Two years and 1.86 EUR/min. to the U.S. of A.
Once, there was a man who was offered a chance to go to the United States for
a language course. Well, it actually was a chance to do many different things,
but a language course in the United States was what he had decided on. Soon though,
he should learn that things are not always as easy as it seems...
Yes, that person happens to be me. When I received a scholarship after my apprenticeship
in 2005, I at first had no idea what to use it for. With this scholarship, you
can do any kinds of educations that would benefit your job, as well as personal
education like languages or even things like courses for presentation skills.
Sadly I found no courses for my profession (media design) that were of interest
to me. It was either “Photoshop Basics” or studies which exceeded
the time frame of the scholarship or didn't match what I wanted to do.
At an information event for the scholarship I learned about the possibility to
do language courses in Europe and all over the world. This caught my attention,
and I went looking for travel businesses. Looking through the trips they offered
(London? Or further away, like Canada?) I stopped at a town that I had been dreaming
to go to for many years: New York City.
I remember that at the age of 16 or so, I got interested in New York. I collected
images I found in books and newspapers (I didn't have internet connection yet
at the time). One image that I scanned showed a street with somewhat low buildings
(Chinatown probably), behind them a road bridge crossing the street and yet behind
that, the massive towers of the World Trade Center.
Boy, that was a sight!
As we know, the towers are sadly gone, torn down in an event that should not only
throw this photo into the depths of history, but also changed
the world we live in in many ways. The wound left behind when the towers fell
is still not closed, both in the cityscape and in the hearts.
I encountered a few of the results of these terrorist attacks later when my trip
reached the planning stages. But before, there was a long time of trying to find
a time frame to do the trip. This was limited by the unlucky fact that I had no
steady job, something that was somewhat necessary for the U.S. visa that I had
to apply for. See, for courses with up to 18 lessons per week, you don't need a visa,
but above that, a student's visa is required. The guidelines for my scholarship
required me to book a course with at least 20 lessons per week. I finally decided
on a combined standard & business English course with 25 lessons per week.
Of course, due to the fact that I had no steady job, I couldn't plan the trip.
It might have worked actually, but even if it would, the thought of leaving for a few weeks when
I had applications going on was not something that I was comfortable with.
So when I was offered a steady job at the company I worked for, I knew that this
was the chance to get the trip set finally. This was in January 2007. I booked
a trip for three weeks in April, but a little later a lady from the travel business
called me saying that while the course was available at that time, the accommodation
was already fully booked. The accommodation is a kind of student's residence that's
will of course be a meeting point for many language scholars from many countries.
Plus, it's cheap, especially considering New York's hotel prices. So, now I had
to make a decision: Stick to the April date and somehow get a different accommodation
or pick another date. Since staying in a hotel would cost three times as much
as the student's residence, and staying at a host family was not a choice for
me (tho it might have worked too, I stayed at a host when I was in Munich too and it was okay),
I decided to go for a trip in late summer. I settled on August 25th - September
15th.
The next step was applying for a visa. This is a process that couldn't be more
complicated. In all of Germany, there are only four U.S. embassies who handle
visa applications. For me, the responsible embassy was in Berlin. After filling
out tons of forms with all kinds of details, a CV, passport photo and getting
a new passport in the first place because mine was about to expire, I finally
wanted to arrange a date in Berlin. The service line costs a hefty 1.86 EUR/min!
When I tried to call though, I realized that these expensive service lines cannot
be reached from our phone. The alternative phone number went for a lump sum of
15 EUR per call, payable by credit card. “Ouch”, I thought, but seeing
that the phone call took about nine minutes, it was actually cheaper than using the
other phone number.
Anyhow, I arranged a date for the visa application on June 1st, a Friday, just
like I had hoped for (they were really flexible with the dates though). This gave
me the chance to go to Berlin with my father in our motor home, staying over the
weekend. This is how I got to Berlin on my way to New York.
The visa application took about one and a half hour. After passing a security
check just like at the airport, I arrived in a room chock full of people, about
150 I guess. I had to bring my documents into a certain order, have them checked,
and stand in a queue at a counter. After waiting for like half a decade, I reached
the front of the queue. The woman behind the counter took my documents, checked
them again, put some stamps on them and handed me a number. I sat down and waited
about 20 minutes for my number to be called up. At another counter then, my fingerprints
were taken (now I am official a criminal). I had to sit down once again, and not
even five minutes later my name was called up and I went to the third booth for
the interview. Transcription follows:
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
“I see you are going to do a language trip.”
“Yes, it specializes in business English.”
“Oh, that sounds nice. I bet it'll be interesting. Your visa has been approved
and will be sent to you by mail along with your passport. Have a nice trip!”
"Thank you!”
...and that's it. Countless hours of filling out forms and gathering all kinds
of certificates, 150 Euro for the visa, and then it comes down to this. Well,
and a checkbox on a form asking whether I intended to take part in terrorist activities
while in the U.S. and whether I had knowledge of chemical, biological or nuclear
weapons.
Nevertheless, when I walked out of the embassy that day, and even more when I
found the passport and visa in the mail the next Tuesday, I was overcome by a
great feeling: The knowledge that after nearly two years of planning, juggling
dates, collecting a massive amount of information, filling out dozens of forms,
arranging holidays at work and with my parents (for the Berlin trip), this was
the confirmation that I will indeed be going to New York in August, to spend three
hopefully wonderful weeks there and see a place that I've been dreaming to experience
for years. There's just one thing that will be missing: Those massive towers visible above
the city.
Comments
very interesting post, even though i already knew this already. :-)
what i didn't know was that you were really into new york from an early age. thought you got interesting since you got into photography many years ago.
still, finally you'll get to see the city in real life rather than in photos. :-)
Na bitte. Super gedeichselt!
@stw: Langwierig, aber am Ende erfolgreich. :-)
@Pablo: Yes, I've been interesting for a long time, sometimes it faded, then it came back. I would never have thought that I would actually see it though, and especially, all on my own. It'll be my somewhat first trip where I am completely on my own, and my first intercontinental travel as well. But I really can't wait to see the place. Maybe it's overrated (?), but maybe it's not. I'll see.
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