Rainy day and Visa

This morning I went to the US Embassy for an interview to get a US Visa. It is such a hassle. Firstly, to prepare for the interview, I had to get documents like bank statements, mortgage statements and proof of employment together. Then I had to fill in a form online and print it to bring to the interview, not easy when working at a client with no access to a printer. In the end I filled in the form on my client's computer and printed it. Problem solved.

So, my interview was scheduled at 10am. When I got there, I had to join the queue of maybe 50 people scheduled for the same time. It was about 10:45am before I actually got into the Embassy and got a number = 304. Then I waited some 20 minutes before my number was called. At the window, I passed everything to a grumpy woman who just ignored me and did the paperwork, scanned my fingerprints and gave me a piece of paper. The paper said that I have now been through the first stage and have to wait to be called for the next stage, which is the actual interview. So, wait I did. For a long time. I wasn't watching the time, fell asleep for a little while and at about 1:15pm, my turn came.

This time the lady was very nice. She apologised for keeping me waiting and asked me how long I've been in the UK. She said I got the accent down to a tee. She also asked me what kind of company I work for, and who Mei Yee is (I put her down as the person I was going to visit). I told her that she's a friend I've known since I was seven and haven't seen her for a while, the last time being my last visit to the US. She was also surprised that the last visa I got was only for 6 months. She said that this time it will be better and I will get 10 years because she doesn't think that either they nor me need to go through all this again so soon! She was nicer than any other Embassy staff I have met in the past. Well, I cannot be sure of the visa until I get my passport back in a few days time.

I was out of there about 1:30pm. Such a long time for a few minutes interview. It seems that the practice dealing with government departments, e.g. when applying for IC and passport in Malaysia. They are services which we depend on them, and so they can treat us like that, wasting so much time just because it's convenient for them. Where's the human rights in all this?

I stayed home yesterday because I didn't sleep well with a stuffed up nose and sore throat. It hasn't become a full blown cold, but I'm very tired. Today I took a holiday for the visa, and had planned to spend the day shopping and maybe meet some friends for dinner or drinks. Well, none of my friends were free, and after the interview I walked down Oxford Street and got caught in the rain. As I felt tired and wet I wasn't in the mood, but made my way to Chinatown, via John Lewis and Carnaby Street to visit Lush and Never B to Busy to Be Beautiful (sister store to Lush which sells cosmetics), for a meal (well late lunch or early dinner.. it was about 4 pm) at Young Cheng. Then I went home after stopping at Boots to pick up some cosmetics.