So every year more or less I have to renew my visa. I have named this process "Czech Scavenger Hunt" because in essence that is what it is. You travel around Prague looking for government offices, collecting papers and stamps, and then you cash it in to find out if you've won a nice shiny new visa. Well every year has been worse than the previous year. I had always found out that I was missing certain things and in fact my first year I must have gone to the foreign police office seven times before I got the paperwork right. I understand Czech well enough now to know where on the ministry of the interior website to look for all changes associated with visas and I've applied enough times to be able to do it. Every year had been progressively worse because there has been a huge influx of visa applicants ever since the Czech Republic became part of the European Union. With the CZ becoming part of Schengen I really thought it would be worse. The last time I applied for my visa I tried to get into the office for three weeks but there were too many people waiting on line outside so that I finally had to camp outside the office from 2:30 a.m. on the last possible day that I could apply. Anyway, to make a long story short this time I anticipated everything. I gathered my paperwork months ahead of time and went to the foreign police yesterday a good three weeks before my deadline. I waited from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. I had #131. There was a computer crash and for three hours nothing happened. At 6 p.m. #124 was called. They told me I could come back tomorrow and not wait in line and I'd be taken care of right away. So I wearily rode my bike home, had a class of whisky, and went to bed. I woke up at 5:50 a.m. and was at the foreign police at 7 a.m. I was whisked to the front of the line and I was served by the first clerk. Within 20 minutes a new visa was issued to me and it is valid until I graduate, so that is what is pictured above....some tangible proof that my time here is finite. Anyway, waiting in the foreign police isn't all bad you can pass your time by looking at lots of natasha's and svetlanas. The following music video by Sasha Dith sums it up quite well.
So every year more or less I have to renew my visa. I have named this process "Czech Scavenger Hunt" because in essence that is what it is. You travel around Prague looking for government offices, collecting papers and stamps, and then you cash it in to find out if you've won a nice shiny new visa. Well every year has been worse than the previous year. I had always found out that I was missing certain things and in fact my first year I must have gone to the foreign police office seven times before I got the paperwork right. I understand Czech well enough now to know where on the ministry of the interior website to look for all changes associated with visas and I've applied enough times to be able to do it. Every year had been progressively worse because there has been a huge influx of visa applicants ever since the Czech Republic became part of the European Union. With the CZ becoming part of Schengen I really thought it would be worse. The last time I applied for my visa I tried to get into the office for three weeks but there were too many people waiting on line outside so that I finally had to camp outside the office from 2:30 a.m. on the last possible day that I could apply. Anyway, to make a long story short this time I anticipated everything. I gathered my paperwork months ahead of time and went to the foreign police yesterday a good three weeks before my deadline. I waited from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. I had #131. There was a computer crash and for three hours nothing happened. At 6 p.m. #124 was called. They told me I could come back tomorrow and not wait in line and I'd be taken care of right away. So I wearily rode my bike home, had a class of whisky, and went to bed. I woke up at 5:50 a.m. and was at the foreign police at 7 a.m. I was whisked to the front of the line and I was served by the first clerk. Within 20 minutes a new visa was issued to me and it is valid until I graduate, so that is what is pictured above....some tangible proof that my time here is finite. Anyway, waiting in the foreign police isn't all bad you can pass your time by looking at lots of natasha's and svetlanas. The following music video by Sasha Dith sums it up quite well. 
1 comments:
no posts in a while Dan, I think I have taken your advise and chosen to pursue my dream from here in Canada...
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