My Morning with the Immigration Lawyer

I was pretty stoked for my immigration meeting this morning. This was one thing that I was sure was in order and would be one major check-mark on my list of things to do. I had a pre-meeting with the lawyer before the actual meeting with immigration. When I met Holger, I was surprised that he had shoulder-length hair and that he was only 40. I happened to see his birth date which is the only reason I know that. I guess I imagined someone different - don't we all? He and his partner were both very nice and we spoke English. He asked if I wanted coffee or water, I kind of wanted tea but didn't want to be complicated, so I got sparkling water and I made myself drink it. Then we sat at the table to go over all of my papers and documents. Around this point we switched to Deutsch and it was just fine. Holger also noticed my cough and offered me tea, but I stuck with the bubbles.


We finished the documents a little early, so he's like, "Let's practice German." So we just chatted for a while. I think it's so strange that I can sit in a room with someone and just talk yet I'm paranoid when I have to order an ice cream cone. Probably because in this case I was talking about myself ;) Then we talked about soccer for a while and he called his partner back in and we all just sat there talking. And then it was suddenly time to go.


As we reached the door to the outside world it was...all together now...RAINING! I reached into my purse to get my umbrella, which is apparently broken (it wasn't like that when I put it away I swear!), and a 5" rubber snake fell out. [I'll come back to this later.] Holger ran back in for two umbrellas while I just laughed to myself. We then walked over to the Rathaus for the meeting.


A little back story on the German visa -- Germany is in the process of changing over systems of visas. The change happened on September 1, so that is why we pushed my application through so quickly so that it could happen before the change to the electronic card. The officer said it was my lucky day (finally!). All of the documents were in order and my application was in soon enough that I didn't need to get finger-printed or get the electronic card. As we waited for her to print, cut, and stamp, she came back over to declare that it was now my unlucky day. There weren't enough pages in my passport for the sticker.


Are you kidding me? No one predicted this, including myself. I really didn't know there was an issue. There are 3 pages free, but 2 don't count because they're in the back and they needed a full page. So, now I'm back in the mix for the new visa. They took my finger prints and now I have to wait four weeks before I can go back to the immigration office. In the meantime, I've sent my passport to Berlin to get extra pages. I'm praying that I'm not paying $82 for my passport to be lost in the mail and for me to be stuck in Hamburg. It's really not a great feeling to send such an important document away. For a few minutes, I thought I'd actually have to go to Berlin myself, but it sounds like people mail passports all the time (?).


In the meantime, they were able to provide me with a document that proves that I can work here...legally. Let's just hope that I don't need my passport to sign a lease, open a bank account, or get a Handy. What a morning. I thought something was finally going my way, but yet another detour. Thankfully, Holger let me keep the umbrella. Oh, and while this was all going on, they asked me how tall I was in centimeters. I had no idea. I told them I knew how tall I was in inches and that I knew how many inches were in a centimeter, but instead they had me stand next to Holger to compare. He said I seemed to be the same as his wife, so we came up with a number, but then did a little math to double check. Maybe I should figure out my weight in kilos just in case someone asks.


After the appointments, I had to make my way back to the hotel because I had to change rooms. I have lengthened my reservation a couple of times and it hasn't been a problem, but today my room was a part of a big block. I didn't mind moving, but I had to run back to pack everything up. This is now my third room in this hotel and my brain is thoroughly confused. I think I liked my first room best. The second one was on the same floor, but flopped. This was terribly confusing. And now my room is on a different floor and thus a different color. I liked the blue better than the red. And even though this layout is the same, I keep turning down the hallway in the wrong direction. It's amazing I can remember the room number. I'm not really complaining though.


I stopped to pick up a sandwich and some sage tea (everyone claims this will cure my cough) and I ran in Daniel, Marcus, and Astrid at the store. I went back with them to the office and we ate in the little kitchen. Lots of laughing as expected. Plus, I now have keys to the office! Now I just ned to find the keychain that I packed. And then it was back to work. Plus, I had to prep myself for two apartment showings. The first one is really nice and I hope that one works out. The second one has a nice location but it was just not for me. It seemed fine for Franceso, the Italian/German/English speaking dude, but I don't think it would really cut it for any lady. We shall see. The other problem is that all of the apartments aren't available until the end of the month. Boy was I spoiled in Vienna.


Now, back to that rubber snake. My brother and I like to try to scare each other by hiding rubber spiders and snakes in strange places. Let's just say that Stephen has gotten me pretty good at least three times (1. CD case in car on roadtrip 2. spider on fishing line that swung out at me when I opened the vanity 3. just above the door jamb), but I've yet to strike it big. So, while he can scare me pretty darn good, I've also gotten pretty used to these little rubber guys. So, imagine my surprise when I found (and continue to find) them hidden in my luggage. They're everywhere! The one from my purse was actually from my work portfolio but I had taken it out to look professional at the fair :) Backfire. Anyway, he was dedicated, as always, to finding great hiding spots.


Well, that concludes my randomness and catchup. Let's hope I can stay on track now. Hold your thumbs for my passport and apartment search! (Holding your thumbs is like crossing your fingers.)