Where am I now?

So where am I actually now? I have not updated my blog for quite some time and feel some guilt about it. Because of my non-motivation to write an entry, I cannot actually document the events that happened during my last few days in Europe and in Switzerland. I'll attempt to do a recap of the events I did up to the run-up of my departure.

I actually attempted to visit a relative and see the Eiffel tower in Paris as well. But since I hold a third-world passport, I need to undergo the painstaking process of obtaining a French Schengen visa which requires a lot of strategic planning, with fortitude, patience, and a thick skin built in. Since the Dutch consul at the Netherlands Embassy was not generous and did not trust me enough to grant a multiple entry or at least a double entry visa, I embarked myself on a French visa application at their consulate about 5 tram stops away from my place in Geneva.

Getting into the consulate to apply for a visa was not as easy as walking into a grocery store. You actually need to call a designated premium phone line costing 7.50 CHF/call which apparently only works on landline phones. The stupid me, being naive and unaware of this guideline, ended up loading my mobile with 10 CHF of fresh Swisscom value card to book an appointment. Never did I know that I will be charged liked I think 1.50 CHF/minute and not the regular 7.50/call. The end result, I got my load used up in just under 10 minutes without actually accomplishing what I want and being ripped off my money.

Still having my perseverance, I tried with the best of my abilities to secure an appointment by telephone with the French embassy. Good thing a Russian colleague of mine is there to lend me his cellphone. With that, I was able to book an appointment which unfortunately is scheduled in two weeks time, meaning I will spend a lot of idle periods doing nothing in Geneva.

Two weeks fast forward, I came to the French consulate but was not allowed to get in. Why? I have all of the pertinent papers on hand but one thing is missing. Since my status in Switzerland has already expired as my internship has already ended, that means that I cannot according to them, apply for a visa in their consulate in Geneva and need to do so in Toronto. Of course, I argued my status of being a permanent resident of Canada but unfortunately, because of my poor French language skills and vice versa (their poor English language skills), nothing constructive transpired.

So with that, I went back to my place really disappointed and called my relative to inform them of the unfortunate outcome of my application. I tried to plan my next move, that is to look for other European Schengen consulates whom I could submit my application such as Italy. So I went there and surprisingly enough, they accepted my application but then referred it back to the French consulate in Geneva. At least they did the explanations themselves and I do not need to worry about being able to communicate in French to express the things I wanted to say.

Fast-forward... my application is now being processed by the French consulate, funny isn't it. Before the interview process, I was really scared, uncomfortable and not confident especially with my substandard French language oral expression skills. I went in to the interview, with the full hope that I could be issued a visa right away as I was already issued one by the Dutch authorities and another set of background check is no longer necessary with my name and all the necessary details on their file. I was wrong! Because of my nationality, it was even more complicated as they need to re-run the background check which takes in our nationality's case 2 weeks and then ask for permission from both the Toronto and Manila consulates which I discovered they only did via regular email. That means, French consular offices are still not served by a centralized database wherein they can check if someone is visa shopping in their various diplomatic posts around the globe.

Since I was originally scheduled to depart Switzerland by the 21st Jul, then another thing comes into mind. Counting the number of days of processing, the visa is supposed to be issued the 20th which leaves me less than a day to use the visa and go see visit my relatives in Paris. It was terribly hard to get a flight from Zurich to Toronto re-booked during that time as everyone was already on vacation mode with Swiss people taking their turns to buy tickets and fly to Canada.

So, my next problem was to rebook the flight. Up until the last moment, I have been calling Air Canada to have my flight re-booked and boy was I lucky to get one a day before my scheduled flight. I was all packed and set up actually but was really glad to have my flight adjusted at the last moment.

That being said, with all the drama and highs and lows, I am going to make a shortcut with this blog entry. I might be lucky if you guys are still reading until this portion as I do not expect everyone to be interested with my long overdue story that does not even affect other people but only me. I was able to have a whirlwind journey in Italy where I visited my high school classmate's parents and family. I was surprised by the flourishing number of Filipinos in Italy, they were even able to fill up churches during Sunday masses. I was also able to accomplish my mission of visiting my relatives who I haven't seen for more than 15 years. It was great to see them once again although they requested if I could repeat such visits in the future as the day we have spent together was not even enough for us to even have a barbecue to chat and re-get to know each other.

My last day in Switzerland was actually a hectic but very memorable one. We started the day visiting the rich town of Zug where we got the chance to buy some chocolates for folks back home and be amazed by the architecture of its relatively new train station. The Swiss really invests a lot in their impressive public transit architecture and the station is really futuristic in its design and outlook. Afterwhich, I fulfilled my task of being able to try swimming in a Swiss lake before I leave the country as we spent some time swimming in one of Switzerland's impressive lakes. And finally, before the nightfall, we were able to cross the Rhine to have the last dinner in Germany.

The next day was departure day, I woke up on time and was on the airport just on time. However, because of inefficiencies with check in and lots of documentary requirements to be presented by some passengers, I nearly got panicky with being able to board the plane on time. I was not even able to bid farewell really well to my friend and that was really a pity, a pity indeed. I hope it would not be like that next time around.

I had a great time in Switzerland. Of course, everyday was not always the day I wanted it to be but it is part of getting to know the country. I realized a lot of things which helped me a lot to be somewhat mature. It was hard to get to know Swiss people because of the language barrier as well as my introverted personality but I see it as a part of the process of getting to know the country. It was not that easy but I hope my experiences will serve as a guide to lead me to be a better more matured persons ready to face challenges to come my way.