flies into a jar before we stopped them, as it got to the point where two flies were almost crushed for each new one, that they tried to put in there. Here are the proud hunters in action :-)

Der er også lidt godt nyt på Green Card fronten. Ikke som I at vi har fået svar, men vores stress over at risikere at skulle rejse hjem I slutningen af juli, hvor vores flybilletter gælder til, uden at have fået en afklaring, har været næsten ubærlig. Min professor har heldigvis indvilliget I at fyre mig, såfremt vi skulle få et afslag. Det lyder måske en kende sært, men pointen er, at min visum status indebærer at såfremt min arbejdsgiver fyrer mig, er det vedkommendes ansvar at jeg forlader landet, og han forpligter sig derfor til at hoste op med flybilletter. Han saa lidt forvirret ud,da jeg paent spurgte om ikke han nok ville fyre mig, hvis vi ikke fik Green Card, men vi er heldigvis begge enige om, at jeg helst skulle blive.

 Vi har ventet på svar I 110 dage nu og det er et reelt scenarie at vi først får svar til august eller måske senere, selvom immigrations myndighedernes gennemsnitlige svar tid er sat til 4 mdr. Bottom line er at vi mere end rigtig gerne vil blive herovre og alt der kan hjælpe os I den retning hjælper på humøret.

There are also some good news on the Green Card front. Not as in hearing back from the USCIS with the final decision, but our almost unbearable stress of potentially having to return home at the end of July, without knowing the fate of our application, has lifted some. My professor has agreed to fire me if we end up getting a Green Card rejection. It may sound strange, but the rationale is that my visa status implies that should my employer choose to get rid of me, then it is his responsibility that I leave the country, and he therefore has to pay for flight tickets. He did certainly look puzzled when I asked him if he could please fire me, if I did not get a Green Card, but both us really would want me to stay, and I am grateful that he has agreed on this arrangement (that hopefully will never happen).

We have been waiting for a response in 110 days now and it is a realistic scenario that we do not hear back until August or perhaps even later, even though the immigration authorities average response time is set to 4 months. Bottom line is that we really like it here and anything that can help us to keep moving in that direction relieves the mood.