A lot of my mental energy this week has been absorbed by having to renew my visa here in Germany. I let myself get worked up by all the paperwork and organization required, convinced that I will forget something totally vital. But there’s absolutely no reason for the worry because all of my experiences with Germany’s Ausländerbehörden have been totally fine. I dare say, even pleasant. When living in Hamburg, I took full advantage of the Welcome Center, which was pretty posh. And here in Bremen, the university has its very own Stadtamt on campus and the employees are extremely relaxed. In any case, they’ve decided to let me stick around for a while to finish my PhD. Makes for a great start to the weekend!
What did you spend your energy on this week?
What an intriguing photo!
I hope your visa renewal is smooth sailing. Thankfully I don’t have to do that song and dance anymore, but I do miss the new, full-page additions in the passport.
This week I spent my energy fixing a clogged sewer line at my gallery (thankfully just my mental energy, not my own labor to fix it!), and trying to make an accurate perspective drawing of a cocktail ring I’m going to make for my mom.
The cocktail ring drawing sounds fun, the clogged sewer — not so much. :) As for those huge visa stamps/stickers, those are a thing of the past in the EU. These days, visas come in the form of a plastic card the size of a credit card that you’re supposed to carry around in your wallet + an extra piece of paper explaining the limits of your particular visa. I wouldn’t mind so much, except they’re not allowed as identification when you travel, so now instead of just my passport, I have to travel with my passport + visa card + paper explanation. Not so efficient, for sure. But I guess I save the cost of having to add extra pages to my passport?
Congrats on surviving another round of Residence Permit Rodeo! That always makes a good start to any weekend. :)