A Couple of Stories to Share...

Hi Everyone, I've got a couple of stories to share... Last Friday, I was finally ready to take all of documents including my renewal application for my long term visa to the Foreign Police office which is about an 8 minute walk from my apartment. I had been there before the holidays to pick up an application and to verify what information they needed with my application. I was confident that I had what I needed. What I didn't count on was new legislation that was signed into law just last week. Now long term residence visa request/renewals are handled under the Ministry of Interior and no longer by the Foreign Police office. I managed to get just enough information out of the man sitting at the Foreign Police desk--basically I asked him in Czech to write the new address of the office down for me. Then I made my way to the new place. It was an adventure... the new office isn't close by at all--it is a good 20/30 minutes away and the few buses that go out that way only come every 30 minutes or so. Once I got there I found out that they aren't open to the public on Fridays--several people found that out right along with me so I didn't feel so bad. So much for a quick process.

The adventure continued yesterday morning when I went back to the new office because I still needed to turn in my paperwork. I wasn't sure what to expect and hoped that the law didn't change the paperwork process--since I worked hard all last week gathering up all the documents that I was told in December that I would need. I also knew that this could be an all day process just waiting my turn to see someone. I went early and there was still plenty of people waiting in line. I slipped into the line and waited. I was surprise at how organized and orderly the process went. I think what helped was two people acting as triage/info coordinators. They asked each person why are you here & they would assess the info you had. They either gave you a ticket with a number on it and told you what doorway to go to or they wouldn't let you into the waiting area. That really helped speed up the process--after 2+hours of waiting they accepted my application and told me of a few more documents I need to get. I was happy with the process overall and I did all of this in Czech--nobody spoke English with me. I always get excited when Czech officials understand me and I understand them as we speak Czech together :-)

I've got one other little funny story to share this happened as I was waiting for my tram after leaving the visa office. An elderly lady approached me and started speaking Czech with me. I listened and understood her. She first brought up the weather--it wasn't nearly as cold as it had been. Then she started to share about why she was out and about. She had just come from her dentist office. We continued to talk in Czech and she asked where I was from. I explained that I was from America and we talked a little more. AS I entered the tram, she asked me to sit with her so we continued to talk. It was so cute at one point, she wanted me to know she understood English so she spoke a few phrases for me. Later she asked me "how old I was in Czech". I told her and she had this surprised look on her face and flat out told me in Czech that "she didn't believe me at all." She couldn't believe I was as old as I said. It was so funny and I know that I said my age correctly in Czech :-) It was such an encouragement that I was able to connect with this sweet lady who happens to live in my neighborhood. Pray that God will give me more opportunities to speak with her and others.
Until next time, take care.
Many Blessings,
Colleen