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

Pablo – 2007-06-14 01:07:13 stw – 2007-06-18 23:11:50 Tobias – 2007-06-18 23:26:16 Tobias – 2007-06-18 23:30:35

Tags

New York