One of the requirements for teaching abroad is getting a long-term visa. I will admit that I was pretty nervous about this, because the French Consulate is very specific about what documents they require and how everything is to be filled out. Worst of all, I had to go down to San Francisco in person to get my visa - a $300 dollar trip for what I thought would be a 15-minute meeting.
The good news is that my mother came with me, and we stayed with my great-aunt in San Jose. So we turned our trip into a mini-family reunion. That part was so much fun. I am so glad that we went and visited her.
As for the meeting at the French Consulate in SF, it went well, too. I thought I would be the only one with an 11 am meeting, but no...there were about five of us. That meant that I got to wait in line for almost a half an hour before anyone would see me. I had way more paperwork than I needed, but I had it all organized, so I was able to give them just what they needed. My application was approved faster than everyone else's in line (thanks to my obsessive double-checking of required documents!!), and all I had to do was wait. And wait. And wait.
Over an hour later, my passport was returned to me with my visa in it. Yay! They say that this is valid for three months after I enter France, but in a way, it'll only last me one month, as I'll need to apply for a carte de séjour during my first week in France. That won't be easy, since I'll be in Paris for the first four or five days of my stay. But it'll get done. I know it will.
In the meantime, the countdown begins: I leave one month from today!
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