Bureaudyssey 2007

Deadlines have came and gone, but my bureaucratic adventures continue. Slowly, results of my arduous work are becoming visible and the road to New York, though paved with paperwork, is starting to open up.

The big break that brought me back from the brink of a nervous break down came recently when instead of the usual “Your application is being processed, please allow up to 6/ 10/ 743 weeks for more information” the kind voice of the automated answering machine told me “You have been accepted… Please allow even more weeks for bla bla...” OK, OK, but I got in! Basically, I will be going back to school. Something I wanted to do for a while, but now have the opportunity and good reasons to do.

Previously, I collected the necessary paperwork; I prepared official translations and certified copies. I had to plead for additional stamps on my documents to the woman from my former high-school who passionately explained how what is being asked of me is another proof of American imperialism imposing its rules and regulations on the rest of the world. I waited for hours in front of an office at my old university, while the lady at the desk looked absently through me while chatting about her grandchildren on the phone. Eventually, when she decided to start working, she finished what I needed in a matter of minutes. I desperately went form bank to bank in an attempt to find a way to send a check from Serbia, which in order to prevent money leaving the country is generally not allowed. I managed to avoid filling out internet forms which do not allow my international phone number to be entered due to a surplus of digits. I am still waiting to provide financial guaranties and fill out visa forms and provide documents testifying that I am neither terrorist nor criminal, sick or poor. Hopefully then I will be able to delve into the really amusing aspects of bureaucracy or how to open a bank account or get a cell phone in the US. Weeee.

I’ve also learned something. I’m no longer setting deadlines.
All I know is that autumn in New York seems increasingly real.