Immigration

Today I had quite an adventure; I had to register with immigration! Naturally, I was there forever.

I took the bus into the city today all by myself and then gave myself a pat on the back for actually getting there (I got back to campus too!). At 9:44 I got my number and there were 45 people ahead of me. They said it would take an hour. It, of course, took two. That's ok. They say wait 10 minutes for my card. It, of course, took 20. That's ok too. This is what really got me. They have me check the card to see if all the information is correct, and they have spelled my name wrong! "Majorie." Cut to 20 more minutes of waiting. I got out of there at 12:25ish. Now I know people once and a while make mistakes, but not only did they mess up my information, but two of my friends had the same problem! The information is all on our passports which they copy directly from. This just confirmed the fact that I will never live anywhere other than the US because I don't want to go through that again.

As I mentioned before, the American students had a little conselling session explaining the differences here. One of the differences is that people take there time. We have been warned not to get angry because then they just won't serve you at all. Well I saw it all play out today when I am waiting with probably 100 other people at the immigration office and one of the people working was texting! She got done with a customer, started texting, then two other women came over and they started chatting. And I was the next person up. I don't know if things would have played out different in the US, but I still have love for the Irish because today my bus driver said "top of the morning" after I said thank you.

The immigration office was by the famine memorial (donated by the people of Canada?) so I took advantage and saw that. It for sure evoked an emotion from me. It isn't exactly what I would call a beautiful memorial, but rather one that showed the suffering of the Irish people. I am glad I made the trip. (You might want to click to enlarge to get more of the details and the facial expressions.)