expiration date 

i’ve been very quiet about the plan of me going to the States at the end of the month, because i wasn’t sure if i could get a visa…

the plan was to visit my brother’s graduation on 22nd of May. he’s graduating from SCAD (majoring in sequencial art and 2D animation) in Savannah, Georgia. so, sometime in March this year, i applied for US visa back in Indonesia. upon the submission, i was informed that my interview is scheduled on July… JULY!? …the graduation is on May! so what’s the point of being interviewed two months after, if i can’t even attend the graduation? tsk tsk tsk…

so, here i am, in the Australia… working and giving another try to get the US visa. we submitted it last week, and heard the news that it will take 2-4 weeks go get it processed. ack! once again, that means the visa will not come out after the graduation ceremony is over… (although it’s much better compare to the US Embassy in Indonesia… the wait was 4 months!).

fortunately, the lawyer who took care of the visa was pretty successful in bugging the hell out of the US consulate here in Melbourne. my mom and i got an interview scheduled this morning, which was about a week after the submission. yay, lawyer! you rock!

so, this morning, we both woke up early, dressed in a polite clothing and marched to the embassy. despite the disturbing broadcast on the CNN, the interview went well… except for one thing.

the guy told us that we should expect our passport to arrive in the middle of next week. most likely on Wednesday. the problem is our flight leaves on Tuesday. supposedly, there is a mail strike happening here in Melbourne, thus slows down all the mailing system in the city (and i guess out of the city, too).

*sighs*. it seems like we’re screwed either way…

the point of this long-ass incoherent story is:

1. it’s so freakin’ hard to get visa to the States.
2. my luck isn’t being supportive to me in this case. why does the mail strike has to happen today?
3. if my visa application goes through, it seems that i will end up celebrating my birthday in the plane.
4. but seeing where my luck has been taking me, i won’t be surprised that on wednesday, i see visa rejection stamp on my passport.

grrr….