so today i continued my quest to apply for a student visa/Hungarian residence permit. i say continued b/c yesterday, gabi and i spent 2 1/2 hrs waiting for our number to be called at the immigration office so that we can submit all the paperwork, only to find out that we needed to pay for the fees first. the thing is, you can only pay via postage stamps (don't ask why) and the post office was already closed. after hearing this, i imagined myself as a cartoon character whose face just turned red w/ anger and steam came blowing out of my ears, eyes and nose...
several logical questions came to mind, like "why don't they state that on the application forms?" or "why don't they have a sign in the waiting area to pay x-amount at the post office before taking a number?" "why did i waste that much time only to have to come back the next day and do it again and come to find out once more that i'm missing some forms?"
i've learned that administration in Hungary is very inefficient. they make you take a number and you wait....not to be helped, but to pay whatever fee there is. then you take another number and fall in another line for them to tell you whatever you requested is available....and then you wait. THEN, you get the help you need! if they did away with the first 2 sets of people that "help" you, things would run more efficiently. granted 3/4 of the current workforce would be out of a job, but i don't give a damn!!!
the immigration office is just one example of the inefficiencies of this great country. i'm sure i'll run into more. it felt like the CA DMV, only worse...
**the lone bright side.....the workers weren't a-holes.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
July recap
My 2nd month here in Bp and things are improving slightly. I've committed to Corvinus University for the Fall, had my first US visitor and continued to explore the city and it's sights. Among the most frustrating things here is the fact I can't seem to find a job. The novelty of being on a permanent vacation has wore off now. The best part of my day is when Gabi comes back from work and I get to spend time with her. I live for those moments. Anyways, it hasn't been all that bad. I'll post some more pics up on either Flickr or Picassa.
So there's a couple of things going on right now. One, I'm still trying to get my residence permit here and my initial 90 days will be up this month on the 31st. The student visa is the easiest way to go but I ran into a big setback when the schools Director of Administration decided to go on vacation for the summer w/o sending me the official letter of acceptance. Without it, I can't apply for the student visa. She finally came back earlier this week and emailed it to me. So now I'm getting the ball rolling on that. In the meantime, I have to leave the country and go to another country NOT a part of the Schengen Treaty (if you don't know, wikipedia it!! :D) So...Gabi and I are going to visit Romania this weekend and stay in the Transilvania region (oooh.....scary!!) Don't worry folks, I've got my cross and stakes...i'll pick up the holy water at church this sunday. ;) We'll be leaving Bp, most likely early Sat morning and then staying at Szarvas for a day or two, then driving to Romania.
**a little note: the currency in Romania is called the RON!!!!! and...I have an official translation of my CA drivers license now, so I can drive here in this country. Yay!!!!
I'm still doing my running streak and ever since Victoria brought over my running shoes, I've been running longer distances again. Oh btw, the football thing is over...who am I kidding, i'm not a football player :D. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. So, the longest i've ran is a whopping 4.3 miles just the other day. I'm getting back to form. And most importantly, Gabi is joining in on the fun of running! :D She decided to train for the Nike Half-Marathon Relay on September 7, 2008. The relay point of the half is at 13.8km and the second half is only 7.3km. I gave her the choice of which half to run :).
So there's a couple of things going on right now. One, I'm still trying to get my residence permit here and my initial 90 days will be up this month on the 31st. The student visa is the easiest way to go but I ran into a big setback when the schools Director of Administration decided to go on vacation for the summer w/o sending me the official letter of acceptance. Without it, I can't apply for the student visa. She finally came back earlier this week and emailed it to me. So now I'm getting the ball rolling on that. In the meantime, I have to leave the country and go to another country NOT a part of the Schengen Treaty (if you don't know, wikipedia it!! :D) So...Gabi and I are going to visit Romania this weekend and stay in the Transilvania region (oooh.....scary!!) Don't worry folks, I've got my cross and stakes...i'll pick up the holy water at church this sunday. ;) We'll be leaving Bp, most likely early Sat morning and then staying at Szarvas for a day or two, then driving to Romania.
**a little note: the currency in Romania is called the RON!!!!! and...I have an official translation of my CA drivers license now, so I can drive here in this country. Yay!!!!
I'm still doing my running streak and ever since Victoria brought over my running shoes, I've been running longer distances again. Oh btw, the football thing is over...who am I kidding, i'm not a football player :D. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. So, the longest i've ran is a whopping 4.3 miles just the other day. I'm getting back to form. And most importantly, Gabi is joining in on the fun of running! :D She decided to train for the Nike Half-Marathon Relay on September 7, 2008. The relay point of the half is at 13.8km and the second half is only 7.3km. I gave her the choice of which half to run :).
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