Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.
I applied for my first visa in August. I was still living and working at Camp Wawona when that went on. It was quite the ordeal. It was hard to get into town and I ended up sending the paperwork overnight to my dad so he could get my money out of my bank and send it to the embassy. It was a close call. I came to Norway with the expectation that I would only have to pay the ‘club dues’ only once.
I finally received my visa papers and went in to the Police to get it officially put in my passport. It took me at least four visits to finally go when the office was open. (they are only open one day a week and then they were having meetings so they opened on another day. . . government offices) Finally they put in my visa and noticed that the expiratory date was for December 24 due to the fact that my passport was expiring in February 2010. The nice lady at the Police told me that I shouldn’t have to renew my visa or pay for it. . . at least that’s what I understood her to say. After visiting the American Embassy for my new passport, with a much nicer passport photo, I received the empty new one. I took it to the Police to do the simple switch . . . not so easy. I had to go home and ended up calling the UDI people and almost cried when they told me I would have to pay again for the renewal of my visa. I had only been in Norway for a few months and was having to pay it all over again. This time the American dollar was down and it cost me almost $200. Sob. A very kind donor in the states said they would help pay for it. The idea still made me mad though.
Today (Friday) I went to the Police for what I wish was the last time. I went to turn in my renewal papers and pay. I was planning on paying with my American credit card as I don’t have lots of cash hanging around. Guess what? They don’t take American Visa cards. Trying not to cry or be angry at the nice man I asked where I could go to get cash and he vaguely directed me to an ATM several blocks away. After trying 2 different ATMs, two different banks and almost sitting down in the middle of Kongsberg to weep I got help. The nice bank guy whipped out an old-fashioned sliding credit card machine and called my bank and we got it worked out. In the process I missed lunch, almost cried, and had to walk in the cold snowing land. It was rough. I got my visa applied for and in around 3 months I will get it. Yes that’s right three months, March.
I was angry at this injustice. I like the country, the people and the surroundings but I wasn’t sure if it was worth $200. I decided however, that sometimes there is absolutely nothing I can do about it and even crying wont change anything because in life we just have to bite the bullet.
I finally received my visa papers and went in to the Police to get it officially put in my passport. It took me at least four visits to finally go when the office was open. (they are only open one day a week and then they were having meetings so they opened on another day. . . government offices) Finally they put in my visa and noticed that the expiratory date was for December 24 due to the fact that my passport was expiring in February 2010. The nice lady at the Police told me that I shouldn’t have to renew my visa or pay for it. . . at least that’s what I understood her to say. After visiting the American Embassy for my new passport, with a much nicer passport photo, I received the empty new one. I took it to the Police to do the simple switch . . . not so easy. I had to go home and ended up calling the UDI people and almost cried when they told me I would have to pay again for the renewal of my visa. I had only been in Norway for a few months and was having to pay it all over again. This time the American dollar was down and it cost me almost $200. Sob. A very kind donor in the states said they would help pay for it. The idea still made me mad though.
Today (Friday) I went to the Police for what I wish was the last time. I went to turn in my renewal papers and pay. I was planning on paying with my American credit card as I don’t have lots of cash hanging around. Guess what? They don’t take American Visa cards. Trying not to cry or be angry at the nice man I asked where I could go to get cash and he vaguely directed me to an ATM several blocks away. After trying 2 different ATMs, two different banks and almost sitting down in the middle of Kongsberg to weep I got help. The nice bank guy whipped out an old-fashioned sliding credit card machine and called my bank and we got it worked out. In the process I missed lunch, almost cried, and had to walk in the cold snowing land. It was rough. I got my visa applied for and in around 3 months I will get it. Yes that’s right three months, March.
I was angry at this injustice. I like the country, the people and the surroundings but I wasn’t sure if it was worth $200. I decided however, that sometimes there is absolutely nothing I can do about it and even crying wont change anything because in life we just have to bite the bullet.
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