Vis-à-vis Visa
Hello good people,
The short story: Due to a miscommunication between Fulbright and the Consulate, I was issued an incorrect visa, but should hopefully be issued the correct visa by mail soon.
The long story: I knew that Chicago had elevated trains, but I did not know there was also elevated street level, and as a result, I spent most of my walk to the consulate trying to figure out if and where I should go up some stairs. The Turkish consulate is on the 29th floor of the NBC Tower, and when I arrived there, there were about a dozen people begrudgingly waiting in the hallway. I chatted with some of the other ETAs who had already been waiting there for hours, handed someone my documents, and waited about an hour to be handed back my visa. There was no interview or even any interaction beyond handing over my documents and the payment (in cash!), although the consulate employee did tell me that I was very lucky to be going to such a beautiful place. Truly, there didn’t seem to be a good reason that the whole thing couldn’t have been done by mail, but I was glad to meet and talk to some other ETAs. I walked over to Millennium Park, met up with my dad, and saw the Bean, which was much larger than I thought it was. You can’t get up close to it for COVID reasons but I took this selfie just for you folks!
I had noticed at the consulate that my visa said “Research,” but when I asked the other ETA I had been waiting with about it, he assured me that that was just the umbrella for all academic work, so I went on my merry way. By the time we got home, it was clear that many of us had been issued research visas, and that we would actually need work visas. Cut to: a series of emails and phone calls between the Fulbright Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Chicago Consulate, where each body expressed that it was someone else’s fault. In the end, I applied again and mailed my passport and forms back to the consulate, which has issued me a work visa which is on the way back to me now.
I should have know that it would not be so simple! And here on the other side of it, it all seems like a non-issue and classic tale of bureaucracy. In the moment, I found it incredibly stressful. My coping mechanism was to make a complicated multi-part sponge cake. Although the Great British Bake Off would have you believe you can easily whip up a sponge cake, I have actually never made one that I thought was truly successful. Every time I make one, I swear off sponge cakes forever, which ends up meaning until two years time when I’ve forgotten what a hassle and failure the last one was. In this case, I over-whipped the egg whites, and the egg yolks never fully incorporated into the sugar. Much like applying for a work visa, the process was overly complex and frustrating with arbitrary and unclear instructions. Unlike applying for a work visa, I had a cake at the end of it. It was too dry and uneven and I’m never making a sponge cake again (remind me of this in 2023!!) but it was a cake, and we ate it.
I am slowly dragging myself forward on more preparations. I’ve organized what needs to be done, I’ve read some of the documents I’ve needed to read, and I’m thinking in more concrete terms about the whole thing. I saw the dentist and mended my gloves. I’ve also started planning what little gifts I should bring for hosts/colleagues. So far I’m thinking maple syrup and peanut butter cups—let me know if you have thoughts on what you think Turkish people would enjoy from Minnesota!
My grant starts on Feb. 5, so I expect things to start moving rapidly in the next two weeks. Before I go, I’d like to set goals and what I want from the experience, so I’m letting you know that here so maybe I’ll feel accountable to actually do it, unlike literally everything else (although I do have a six day Duolingo streak! which will realistically not be much help).
All my best (but sometimes also not my best 😶),
Netta