The state of Pet
I crossposted parts of this Tumblr, so apologies if you see it twice.
My visa interview appointment at the US embassy in Frankfurt was the weirdest thing ever earlier this week. I got up early to make sure I don't need to rush. I had an appointment for 8:30 AM, something I was grateful for because then it would be over and I wouldn't have to fret about it all day long. I made it to the embassy and entry works like this: first you go to a sort of reception (waiting in line #1), they check that you have your three basic things on you (passport, visa fee paid and filled out DS 160 form), then you draw a number and head over to security where you wait some more (#2). From there you enter a big hall where you wait with lots and lots of people before you're called to one of the counters (waiting #3). They check again that you have your paperwork sorted right, take it, make a few notes and send you back to waiting (#4). Then your number is called again and you get to speak to an officer who looks up your case and asks questions. This officer than makes the final decision whether your visa is being granted or not.
My interview already started with a fuck-up at #1.
When I was last at the embassy in 2008, they already had the rule that you could not take electronics with you into the embassy but you could hand them over at security. They've become really strict about this and you cannot even take them this far with you. Of course I wanted to head to work straight after the interview so I had my phone and my chip card with me that opens the doors at the office. And since I was there by myself and without a car, I had no chance to hand them over to anybody. I nearly panicked. Go me! But then, it turns out that there is a little newsstand near the embassy that is now functioning as sort of a coat check where you can deposit your stuff. So I headed back there, gave them my stuff, came back to the embassy and restarted the process at waiting #1.
And then I sat there and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Once I was inside that big hall, I got called up for #3 pretty quickly and from there, it took forever. There were several other counters open that did the actual interviews and each of those officers took a number of tens, like person 1 was doing the numbers 321 - 330, the next was doing 331 - 340, etc. My number was 349 and the guy who was doing the '40s was taking so long! His interviews took longer than everybody else's and he also seemed to take more time to look at the various applications before he actually called the people up. Of course, this would be guy I had to speak with! I got more and more nervous as the minutes ticked by. After about 2 hours, I was finally called up. And then it was just bizarre.
I greeted him in English (all employees there are also fluent in German) and he seemed happy that I wanted to do the interview in English. I thought he was going to quiz me about my job, maybe about stuff in the application that had been sent to the USCIS. But the first thing he said was, "So you work for Razorfish. My wife used to work for Publicis." (Publicis Groupe is the company that bought us last year.) I didn't even have much time to respond as he kept rambling. He then told me that he used to work for BBDO (a classical agency) and that he knows the CEO of ZenithOptimedia in New York (another company owned Publicis Groupe). He even made a joke about how he was going to give me a visa if I could get his son a job at Razorfish in NY (to which I said, "Sure! Deal!") We then quickly chatted about how Razorfish was struggling through the financial crisis and I told him I'd been working with them all this time and we then talked about why digital agencies are cooler than traditional agencies and that I made a good choice in working there. It was so bizarre. He also then asked whether we'd met Maurice Levy (CEO of Publicis Groupe and "boss" of over 40,000 employees worldwide) and I told him that yes, indeed, Maurice had come to our office shortly after we'd been taken over by them. The interview ended after 10 minutes when he said that my visa has been approved and I should have the paperwork by April 15. (I received everything yesterday in fact.)
I think this has been the most bizarre 10 minutes of my life.
Other than that, life's pretty busy with the upcoming move, with trying to organize a little farewell party and with trying to hand over my work projects to Kerstin, the girl who's taking over. Me and a bunch of colleagues flew to London on Friday and spent the day in the office of our UK sister agency that also works for the same client as we do. In the afternoon, the client came over and it was such a lovely occasion for me to say goodbye to her in person. (We have a really good and friendly working relationship with the client who is great.) My last day will be on Tuesday next week and quite honestly, it's a big thing for me. This is the first "real" job I've had after college and I've been at this agency for nearly 4 years. Even though I'm excited about a dream finally coming true, it's also nerve-wrecking to leave everything behind. It's not that I absolutely hated everything here, my dream simply is even more appealing.
There'll be a little party on Tuesday evening after my official at work. I'll be heading to a bar with a bunch of colleagues and I'm really excited that Sven is also coming. (Ironically, Sven called me last Thursday because his new company is sending him to NY for a business trip in early June and he's currently trying to figure out where to stay and he said if there's one person that can give him good tips, then it'd be me. Color me very flattered. *g*)
As you know, I currently still live in Frankfurt and the real estate market is really tough here. There are simply not enough apartments in the one- or two-bedroom segment for all the people. I was lucky when I scored my apartment because it's in a great pre-war building, has a good size, one of the best locations in town at a unbeatable price. To say it'll go quick is an understatement. It's been handed over to a broker who turned up with ca. 30 (!!) people yesterday morning and took them through the apartment for a showing. I was trying to hide in the kitchen but ended up having to answer the same questions over and over again. It was annoying (especially since there IS a realtor who makes a shitload of money!) There was this woman who was so weird: the kitchen currently installed in the apartment is mine and I've told the realtor several times that it needs to stay in the apartment and that I'll be selling it. The price is a little high because I'm expecting to have to negotiate. The first thing she said when she heard "it's not worth that much" in a really nasty tone. I had to bite my tongue real hard not to say "Hey lady, look around. There are 29 other people who want the apartment. If you don't pay the price, then I'm sure someone else will." She then also complained about the lack of sunlight and the size of the bedroom. Then before she left she became such a brown-noser, saying how she was jealous of me going to NY and how she wished me good luck and made sure she was the only one to shake my hand. What an ass.
My workout routine and nutrition have been pretty shit those last few days. I've been having a hard time staying within my Weight Watchers daily points level and needed to go into my weekly extra points. (I mostly blame the alcohol.) According to WW, the program is set up in a way that even if you consume all of your weekly extra points, you're still supposed to lose weight. I'm not concerned about this because my April goal will be maintaining. If I end up losing, then this is a nice bonus. And while I've had no problems with drinking enough water, I haven't eaten enough vegetables. I know I still have a lot of stress ahead of me so I'm trying not to add even more pressure on myself than is absolutely needed. I've had little to no motivation to work out and I'm hoping that this'll come back once I'm settled in NY and found myself a nice gym.
I'm currently starting to wonder about a few things I'll have to take care once in New York. Obviously, money and neighborhoods are currently a big thing. I've always really liked the Upper West Side and Midtown West (Hell's Kitchen area & around Lincoln Center) as neighborhoods but I'm curious on the views of the New Yorkers about what's cool and what's not. I'm looking to share with no more than max. 2 other people.
I've also been wondering what kinds of banks anybody could recommend. What's a good bank? Also, in terms of money, how big is the gross vs. net pay difference? How many percent of my gross pay can I actually expect as net pay?
My visa interview appointment at the US embassy in Frankfurt was the weirdest thing ever earlier this week. I got up early to make sure I don't need to rush. I had an appointment for 8:30 AM, something I was grateful for because then it would be over and I wouldn't have to fret about it all day long. I made it to the embassy and entry works like this: first you go to a sort of reception (waiting in line #1), they check that you have your three basic things on you (passport, visa fee paid and filled out DS 160 form), then you draw a number and head over to security where you wait some more (#2). From there you enter a big hall where you wait with lots and lots of people before you're called to one of the counters (waiting #3). They check again that you have your paperwork sorted right, take it, make a few notes and send you back to waiting (#4). Then your number is called again and you get to speak to an officer who looks up your case and asks questions. This officer than makes the final decision whether your visa is being granted or not.
My interview already started with a fuck-up at #1.
When I was last at the embassy in 2008, they already had the rule that you could not take electronics with you into the embassy but you could hand them over at security. They've become really strict about this and you cannot even take them this far with you. Of course I wanted to head to work straight after the interview so I had my phone and my chip card with me that opens the doors at the office. And since I was there by myself and without a car, I had no chance to hand them over to anybody. I nearly panicked. Go me! But then, it turns out that there is a little newsstand near the embassy that is now functioning as sort of a coat check where you can deposit your stuff. So I headed back there, gave them my stuff, came back to the embassy and restarted the process at waiting #1.
And then I sat there and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Once I was inside that big hall, I got called up for #3 pretty quickly and from there, it took forever. There were several other counters open that did the actual interviews and each of those officers took a number of tens, like person 1 was doing the numbers 321 - 330, the next was doing 331 - 340, etc. My number was 349 and the guy who was doing the '40s was taking so long! His interviews took longer than everybody else's and he also seemed to take more time to look at the various applications before he actually called the people up. Of course, this would be guy I had to speak with! I got more and more nervous as the minutes ticked by. After about 2 hours, I was finally called up. And then it was just bizarre.
I greeted him in English (all employees there are also fluent in German) and he seemed happy that I wanted to do the interview in English. I thought he was going to quiz me about my job, maybe about stuff in the application that had been sent to the USCIS. But the first thing he said was, "So you work for Razorfish. My wife used to work for Publicis." (Publicis Groupe is the company that bought us last year.) I didn't even have much time to respond as he kept rambling. He then told me that he used to work for BBDO (a classical agency) and that he knows the CEO of ZenithOptimedia in New York (another company owned Publicis Groupe). He even made a joke about how he was going to give me a visa if I could get his son a job at Razorfish in NY (to which I said, "Sure! Deal!") We then quickly chatted about how Razorfish was struggling through the financial crisis and I told him I'd been working with them all this time and we then talked about why digital agencies are cooler than traditional agencies and that I made a good choice in working there. It was so bizarre. He also then asked whether we'd met Maurice Levy (CEO of Publicis Groupe and "boss" of over 40,000 employees worldwide) and I told him that yes, indeed, Maurice had come to our office shortly after we'd been taken over by them. The interview ended after 10 minutes when he said that my visa has been approved and I should have the paperwork by April 15. (I received everything yesterday in fact.)
I think this has been the most bizarre 10 minutes of my life.
Other than that, life's pretty busy with the upcoming move, with trying to organize a little farewell party and with trying to hand over my work projects to Kerstin, the girl who's taking over. Me and a bunch of colleagues flew to London on Friday and spent the day in the office of our UK sister agency that also works for the same client as we do. In the afternoon, the client came over and it was such a lovely occasion for me to say goodbye to her in person. (We have a really good and friendly working relationship with the client who is great.) My last day will be on Tuesday next week and quite honestly, it's a big thing for me. This is the first "real" job I've had after college and I've been at this agency for nearly 4 years. Even though I'm excited about a dream finally coming true, it's also nerve-wrecking to leave everything behind. It's not that I absolutely hated everything here, my dream simply is even more appealing.
There'll be a little party on Tuesday evening after my official at work. I'll be heading to a bar with a bunch of colleagues and I'm really excited that Sven is also coming. (Ironically, Sven called me last Thursday because his new company is sending him to NY for a business trip in early June and he's currently trying to figure out where to stay and he said if there's one person that can give him good tips, then it'd be me. Color me very flattered. *g*)
As you know, I currently still live in Frankfurt and the real estate market is really tough here. There are simply not enough apartments in the one- or two-bedroom segment for all the people. I was lucky when I scored my apartment because it's in a great pre-war building, has a good size, one of the best locations in town at a unbeatable price. To say it'll go quick is an understatement. It's been handed over to a broker who turned up with ca. 30 (!!) people yesterday morning and took them through the apartment for a showing. I was trying to hide in the kitchen but ended up having to answer the same questions over and over again. It was annoying (especially since there IS a realtor who makes a shitload of money!) There was this woman who was so weird: the kitchen currently installed in the apartment is mine and I've told the realtor several times that it needs to stay in the apartment and that I'll be selling it. The price is a little high because I'm expecting to have to negotiate. The first thing she said when she heard "it's not worth that much" in a really nasty tone. I had to bite my tongue real hard not to say "Hey lady, look around. There are 29 other people who want the apartment. If you don't pay the price, then I'm sure someone else will." She then also complained about the lack of sunlight and the size of the bedroom. Then before she left she became such a brown-noser, saying how she was jealous of me going to NY and how she wished me good luck and made sure she was the only one to shake my hand. What an ass.
My workout routine and nutrition have been pretty shit those last few days. I've been having a hard time staying within my Weight Watchers daily points level and needed to go into my weekly extra points. (I mostly blame the alcohol.) According to WW, the program is set up in a way that even if you consume all of your weekly extra points, you're still supposed to lose weight. I'm not concerned about this because my April goal will be maintaining. If I end up losing, then this is a nice bonus. And while I've had no problems with drinking enough water, I haven't eaten enough vegetables. I know I still have a lot of stress ahead of me so I'm trying not to add even more pressure on myself than is absolutely needed. I've had little to no motivation to work out and I'm hoping that this'll come back once I'm settled in NY and found myself a nice gym.
I'm currently starting to wonder about a few things I'll have to take care once in New York. Obviously, money and neighborhoods are currently a big thing. I've always really liked the Upper West Side and Midtown West (Hell's Kitchen area & around Lincoln Center) as neighborhoods but I'm curious on the views of the New Yorkers about what's cool and what's not. I'm looking to share with no more than max. 2 other people.
I've also been wondering what kinds of banks anybody could recommend. What's a good bank? Also, in terms of money, how big is the gross vs. net pay difference? How many percent of my gross pay can I actually expect as net pay?