Our ride to destiny

I know, civil servants are not the fastest working people in the world... And "they" at the Canadian Embassy are doing even worse! It's been a month since we've been to Berlin, and a month since they told us we can leave Holland, and live in Canada legally for the rest of our lifes, if we desire to.

Still, they have not sent us the final paperwork. They need to send us a letter, in which they tell us to pay (of course), fill out some last paperwork (of course) and send our passports... How long does it REALLY take to print that (standard) letter, put it in an enveloppe and have it mailed to Holland? 4.5 fucking weeks???

I know, the immigration process in one of patience, but jesus, it has been 2 years since we sent our stuff, we've been dealing with this shit for over 2.5 years now... I think I just quit...


NEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


But, it has finally got to me. I'm pissed, I'm sick and tired of having my life on hold. I want to take control again and get some things done here!

But, realistic as I am... I know I got to wait some more... So I lay my head to rest, tell myself to be patient, and be pissed anyway

So, what do you think... Should they just speed things up at the embassies all over the world, or should all immigrants wait patiently?

The day before yesterday, my doorbell rang... An old friend dropped in. Coffee? No, he said, tea. Oh, and your carkeys. Okay?!?! Yeah, he said, I have a same car as yours, but my engine is dead, so I need another one, and Marc said yours is for sale. Yep, that's true... But now already? I haven't even bought a plane-ticket! But I'm a nice girl, so I gave him the keys, and told him he should talk to Marc about it, I will not interfere (and THAT is something I don't say often )
He looked at the car, walked around it... Everything you do before you buy a car, he did. 15 minutes later, he gave me my keys back, and said he loved it

In the afternoon, he came back, with Marc, he had already bought my car! I was Benz-less! We've had Mercedes's since we had kids (not this Benz, they've changed a bit over the years) and I really liked this one...

Of course, rationally, it is a good decision we made, 'cause it is an expensive car, we don't need a big one (in Holland, it is a big car ) like that anymore, we are not going far by car anymore... But now I was Benz-less!

Of course I'm too lazy to be without one, so we checked out the internet, and found something else

I am now the proud owner of a '88 Volkswagon Golf

We kept it German, and that is the only simularity It is half the size, it is babyblue (yikes!), and, most important... It is completelly basic... No...

[ Continued ]

Wednesday April 18. 7 am. Alarmclock makes noise... I was wide awake already, hadn't slept much. Tomorrow is the big day, and today we have a 7 hour drive ahead of us. I'm nervous. As hell

I get up, make breakfast and lunch for the girls, wake them up, and help them to school. I go to the bathroom and throw up. Fuck, I'm nervous. I hate to travel, and I hate to travel to Berlin today, and back home tomorrow. This will be the most important trip I had to make, ever. It will change our lives. Or not...

We got in the car by 10.30 am. The drive is boring. We are both nervous, the roads are busy. Finally we arrive in Berlin. It is 5.00 pm. We are looking for the Canadian Embassy. Ah, there it is. Now let's find our hotel. I booked one, not to far from the Embassy,so it can't take us a long time. It took 5 minutes . We check in, go up to the 4th floor, and go back down again, to eat. We are hungry, but cannot eat very much. The nousiousness takes over. We go back up again, and crash on the bed. Before 9 pm, Marc is asleep. I'm not. It took me till 1 in the morning...

Again, 7.00 am. The alarmclock. Again. I feel better then yesterday. It is out of my hands. I take a quick shower and get dressed in suit nr 1. We go down for breakfast. Well, coffee... Not much more fits in our stumbling stomachs. We decided to take the bus to the Embassy. It is about a 5 minute drive. We are at the Embassy before 8.30. Our appointment is at 9.

The sun is shining, so we sit in the sun and wait for the time to go by. At 8.50 we walk to the front door, where a friendly German security lady tells us we are at the wrong building. FUCK! We have to walk around the building to another door. It will open at 9, so we have like 10 minutes. When we arrive there, the same security lady opens the...

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The Netherlands (I have no idea why we call it Holland and the Netherlands ) are a monarchy. We have a Queen, who has 3 sons. The eldest, Crownprince Willem-Alexander (Wim-Lex for short ) has an Argentina-born wife, whom he married in 2002. The other 2 sons of the Queen have been married since then, to Dutch born females. So, eventually, we are going to have a Dutch Queen, born in Argentina. She is already Dutch.

Anyway, they married in 2002, and in 2003 there was the first born: Amalia. I forgot the other 3 names 1.5 Years later in 2005, there was the next girl: Alexia. Forgot those names too And now, 3 days ago, on April 10th, 2007, at 21.57 Dutch time, there was the third born! A girl again! Everybody started to speculate on the name. Of course it would start with an A. And it probably would be a little Spanish too... Maybe Alicia? That would be nice, because the secret daughter of Prince Bernhard (father of our Queen) is named Alicia, and since the second daughter of Wim-Lex was called the same as the other secret daughter (Alexia) it would be a nice pick...

But no, they didn't name her Alicia. They named her:

Ariane Wilhelmina Maxima Inez

And they will call her Ariaan

Wilhemina is after Wim-Lex's grandmother (Queen Wilhemina), Maxima is after her grandmother (Who was also called Maxima, that is to make it easy for us ), and Inez...

[ Continued ]

Dual citizenship is something I am concidering. But...

Of course there is a but. It is not the Canadian Government which makes me say "but", it's the Dutch Government. The Dutch Government does not allow dual citizenship for her citizens. That means, that if I want to become Canadian, I will loose my Dutch nationality.

It is kinda tricky... My kids will become Canadian Citizens and stay Dutch, when they live more than 5 years in Canada before they turn 18. They will not have to do a test or something. For us adults, it's a different thing. When you are a PR for 3 years, you can apply for Citizenship, study, do a test, and be Canadian when you pass that test. So far so good... But when I would do that, the minute I become Canadian, I will not be Dutch anymore. Hubby will stay Dutch though, because he then is married to a Canadian Citizen, which allows him to have dual citizenship. So when I pass the test, he stays Dutch and automatically becomes Canadian too... He can go back to The Netherlands to live whenever he wants. I won't be able to do that, because I'm not Dutch anymore, and I will have to apply for a visa when (if ) we should want to go back, for whatever reason. I don't know, sick parents, you name it. But of course that visa might not be issued... Then we have a problem...

Immigrants who come to The Netherlands however, can be dual citizens. It is up to the country of origin... Turkish people can choose, but Moroccan people are not allowed to give up their nationality.

So I'm considering... I have some years to think about it...