Visa

Applying for and finally getting the visa is the last big step before the final start of the exchange year.
This step isn't always easy, and it definitely wasn't easy for me.
My Visa application package arrived just 30 days before my departure date. I was on holidays at that time so i had to wait for 2 days until i arrived home and could open my documents.
I read them two times, until i was 100% sure i understood everything, and then i drove to my hometown in Germany (Random fact: I'm half German and half Austrian).
When you start applying for your visa, you have to create an account on the website, and as i was in Germany at the time  I created that account, the system thought i wanted to make a German account, which was obviously not what i wanted. At first i didn't notice, but when i had to select a consulate, only 3 German consulates were available. The consulate in Vienna is 20 minutes away from my hometown and reaching the consulates in Germany would  take min. 7 hours to reach + one overnight stay. We tried changing everything: logging out, changing the country, changing the language and so on, but nothing worked. So I had to wait until i got back home to try it again. I tried it right after i arrived home, but it still didn't work. I tried calling the hotline over 100 times, but no one ever answered. After trying several times I was able to create a new account with the help of my parents.   I filled everything in, which is a lot of work, and got a meeting at the consulate in Vienna just one day after.
 I arrived very early and waited  a long time before going inside. Then I got called to a window, and I handed in my I-20 formula and my passport.
After that I had to wait for a long time again. When they called my name I got up and went to the window again, but this time, the guy behind the window asked me questions. I was really nervous because I wasn't sure if I would be able to understand everything. But luckily I understood everything  except a joke he made, I still have no idea what he said. I talked to him for about 5 min and he asked me questions like "What does your mother work as" or "Whats the name of your school in America". And after the questions (and the award joke that I didn't catch) he told me that I am visa approved and that they would send me my passport within 3 days.
So i was actually nervous for nothing, it was all easy and no problem at all. Even though I didn't understand the joke, I don't think he noticed, because I just laughed politely and I feel like that was alright. Now I just need to pack my suitcase, which is also what the next blogpost will be about.

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Leonie Pohl