The French Consulate

So annoyed… I was writing this blog post in this shitass hotel, and the power proceeded to go out, so I lost everything. I just got a new laptop, so I avoid using my battery when I can. Well that bit me in the ass… oh well, I get to relive my visa appointment for the third time, which isn’t exactly a bad thing because it went incredibly smoothly. I just knew something would go wrong, and therefore screw up my dream of my next year in France as an au pair, but it didn’t!

So my mom and I drove to Atlanta and spent the night because my appointment was early this morning. Right when we got into Atlanta—with huge, five lane highways and 5 o’clock traffic—a torrential downpour started. It was awful driving through, but we made it.

Anyway my appointment this morning. I have gone through so many hoops and long, agonizing waits for this appointment, so I couldn’t believe today was finally the day. Advice for getting a visa appointment—don’t wait on your French family to send you the work agreement before you make the appointment. Make your appointment as soon as possible because the website says it takes 15-21 days to process and get your passport AND visa back. I will probably go into more detail about this later on and create an Advice page.

I drove to The Lenox Building this morning where the French Consulate is, and arrived 40 minutes before my appointment.  There was paid parking for the Lenox Building or free mall parking a mere five feet away, so I opted for the mall parking of course. I went inside the building and wandered around before asking a random lady where the French Consulate was. I proceeded to the 5^th floor, and there it was—The French Consulate.

I had been waiting for this moment for so long; it was surreal. I was finally here, everything had gone smoothly so far, so I was waiting for a snag to happen at any point now. I immediately walked through a metal detector into a room with glass doors on the right and left, and then an office (behind a glass wall) in front of me with no one inside. There were people inside the left-hand door, so I tried to open it, but it was locked. So, I just waited for a few minutes hoping someone would tell me what to do from here. Eventually a man came into the office and greeted me with, “Bonjour.”

When French people speak French to me, I immediately respond with really fast English because I feel awkward not speaking French back and then even more awkward talking in English, so I replied with, “Hi,I’mhereforavisaappointmentat9:40am,” but  the man was nice and checked my name off the list and let me inside the left-hand door.

I walk inside and see two officials behind glass walls, and five people waiting to be assisted. The set-up was awkward because people waiting for their appointments were in the same room as people in their appointments, so I was all up people’s bus-nass.

A few people were ahead of me, and one Asian guy was getting a visa for just a seven day vacation to France? I was confused, but I he was Asian, so maybe he wasn’t an American citizen or something. But like I told you, I felt weird because I knew all about these people and why they were getting visas. Also, I could tell that the official behind the glass wall was really amiable, in a good mood, a generally pleasant fellow I’d say—not what I was expecting. To give him credit, I don’t think he was French.

Finally the guy called my name. The moment of truth (I really psych myself up for moments like these). I had read the list of what I needed to bring a million times , made copies of everything, looked business casual in my dress, had my visa money, had my phone on silent—I was ready. I walked up and told him I wanted an au pair visa (now all the randos get to hear my story), and he asked for all my papers.

I gave him everything, and he looked through each document doing his official business stapling and highlighting things. Then he asked for my flight itinerary. Here was the snag I just knew would happen. Um, this was not listed on the website anywhere. I read through that list a million times; it definitely didn’t mention a flight itinerary. So, I proceeded to tell him just that—what else could I do? He didn’t respond and kept doing his official handling of my papers.

Then he made me write out something to the effect of, “I, insert name here, intend to arrive in France on this day,” sign and date. I don’t know the purpose of this at all; it would make more sense if I had written a document stating when I would leave the country. After that I did some finger prints and a picture. He said to get the hair out of my face, so I swept my bangs to the side and my hair behind my shoulders (I think I look better with it in front of my shoulders), so there’s no telling how god awful my visa picture turned out. Can’t be worse than my passport picture. I have a deadpan expression with my eyes glazed over looking like I’m high on crack.

After that, I was free to go. I felt so elated because everything went so smoothly! Now I am just waiting for the Consulate to call and tell me my visa is ready. Hope it’s any day now. That reminds me… I need to call the Senator’s office to give them the “receipt number” of my appointment because they are going to try to pull some strings to ensure my visa is ready well before my departure date. Never knew the Senator’s office could do things like that, but they actually are worth something!