A Big Day (sort of)

This morning as the H was heading off to work, he said, "I think my visa will come in the mail today." I was too groggy to give a proper response, so I ended up saying something that sounded like "Arghetawhfawhgh".

Lo and behold, when I opened the front door later in the afternoon, a large Chronopost envelope was sitting on the mat!

See, this past Monday I had to stop by the US Embassy to drop off H's passport, which he was unable to leave with the Embassy peeps at the time of his interview on account of his coming to NY for the holidays 2 days later. So along with the passport, I also dropped off my "Explanation Letter for the I-864" in which I just wrote a small paragraph that stated that I was a US citizen residing in France, but unemployed, so I don't pay taxes and I maintain a mailing address at my mom's house. Except that when I went to the Embassy, I got there at 12h10 pm and I was chided a zillion times by everyone that Embassy services closed at 12 pm sharp. Well, excuse you all, Embassy People, but no one told either H nor myself this little tidbit of apparently important information! I had a special pass to be let into the Embassy (I guess they have special days and stuff for immigrant visas) and it turned into a 30 minute ordeal with three security guards discussing it amongst themselves (in a language that was neither French nor English, I might add), then calling in someone from security inside the Embassy who came to take my pass and the two passports, and then came back and said I could enter. But when I made my way over to Window #7, the American Lady In Charge of #7 was all scowling at me and saying that she was on her way out to lunch but that she waited ESPECIALLY FOR ME and that I should NEVER EVER EVEN THINK about arriving at the Embassy AFTER 12PM. I offered to come back after her lunch break but she said it was fine in an annoyed manner, and took the passport and the letter. Then she said "You can expect the visa in the mail in 7 - 10 days."

When I told this to the H, he said, "Well, in US Embassy Speak, 7-10 days means 2-3 days. Because they said 3 months for the first response after dropping off the petition, but we got it in 8 days. And they said 1 - 2 months for the interview appointment, but we got that in 7 days. They are unbelievably efficient over there."

So the excellent news is that I tore open the Chronopost envelope (yes, I was too eager to wait for the H to come home and open it) and there was a GIANT envelope that was marked "DO NOT OPEN!!!!!" because apparently it contains sensitive information that is to be opened only by the Immigration Officer at the US port of entry. There was also his passport, with the page already open to the visa sticker, which is good for 6 months. It is all very fancy and official looking; in fact, it looks just like the front page of US passports, with all those shiny security seals and the scanned picture and all. There was a letter explaining how H should go about getting his Social Security number, and a little pamphlet that says "Bienvenue aux Etats-Unis!!!!!!!!!" which explains where one can download the Guide For Immigrants (which apparently exists in like, 50 languages) and also explains stuff like the Yellow Pages, how to open a bank account, and where and how to apply for jobs. There was also a very nice note that said, "We are very pleased that you intend to immigrate to the United States! Congratulations, and WELCOME!!!!"

I mean, could our people BE any nicer?

I called the H and I was all "OH MY GOD YOUR VISA IS HERE!!!!!" and he wasn't very surprised. All he said was, "Wow, it's very impressive, how efficient and fast the American government is."

I have EVERY intention of doing some silent gloating about it all.

H will book his flight to New York for April, and I've already booked a one-way ticket (using my Flying Blue miles - FINALLY I can make use of them!) for March. I'll also be heading home at the end of the month to celebrate my 30th birthday (most likely at Risotteria, so's that I can have a piece of gluten free cake); the H will be at some film festival on my birthday and I do need to make what I have called a "luggage run" which just means that I'm bringing a shitload of my crap back to the U.S. and then bringing back this ENORMOUS suitcase that the H hates because it's so big, it barely fits into ANY French car. Also we will be heading to a wedding in London in mid-February, and I can bring back the Little Black Dress That I Wear To Weddings And Other Similar Functions (I do have a similar Pink Dress, but it is really lightweight and is not at all practical for a winter wedding).

The only other highlight of the day was that I went to see Elizabeth: The Golden Age at a movie theater in Montparnasse. It came out in France on the day that I flew back to NY for the holidays, and by then it was no longer playing in the US. It was quite an excellent movie, though awfully historically inaccurate, but Cate Blanchett totally rocks. I was most annoyed that they invented a brother for Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Walter Raleigh was not at ALL instrumental in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and Elizabeth was awfully young in the movie whereas in real life, at this point in time, she was getting on in years. The only other annoying thing was the elderly woman sitting behind me who kept talking really loudly during the movie because she kept confusing Francis Walsingham with Dr. John Dee and Elizabeth I with Bess Throckmorton. She kept asking her husband things like, "Why is the Queen having an affair with the explorer guy?" and "Oh, my! The Queen is pregnant???"