Two-Class Society
I am not exactly sure, but I guess I never told you about our interview at the consulate in Frankfurt. The short version is: it was horrible. The long version would blow the space I have to write on this homepage so I give you a medium version. Our day began with the standard security check which left me speechless, because I carried a bottle of water with me and had to drink some in front of the security guards to demonstrate that the bottle actually contained water and no poison or flammable liquid. I am not exactly sure what I could have done with it though, because you are not allowed to take a lighter inside the consulate or anything else.
Our whole visit was about three hours long and ended with the actual interview with a woman (I am not sure if she was a consul), which was horrbily mean. She didn’t believe us that we are actually married, told me that I am just there as a Greencard winner’s wife and therefor are not allowed to open my mouth and send us away without a hint of what will happen in the future. We were actually both near tears after that interview and terribly frightened that they might send our passports back without the Visa in it and accomponied by a letter of refusal.
As you all know the story has a happy end, but I still would so love to go back and ask that woman what her problem is. Especially after what I heard this week. I just started a new job and one of my colleagues is American. I told him about that whole Greencard thing and our interview at the consulate and he just laughed. Because not only the staff is nice to you, if you are American, you also don’t have to wait in one room together with the “german infantry”. Till that interview I had only met kind and helpful Americans. I know that there is always a negative side to everything and that not everyone in America will welcome us little Germans with open arms. But a Two-Class society that even seems to exist in the American Consulate here in Germany kind of frightens me. I do understand that perhaps the consulate staff is happy to deal with Americans, because it may be easier to handle them due to the not existing language barrier. But there is no need to be that bitchy to Germans, who are excited to have their Greencard interview and may give some wrong answers or may not understand everything on the first try.
Perhaps I should only talk in english to my colleauge from now on, so that not every American will notice that I am German in the first place and I may fit in the higher class of this society! But for now I will try to calm myself down about this by thinking that the woman we talked to might just have had a bad day and is no good example for the typical American!
January 25th, 2010 at 10:48 am
That lady had probably only a bad day….Every American I met here was very friendly and helpful. They kind of like our accent
Try to forget this bitchy women – she was just one sandwich short of a picnic!
June 8th, 2010 at 12:39 am
Hi Janina,
I really like the way you writte dowm everything and describe it it really makes me want to be there.
I just received my letter..I´m a winner!!
(hopefully) because I really want to make that move, can you tell me more about the interview at the consulate and the medical exam please…
Love your blog, hope we can make it too.