Paperwork is such a joyous thing, isn't it?
I expect there's a lot more of it to come, but over the past couple of days I have had the absolute joy of filling in forms for both my visa, and my passport renewal (which I probably should have tackled much earlier).
The American visa forms were especially amusing. Along with the three questions asking about my terrorist affiliations, and several others on my various torturing, money laundering and prostitution habits, was my personal favourite; "Have you ever ordered, incited, committed, assisted, or otherwise participated in genocide?"
I know they're all very conscious of security and all, but I expect if a genocidal terrorist was stupid enough to actually tick the yes box, they wouldn't be able to get their head around the rest of the form.
Tomorrow (assuming I manage to convince someone with a current passport to agree I exist) I'll head into the passport office to hand in all the forms and get my new passport on its way. I'll probably have to go past twice, as I think the photos I got done for my visa aren't good enough, even if I chop them up a bit. But I might as well check first, rather than fork out twenty bucks or so for some new ones. The passport itself is already costing over $150.
What with that, and the final payment I made yesterday, not to mention the new laptop, and my current state of unemployment, my bank balance is not looking quite as cheerful as it once was. Ah well. I'll get fun stories to share with you all instead. A very worthy investment.
I now have a few definite dates as well, which is rather nice. I abandon New Zealand on the 14th of August, to arrive in New Jersey, where I will be for my training course until the 18th, when I fly off to my new home in California. My program is scheduled to finish on the 15thof August 2012, and my plans for then are still a little fuzzy, and largely dependant on how eager I am to get home. I'll probably travel about the States for a month, until my visa runs out, then fly onwards or homewards. They'll pay for a flight either back to Auckland, or on to London, and currently the plan is to go over and spend a bit of time in the UK, maybe some more of Europe, too. It'll be good to see my grandparents, Anastasia, and a few others who I might be borrowing couches from. At some point I'll probably come home, but I do have a British passport, so I could potentially stay and work there for quite some time, if I feel like it.
Those shall be decisions for another far away day.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Monday, 6 June 2011
In Which Progress Is Made
Probably should have updated this thing since October, but hey, it was originally for America, and up until a few days ago, I didn’t really have any new things to tell.
So on Wednesday morning my file was finally released to be circulated around families, and within an hour I already had a family wanting to interview. Within four hours I had two families, and an hour later I was talking to a family! The first family I talked to were pretty awesome. We talked for just over half an hour about their family, my childcare experience, their town, all those of things. It was a good conversation, we got on very well, and I could see myself living with them without too many difficulties. They were a solidly good family, and said a whole bunch of things that made me want to leap all over them.
Thursday I spoke with the second family. First I talked to the mum for a good forty five minutes, mostly about the kids, their family, their neighbourhood and me and my potential role in the family. We did often get a little off topic, though, talking about all sorts of things. This conversation felt a lot less like an interview, and more like just chatting with an awesome new friend.
The kids got home a couple hours later, so we set up another call, so that I could meet them, and talk to them a bit. Two hours later I was back on Skype and pulling faces at the kids. Those kids are amazing, and I’m already very attached to them, so it’s very fortunate that…
When I checked my emails on Friday morning I found a formal match offer from them. I did my level best to refrain from jumping at everyone in my general vicinity (to a semi-successful degree), and arranged to talk to the national representative, before formally accepting the offer. I’d been given very strict instructions that I was not to agree to a match without talking to her first, and after leaving a message, spent a couple of hours eagerly waiting for her to call me back. I got the call while I was in town, and Talya can attest to my excitable noises and dancings.
Naturally I sent back a massive YES once I got home, and now we’re working on the logistics and timing. From what I know so far, I expect my most likely departure date will be the 7th of August, although it may end up being slightly earlier, depending on flights, availability of space in the New Jersey training course, and a few other things.
I’m expecting an onslaught of paperwork to come in the next week or so, and then it shall be full steam ahead with chaos and preparations!
It’s amazing how I spent so many months waiting on progress, and then when something happens it all goes so fast. Over two months ago I was told that my file would be released “within the week”, and after all that time, it takes two days to have a family all sorted out and waiting for me
I’m not meant to disclose information on the family over the internet (fair enough, too), so if you want details on the family, talk to me, and I’m sure you’ll want me to be shutting up about how fantastic they are fairly soon. But I’ll be living in California for a year, about 45 minutes out of San Francisco, with a single mother and two children, a twelve year old boy, and a girl who turns ten this month.
Writing an email to the other family, telling them that I’d accepted an offer from someone else, was pretty difficult. They were a really awesome family, and I felt bad responding to an email asking for a second interview with their son and current au pair with news that wasn’t so great for them. They were nice about it, though, and we both wished each other well.
Life other than America stuff has been pretty good, too. In November I switched flats, then (technically) moved home in January, a day before heading off to what was probably my best Walsh yet. Came home from that via a small folk festival, and set off a couple weeks later on an epic road trip with my darling Stephanie.
A month or so after getting home from our adventures I was back flatting in Newtown. (After all, moving home was mostly for the purposes of not paying rent while I was away.) I’m living in the same community as before, in a flat just down the road from the last one, and with five other girls. It’s been awesome so far, and I will shall miss them all dreadfully when I leave.
As far as work goes, I have been working several jobs, and pretty much unemployed for the vast majority of this year. I’ve done several shifts out at a wedding venue in Ohariu Valley, which I actually rather enjoy, for the most part. The main problem is that it takes a good hour to get there on my every failing scooter, which is especially not fun on the way home, in the rain, at two in the morning. The shifts are fairly long, meaning I can make enough to cover rent if I do two a week, which was nice during the wedding season. It has since come to a grinding halt with the arrival of winter, and I’m now working there about once a month, if that. I’ve also worked a few days helping out in the unit at Mum’s school, and am cleaning for a friend of a friend on a weekly basis.
A couple of months ago I got a job working with a company that organises relievers for various kindergartens and daycare centres around the place, which I thought would have me working nearly full-time, if I wanted to be. But alas, I’d sent off my most recent police check about a week before getting the job, and so I have been stuck waiting, yet again, on the Ministry of Justice, who are taking their bloody time about it. I do believe it’s the fourth police check I’ve had done in the past two years. Hopefully it will all come through soon, and I’ll be able to stop digging into my savings to pay the rent.
Phew! Bit of an essay there. Cookies to anyone who actually reads it all. Hopefully there shall be more exciting happenings afoot before too long.
So on Wednesday morning my file was finally released to be circulated around families, and within an hour I already had a family wanting to interview. Within four hours I had two families, and an hour later I was talking to a family! The first family I talked to were pretty awesome. We talked for just over half an hour about their family, my childcare experience, their town, all those of things. It was a good conversation, we got on very well, and I could see myself living with them without too many difficulties. They were a solidly good family, and said a whole bunch of things that made me want to leap all over them.
Thursday I spoke with the second family. First I talked to the mum for a good forty five minutes, mostly about the kids, their family, their neighbourhood and me and my potential role in the family. We did often get a little off topic, though, talking about all sorts of things. This conversation felt a lot less like an interview, and more like just chatting with an awesome new friend.
The kids got home a couple hours later, so we set up another call, so that I could meet them, and talk to them a bit. Two hours later I was back on Skype and pulling faces at the kids. Those kids are amazing, and I’m already very attached to them, so it’s very fortunate that…
When I checked my emails on Friday morning I found a formal match offer from them. I did my level best to refrain from jumping at everyone in my general vicinity (to a semi-successful degree), and arranged to talk to the national representative, before formally accepting the offer. I’d been given very strict instructions that I was not to agree to a match without talking to her first, and after leaving a message, spent a couple of hours eagerly waiting for her to call me back. I got the call while I was in town, and Talya can attest to my excitable noises and dancings.
Naturally I sent back a massive YES once I got home, and now we’re working on the logistics and timing. From what I know so far, I expect my most likely departure date will be the 7th of August, although it may end up being slightly earlier, depending on flights, availability of space in the New Jersey training course, and a few other things.
I’m expecting an onslaught of paperwork to come in the next week or so, and then it shall be full steam ahead with chaos and preparations!
It’s amazing how I spent so many months waiting on progress, and then when something happens it all goes so fast. Over two months ago I was told that my file would be released “within the week”, and after all that time, it takes two days to have a family all sorted out and waiting for me
I’m not meant to disclose information on the family over the internet (fair enough, too), so if you want details on the family, talk to me, and I’m sure you’ll want me to be shutting up about how fantastic they are fairly soon. But I’ll be living in California for a year, about 45 minutes out of San Francisco, with a single mother and two children, a twelve year old boy, and a girl who turns ten this month.
Writing an email to the other family, telling them that I’d accepted an offer from someone else, was pretty difficult. They were a really awesome family, and I felt bad responding to an email asking for a second interview with their son and current au pair with news that wasn’t so great for them. They were nice about it, though, and we both wished each other well.
Life other than America stuff has been pretty good, too. In November I switched flats, then (technically) moved home in January, a day before heading off to what was probably my best Walsh yet. Came home from that via a small folk festival, and set off a couple weeks later on an epic road trip with my darling Stephanie.
A month or so after getting home from our adventures I was back flatting in Newtown. (After all, moving home was mostly for the purposes of not paying rent while I was away.) I’m living in the same community as before, in a flat just down the road from the last one, and with five other girls. It’s been awesome so far, and I will shall miss them all dreadfully when I leave.
As far as work goes, I have been working several jobs, and pretty much unemployed for the vast majority of this year. I’ve done several shifts out at a wedding venue in Ohariu Valley, which I actually rather enjoy, for the most part. The main problem is that it takes a good hour to get there on my every failing scooter, which is especially not fun on the way home, in the rain, at two in the morning. The shifts are fairly long, meaning I can make enough to cover rent if I do two a week, which was nice during the wedding season. It has since come to a grinding halt with the arrival of winter, and I’m now working there about once a month, if that. I’ve also worked a few days helping out in the unit at Mum’s school, and am cleaning for a friend of a friend on a weekly basis.
A couple of months ago I got a job working with a company that organises relievers for various kindergartens and daycare centres around the place, which I thought would have me working nearly full-time, if I wanted to be. But alas, I’d sent off my most recent police check about a week before getting the job, and so I have been stuck waiting, yet again, on the Ministry of Justice, who are taking their bloody time about it. I do believe it’s the fourth police check I’ve had done in the past two years. Hopefully it will all come through soon, and I’ll be able to stop digging into my savings to pay the rent.
Phew! Bit of an essay there. Cookies to anyone who actually reads it all. Hopefully there shall be more exciting happenings afoot before too long.
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