Hurry up and wait

Expatriate-izing is hard work. Take the yesterday, for example.

I will be doing some traveling in September (no, that's not the "hard work" part) that requires my passport to be valid 6 months past the time I will be traveling. Mine expires in February 2006, so that means I need to renew it. If I was in the States, I would simply mail in the passport with the renewal form, and the new one would magically appear in my mailbox in 2 weeks. While overseas, however, the citizen needs to make a personal appearance to the consulate's office. So...

I ride my bike to Centraal Station at 6:35 a.m. arrive at 6:55 a.m.
Train to Amsterdam Centraal leaves at 7:02 a.m. arrives around 8:00 a.m.
Tram to Consulate's Office drops me off somewhere close around 8:25 a.m.
Wander around Museumplein looking for an American flag till 8:35 a.m.
See line. Wait in security line #1 until 9:15 a.m.
Full body search over by 9:18 a.m.
Wait in security line #2 until 9:27 am.
Conduct business at Window 5 for 6 minutes. SIX MINUTES.
Collect my valuables at 9:34 a.m.
Home free??? NO!!
Wait in line to be let OUT of the compound. FINALLY out of compound at 9:41 a.m.
Console myself with a look around the Rijksmuseum and a falafel met hummus (where's the hummus, please???).
Board 11:59 a.m. train back to Rotterdam Centraal. Arrive at 1:27 p.m.
Bike home, arriving at 1:54 p.m.

You can do the math...traveling or waiting in line for 5+ hours to do SIX minutes worth of business. The best part is, when my passport comes in, I get to do it again to pick it up!

But, in all honesty, it's not that difficult. The lines in Moldova were much scarier. Ivan actually "rented" a line holder when we did the police registration so we could do two things at once. He found the longest line we would have to wait in, then talked to the last person in line to "hold our place", then we scurried around the building do complete the other business. When we got back, our line holder was still holding our place!