UK Visa application.

I realized that I kind of glossed over the whole visa application process in my last post, so I suppose I'll go over some of the details in this one.

So we got our visa letters at the very end of July. During the school year, our approximate date for receiving them was set at July 4. Needless to say, I was a little worried when they didn't show up on time. It takes what, four to six weeks to complete the visa application process, and I don't want to run any risks that I won't have the necessary documentation to enter the UK.

So we finally get the letters and I start the process pretty much immediately. The preliminary application is accessible online, but there's a lot of information that the UK requires from us; they're not going to let just anyone get into Harry-Potter-land, you know. There's your basic a/s/l that they ask for, of course, but then they ask funky things like your birthplace, and it gets complicated if you can't remember whether the hospital you were born in falls within a certain city's limits. Perhaps I was just overthinking.

Second trip-up was the city of issuance for my passport. Current passports (circa 2005 I think) do not actually include the city which processed your application on the passport itself. The issuing authority, which used to be the city of issuance, is now merely the US Dept. of State. This gets complicated when the UK asks for your passport's city of issuance. Shouldn't they know by now that US passports don't contain this information? I mean, it's been four years. And this question didn't fool just me; it also got a few others in my group as well. I just hope that the UK recognizes that the Dept. of State can totally be a city.

Another thing: Why do they need my mother's family name? It's complicated enough that they call it a patronymic, a word that even Little Miss Smarty-pants needed to look up on dictionary.com. But then to confuse me by asking, essentially, for my mother's name at birth? Why do they need that? That hasn't been her legal name for 21 years now.

Then, as my friend AJ so cleverly pointed out, they have a question and answer session trying to get you to prove that you're not a terrorist. I just kinda laughed my way through these, because honestly, do you think a terrorist wouldn't lie about his terrorist qualifications in order to get into a country like this? I mean, you're told to tell the truth and everything, but if you're really hell (or, I guess, heaven) bent on starting terrorist activity once you're in a country, why wouldn't you lie and just say, "no, I'm not a terrorist"?

Then, after going through this online preliminary process, you're told to schedule a biometrics appointment at a nearby consulate. Turns out that there's an office in Columbus, but we don't have a drop box here, so I have to ship it with my own money. I was confused, because I thought the nearest consulate was in Chicago, but apparently all they need are my fingerprints and a photo ID that looks like my passport photo. Again, I'm confused. Aren't everyone's fingerprints on file in the United States by now? Why can't they just dredge those up themselves without me having to actually come in for an appointment? And why can't I just send in a photo, while I'm 'on my honour' anyways, and just claim 'yeah, that's me'?

Then, at the actual biometrics appointment, they want all sorts of documents from you. Check out this list of several things you never thought you'd need but apparently won't be able to enter the country without:
-your old passport or a copy of it
-a recent color passport-style photograph
-'evidence of funds available to you'*
-a 'certificate' confirming you have continuing studies
*I have no idea what this really means for us. Sure, at one of our meetings we were told to have at least US$1000 in a steady bank account, but we were also given notice that we will be given US$1200 over the course of nine months as a stipend. So which proof do we actually need? More on that later; an email needs to be sent.

And in addition to all of this, for a student like me there's also an additional appendix to fill out. On actual paper, too. So that's my job for today. Fill out the six-page, extremely complicated appendix form, figure out how I prove that I have enough money to eat, and find my extra passport photos and my old child's passport.

*****

So, as some of you may notice, I changed the title of the blog. As Justin pointed out, having Google search eliminate two of your blog title's words makes it hard for it to show up on Google's front page. I chose the new title partly because I'm a huge nerd and love the concept of escape velocity (well, any kind of velocity really - terminal velocity is another of my favorites), but also because that's what my life looks like it will be doing in the next few years while I blog about it. I'm going to have so much momentum behind me that it will probably feel like I can just slingshot off the face of the earth. The two words separately also enthrall me. I'm 'escaping' to the UK to fulfill my dream of living there, and I'm going to have intense 'velocity' as I continue adding to my life experiences through travel, culinary adventure, and small moments every day.

Speaking of small moments, stitches are out and I don't have skin cancer. That's good news for me. However, Justin's summer is quickly winding down and we don't have a lot of time left before he leaves for college. Welcome back, long-distance relationship, my old friend.

Yesterday we spent a lot of time at COSI, which is like a science museum only cooler. There are exhibits like Gadgets (take apart computers in a cafe! learn how simple machines like levers, pulleys, and gear systems work! play with transistors, make the charge of a battery light an LED, and figure out why a stream of air will keep a ball buoyant!), Ocean (go inside a two-man submarine! suck up divers' helium and listen to your voice change! figure out wave physics! discover what makes a water vortex!), Progress (look at the same street from 1892 to 1962 and see what has changed! authentic artifacts from both time periods included! cheesy dialogue required!), Space (play with flight simulators! walk through a tunnel simulating the inside of a black hole! strap yourself into a space station toilet! practice grabbing rocks with robot arms!), Life (strange x-rays of pregnant dogs and abdominal shrapnel! pickled fetuses! diagrams of giving birth! shrunken heads from South America!), and the outdoor Science Park (lift a car using a long lever! go on a ride using centripetal force to drop the floor from under your feet! shout into an echoing well! whisper across the park using elliptical 'whisper catcher' dishes!).

Some more attractions included a high-wire unicycle (yes, this is possible; there is a weight on the bottom supposedly keeping you from ever losing your balance), a traveling exhibit using pictures from outer space telescopes to illustrate galaxies and nebulae in far-flung reaches of the universe, and a temporary exhibit on ancient Egypt that was fascinating. And the whole experience is totally interactive, so it's hands-on science. The center is mostly for younger kids, I'd say around middle school age. I remember going on field trips when I was younger to see some of the exhibits, and it's mostly like a huge playplace where one also learns about SCIENCE. It also makes for a great date experience, though, so I'm glad I was able to go before the summer ended.

Enough from me. I have visa papers to get together, shopping to do, and boyfriend-hanging-out to plan.

- Jen -