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Eurofurence und A1 Steaksoße
11 months ago
My husband and I returned from Eurofurence the other day, and while I am not surprised we enjoyed it, I have to say it was such an incredible experience that I feel fortunate enough to have been a part of. I attended incredible events, met some wonderful people and fluffies, saw such vibrant creativity, and found my tribe once again. The last time I went to any kind of furry convention was almost a decade ago, and walking the familiar pathways I felt like I was slipping into old strides. The panels, the Artist's Alley, the Dealer's Den, everything just spoke of warmth and the burning passion of creativity. I left feeling motivated, and excited, about simply being a furry artist. That I get to live my life now writing and developing other forms of art, furthering my craft, and taking on newer and larger challenges. I feel smarter about how to proceed with my ambition, having experienced a furry nexus once again, and seeing how things are done. When I first stepped into the fandom under not even Skye McCloud, but my first moniker, Foxy McCloud, I never imagined this was how my life would go. My lived experience has been tumultuous, but I am grateful it lead me back to doing what brings me joy.
At first I was doing my best to ensure my loving and supportive husband was having a good time, as he does not identify as a furry, but it quickly transcended into both of us just having a wonderful time together. We weren't very gregarious, but we certainly enjoyed the atmosphere, and the events we went to. From Enter the Arena to Uncle Kage's Story Hour (Entschuldigung, Onkle Kage) to the Dealer's Den and Artist's Alley, he was thoroughly enjoying himself, and was visibly upset we couldn't get into Paws on Fire. We'd attended the charity event prior to it, and by the time it ended the line was already out the door two times. But that aside, we attended a few panels I really wanted to go to, and he certainly enjoyed them just the same. We even shared some tender kisses on the dance floor a couple of nights... something I'd always wanted, but he was always too shy to dance with me.
As the weekend went on, he felt more at home, and was enjoying the appreciation and acceptance vibes permeating throughout the whole convention. It made him feel more at ease about just letting go, and being himself. After a lifetime of feeling stifled by society, he found his tribe in a place he hadn't quite expected. It was his first convention ever, let alone furry convention. It was not only my first convention since returning to the fandom last year, but it was also my first in my new home country. We both had so much fun, and the post-con depression is certainly thick in the air. Or maybe it's cuz he had his con-crud cherry popped as well...
When we arrived Wednesday we were already under some heavy news. As some may recall, I had to leave my cat in America with a friend of ours until we could manage to move him over. In the meantime he is doing alright, but he did develop a gum/tooth infection that we're trying to have managed. Wednesday we learned he needed to have a tooth extracted, and my goodness was that going to be terrifying (and pricey). So, we had to make a difficult snap judgment, and my mind was clouded with worry all evening. My cat went to the vet Thursday morning, and the vet decided instead to try a different procedure, deeming the extraction may not be necessary, so we are doing that first. If this does not help, then we'll move forward with extraction. While I am sad I am not able to be by his side as he goes through this I am sure he will be fine, and we're anticipating bringing him over by the end of the year.
As difficult as that news was, we also received other news on Thursday morning. Some may recall I'd recently taken my German A1 Exam, and I had been very nervous about it, leaving it feeling unconfident about my performance. I knew I'd gotten at least half of everything correct, but 60% or higher is required to pass. So, I had to spend a week or so trying my best to distract myself, as the location I took it did not give instant results. I went to Eurofurence with an air of uncertainty hanging over my head, because this was the final piece for my residency permit. I had to learn basic German in about three months. Once again, I should have had the foresight to study much sooner, but such is life, and I have learned a valuable lesson. But I did my best, and left feeling uncertain.
I passed with an 85%.
When I tell you I fell into my husband's arms and wept, I am not overstating this. I cried tears of joy. It was over. The last piece so I could move forward. I had to put all of my ambition in writing and creativity aside so I could focus solely on studying for this exam. The frustration and anger I felt as I poked away at apps and read books and froze like a deer in headlights when people would talk to me in German. I remember feeling so helpless one morning at a McDonald's. I just needed some ketchup. Simple. I walked up to the empty counter, asked, and instead of receiving ketchup I got a slew of German spoken so fast and unrelenting that I just said 'never mind' in English and cowered back at my table. I have never felt so out of my element in my life. I've never felt so scared to speak for myself, because I didn't want to sound stupid or come off as condescending or anything short of how I normally am. I would sit in the car and cry into my husband's arms after visiting his family, because as much as I loved them I felt so bland and boring simply because I could not communicate with them as I am normally so vibrantly capable of doing. Passing the exam doesn't mean I am suddenly fluent, but it does mean I am on my way, and one day those feelings of uncertainty and mediocrity will be but a forgiven memory.
So, it brings us to today. We are home and doing well after the convention. Life continues onward. However, now I am finally free to move forward with my ambitions. No more paperwork to collect, no more tests to study for (for now), no more of anything other than loving my husband and the time to focus on my writing. I have so many stories to share, and so many novels to write. All of my plans for Patreon, publishing books, anthologies, and so on and so forth can finally be my complete focus. I want to be an author that people know, and enjoy, and anticipate. I want to bring joy to the community that has re-embraced me. I have my big dreams of being a best selling author, having my comfortable life, going from convention to convention, and all of those wonderful things. My name may be Skye McCloud, but I need to be a bit more grounded for now, and get the work done. I hope you'll all join me on this journey, and in sharing good vibes only. Cheers 🌈💫
At first I was doing my best to ensure my loving and supportive husband was having a good time, as he does not identify as a furry, but it quickly transcended into both of us just having a wonderful time together. We weren't very gregarious, but we certainly enjoyed the atmosphere, and the events we went to. From Enter the Arena to Uncle Kage's Story Hour (Entschuldigung, Onkle Kage) to the Dealer's Den and Artist's Alley, he was thoroughly enjoying himself, and was visibly upset we couldn't get into Paws on Fire. We'd attended the charity event prior to it, and by the time it ended the line was already out the door two times. But that aside, we attended a few panels I really wanted to go to, and he certainly enjoyed them just the same. We even shared some tender kisses on the dance floor a couple of nights... something I'd always wanted, but he was always too shy to dance with me.
As the weekend went on, he felt more at home, and was enjoying the appreciation and acceptance vibes permeating throughout the whole convention. It made him feel more at ease about just letting go, and being himself. After a lifetime of feeling stifled by society, he found his tribe in a place he hadn't quite expected. It was his first convention ever, let alone furry convention. It was not only my first convention since returning to the fandom last year, but it was also my first in my new home country. We both had so much fun, and the post-con depression is certainly thick in the air. Or maybe it's cuz he had his con-crud cherry popped as well...
When we arrived Wednesday we were already under some heavy news. As some may recall, I had to leave my cat in America with a friend of ours until we could manage to move him over. In the meantime he is doing alright, but he did develop a gum/tooth infection that we're trying to have managed. Wednesday we learned he needed to have a tooth extracted, and my goodness was that going to be terrifying (and pricey). So, we had to make a difficult snap judgment, and my mind was clouded with worry all evening. My cat went to the vet Thursday morning, and the vet decided instead to try a different procedure, deeming the extraction may not be necessary, so we are doing that first. If this does not help, then we'll move forward with extraction. While I am sad I am not able to be by his side as he goes through this I am sure he will be fine, and we're anticipating bringing him over by the end of the year.
As difficult as that news was, we also received other news on Thursday morning. Some may recall I'd recently taken my German A1 Exam, and I had been very nervous about it, leaving it feeling unconfident about my performance. I knew I'd gotten at least half of everything correct, but 60% or higher is required to pass. So, I had to spend a week or so trying my best to distract myself, as the location I took it did not give instant results. I went to Eurofurence with an air of uncertainty hanging over my head, because this was the final piece for my residency permit. I had to learn basic German in about three months. Once again, I should have had the foresight to study much sooner, but such is life, and I have learned a valuable lesson. But I did my best, and left feeling uncertain.
I passed with an 85%.
When I tell you I fell into my husband's arms and wept, I am not overstating this. I cried tears of joy. It was over. The last piece so I could move forward. I had to put all of my ambition in writing and creativity aside so I could focus solely on studying for this exam. The frustration and anger I felt as I poked away at apps and read books and froze like a deer in headlights when people would talk to me in German. I remember feeling so helpless one morning at a McDonald's. I just needed some ketchup. Simple. I walked up to the empty counter, asked, and instead of receiving ketchup I got a slew of German spoken so fast and unrelenting that I just said 'never mind' in English and cowered back at my table. I have never felt so out of my element in my life. I've never felt so scared to speak for myself, because I didn't want to sound stupid or come off as condescending or anything short of how I normally am. I would sit in the car and cry into my husband's arms after visiting his family, because as much as I loved them I felt so bland and boring simply because I could not communicate with them as I am normally so vibrantly capable of doing. Passing the exam doesn't mean I am suddenly fluent, but it does mean I am on my way, and one day those feelings of uncertainty and mediocrity will be but a forgiven memory.
So, it brings us to today. We are home and doing well after the convention. Life continues onward. However, now I am finally free to move forward with my ambitions. No more paperwork to collect, no more tests to study for (for now), no more of anything other than loving my husband and the time to focus on my writing. I have so many stories to share, and so many novels to write. All of my plans for Patreon, publishing books, anthologies, and so on and so forth can finally be my complete focus. I want to be an author that people know, and enjoy, and anticipate. I want to bring joy to the community that has re-embraced me. I have my big dreams of being a best selling author, having my comfortable life, going from convention to convention, and all of those wonderful things. My name may be Skye McCloud, but I need to be a bit more grounded for now, and get the work done. I hope you'll all join me on this journey, and in sharing good vibes only. Cheers 🌈💫
As for the test itself, the test is split into two parts... spoken, and written. Fortunately for me, most of the points come from the written part, as I am not very good at spontaneously spoken German. There is a series of things, like 'My name is... I come from...' and so on and so forth. I know I got that perfect, only because my husband and I rehearsed it for hours lol... but then we had to do some question and answers with a partner, and I just did not do well there. For the written portion, part of it was listening, and I am not very good at that, either. However, I feel I did alright there. The answers were multiple choice, so sometimes it came down to a mental process of elimination. The final exercise was writing an email to a friend while including three specific details. It was worth a sizable portion of the exam, and I was given a near-perfect score on it. As a writer, I am quite proud of that lol
Anywho, overall, the test was stressful, but only because of the circumstance I was in heading into it. I did it to myself, I should have been better prepared before even moving here, but I was foolish into believing I didn't have to take the exam. Now I know better, and the learning never stops. We're looking into the idea of hiring a tutor next year. Next step is B1 in a few years, and then citizenship a few years after that. I intend to keep American citizenship, becoming a dual-citizen, but that is a future-me thing lol ... now to focus on the here and now 🥰🌈💫