Worldly Chatter

Thanks to handy directions on www.9292ov.nl and a little help from a Dutchman, I finally found the Consulate! Ik heb een vraagje. Ik zoek voor deze adres, waar is het alstublieft. Now my Dutch is a serious work in progress but Dutchies really do like it when you try, even if you do botch it up. Ik weet het niet maar… and he calls a co-worker who might know. He does! He tells me I am on Museumplein and to goes straight that way and it hangs to the left. Alles is Museumplein? Dat klopt. (that’s right) Hartelijk bedankt! (Thank you SO much!) I walk on and there was the American flag! I love Dutchies! Yesterday I had to deliver mail on my own bike and as I road past an intersection I dropped mail and this older woman called me and helped me load it back up! She was in her late 60’s I would gather and in the middle of this busy road assisted me in putting my mail in my bags while I balanced the bike! So sweet she was, really! She went on to tell me how I needed to get bigger bags to do this; the black bags aren’t big enough and doesn’t Selekt mail provide them. I am getting better with the conversing! I love Dutchies but I am losing track here.

I see the building and go around to see a line of about 15 people and rising. I go to the front and ask if this is all for the consulate. Of course it is was the reply. So I get to the end of the line and wait. You see, This line leads to a locked gate that is unlocked every time they let someone in. When no one is entering, it is locked. A security guard asks for people with passport issues to come forward. I am there for a civil affidavit so I get to bypass the now 20 some odd people. He unlocked the gate, let us pass and locked it again. We now entered a small overhang where we had to hand over our possessions for search and had to have the metal detector wand passed around us. We get our stuff back after the search and wait in another line. This one is to actually enter the building! Again, he asked for passport persons and told me to come with. He unlocked the door and let us through, locking it behind us. Once inside, we are in a little room where there is a booth with a woman behind it and shelving you might find at a hotel where they keep the keys and another door. The security guard searches my bag again and asks me if I have any electronics. Of course, I have a cell phone. Can I have it please, you will get it when you are through. He hands me a card and places my phone in one such shelf then tells me to go to booth 5 to the right and unlocks another door! He unlocks it so I can now enter the waiting area and booths then promptly locks it behind me. So much security its maddening!

So now that I am inside the Consulate I go to the booth and hand in my piece of paper. I need to redo it the kind woman with a southern accent says; I will get you another one. I fill it out and she processes it. I pay thirty US dollars at another window and wait. Another person calls me and tells me to raise my right hand. “Do you swear that the information you have provided for this affidavit is the truth to the best of your knowledge?” “I do” I then sign it, he signs it and stamps it and I am done! All this security for a piece of paper that took maybe ten minutes to get!

I then go to the door but find I cannot leave that way, I must take another one that leads me right back outside and I am standing in the overhang again but I don’t have my cell phone! I whip out the card and wait for the security guard to open the door I just went through and tell him I need my phone. He is aware but procedure states you get all electronics AFTER you leave the building. Are you kidding me! I have to leave the building just to get a phone. Fine, I wait another minute or so when he comes back, takes the card and leaves again only to return a moment later with my phone. All the while, he is locking and unlocking every time he needs to go in or out!

Now here is an interesting contrast. I was informed that I can get the seal I need in Den Haag and don’t have to send it to Albany! Great! I call the number given to me when I get back to Hilversum and am told that I can come in Monday through Friday between 8:30 – 12:30. Now, when we need stuff from government offices here in Holland, pertaining to Dutch stuff, all Dutchie has to do is one of two options. Call and explain what she needs where she is told how much and they will mail it or she walks right into the building with none of the stuff I just went through and gets it. I go to the Consulate and I get ALL this security and all Dutchie has to do is walk right in to her buildings! Very, very big difference! I will be going to the Ministry of Justice on Monday to finally get the one piece of paper that is preventing our marriage. We can then go to the town hall here in Hilversum, hand it in and get married in September!

I just had to tell you of my little venture into Amsterdam today! I had to mention the drama that goes on just to get in one building!

American Consulate, Affidavit of Civil Status, Worldly Chatter, Amsterdam, Museumplein