Getting a visa...

...and I don't mean another credit card, although that, too, may be helpful on this trip to NZ! This is an interesting process as well as a bit of a conundrum. The interesting part is learning new things: There are actually four different types of work visas (I'm applying for a student/trainee one), as well as a choice between a work visa and a work permit (I'm getting a visa as I have not yet arrived in NZ).

Also interesting are the terms that I've never heard of (that I can find no explanation for on the application). For example, what is "ethnic script"? Is that who I am (e.g., Caucasian U.S. female Midwesterner)? Is it my signature? I couldn't find anything in the "Guide for Working in New Zealand" (yes, I read the whole thing).

Finally, I Googled the term. It turns out that "ethnic script" can refer to either the sociological script you follow in your own region or country (for example, how I might behave and be perceived as a white female in the U.S. may differ from how I might behave and be perceived as a white female in India) or how you write your name in non-English alphabet characters.

For example, my name "Teresa" is obviously spelled T-E-R-E-S-A in English, but it would appear differently if spelled in Mandarin Chinese characters. So, if I were from China, I would still fill out my NZ visa application in English, but in the ethnic script box, I would write my name as it would appear in my native language. Come to think of it, my signature rather does look like its own sort of ethnic script.

Moving on to the conundrum portion of this application process: I have to send my application to the New Zealand Embassy in Washington, D.C., and there are only three employees who process applications there (sounds like my old job). However, the Embassy has a big rush in December with all of the foreign students traveling to start a semester of school in NZ, so it can take up to 2 months to process a visa - and they need your passport to do this. Of course, I need my passport (and visa) to board the plane to and enter NZ.

Furthermore, as many federal and state employees have experienced, there are many required fields in any government application: Unfortunately for me, this visa application requests (a) the date I'll be arriving in NZ, (b) where I'll be working in NZ, and (c) my contact information in NZ.

Finally, the conundrum part of this verbose ramble: I cannot get any information on my contacts in NZ or where I'll be working until December 7 (believe me, I've attempted to ascertain this information as much as I dare without utterly irritating my good supervisor, Dr. P).

Dr. P is of course overseeing approximately 100 student teachers abroad at any given time, most of whom I am sure are calling and emailing him, too. We all want to know: "When are we leaving? When are we going to get there? Where are we staying? What are we going to do? Are we there yet? I'm hungry. Are we there yet? I have to go to the bathroom. Are we there yet?" I digress.

Back to my conundrum: I may not be able to next-day-mail my complete visa application until Dec. 8, 2004; with a 2-month peak processing time, the NZ Embassy may not send my (approved, I hope) visa and passport back to me until Feb. 9, 2005. As my fellow students and I are tentatively scheduled to leave for NZ Feb. 14, 2005, let me just say that I sincerely hope those Express ponies are riding hard! (Notice I got something horse-related into a visa application discussion, subtle, I know.) Of course, this is no problem for yours truly, as I am the epitome of patiently-waiting-to-see-how-things-turn-out. Okay, but there's always room for practice. Excuse me, I must go practice now.