Lei
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2007
Wednesday, 24 July, 2013. Dawn. It was dark and quiet and peaceful. But not for long!
At exactly 5.15 am, Daisy called me and squealed through the speaker, "Are you ready yet?!! I'm in front of your house!!!"
It's time. Cue Rocky theme song!
So it was the day that we've been dreading for - our visa interview day.
I slept at midnight the night before, woke up at 3 am, and couldn't sleep again afterwards. I need my 8-hours sleep every night, so having sudden insomnia attack is always a disaster. To make matters worse, I was having a mild flu. Plus, I (and the rest of Muslims worldwide) was fasting because it's the holy month of Ramadhan.
Needless to say, I was less than stellar that morning. Weariness, hunger, and nervousness jumbled into one, creating one million butterflies in my stomach.
But, of course, bailing out is not an option! So after a quick shower, we marched towards the United States Embassy, about 45 minutes drive from my house.
Our interview appointment was actually at 8.30 am, but we arrived at around 6.15 am. About 30 applicants were already standing in a line. We're already doing Rope Drop before even setting foot at WDW. Fun! Not.
Overall, there were several lines that we had to go through before getting into the Embassy's building.
First, we queued outside the Embassy's massive fence. During this part, our appointments were confirmed, and there's also a security scanning. Every kind of electronics (even USB drives) was not allowed inside.
Then, we went inside the fence, and lined up at the front yard. At the end of the line, we had to submit our confirmation papers and passports.
Next, we lined up inside the Embassy's building (air con! Finally!). During this part, our fingerprints were scanned.
Last, we queued in front of these small booths for the interview. Behind every booth there's an officer a.k.a. our interviewer.
We started out at 6.20 am, and reached the interview booth at exactly 8.30 am. From what I've heard, this was not bad at all! Daisy and I stayed together during the whole process.
The most stressful part was standing in line for the interview, while watching (eavesdropping?) the people before us. It was nerve-racking, obviously, but a bunch of the interviews were also unexpectedly hysterical! Daisy and I would stood in line while trying to memorize the 'right answers', but every now and then, we'd hear someone's interview and need to pinch each other to stop ourselves from LOLing.
Here are several examples of the hilarious, lost-in-translation interviews.
1.
"What is the purpose of your visit to America?"
"Conference."
"What conference?"
"Mmm... Agriculture."
"Can you tell me more about it? Be more specific?"
"Mmmm... flower?"
"....."
2.
"So what do you do now?"
"I just graduated from high-school."
"OK. Who's paying for your trip?
"Myself."
"Yourself??"
"Eeeh! I mean my parents!"
"What do they do?"
"Farmer."
"Oh, do they own their own farm or do they work for someone else?"
"Yes."
"No, no. I'm asking you, whether your parents own their own farm, or do they work for someone else?"
"Yes."
"....."
3.
"You said you've had a US visa before?"
Nodded.
"Where did you go in US last time?"
"Yes."
"No, I ask you, where did you go? Dulu kemana?"
"Oh, belom belom!" (No, never been!)
"Belum pernah ke Amerika?" (never been to America?)
Shook head.
"But you had a visa?"
Nodded.
"Why didn't you go last time?"
Shook head.
*kills self*
All of the examples above eventually got their visas, by the way!
What surprised me was that, it seemed not everyone came to the Embassy with some kind of mental preparation. And I'm not talking about the language, because all of the interviewers could speak Bahasa Indonesia.
For example, as an applicant, you need to prove that you have strong ties to Indonesia. You must guarantee that you would come back and not become an immigrant in US. I thought that was very obvious.
But apparently, many applicants failed to sound convincing. Heck, they didn't even convince me one bit. And they're shocked to be rejected?
Anyways! It was finally my turn.
My interviewer was a lady. She's very casual and pretty cute, too. I liked her. My interview lasted for only, like, 2 minutes? All of the questions were simple and anticipated: "where are you going, for how long, with who, do you have relatives in America, what was the purpose of your previous visits, may I see your old passport, what was your previous job."
And we're done! My approval was given without hesitation.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Then, it was Daisy's turn.
Because I had to step back, I couldn't eavesdrop her interview. I could only see her gestures, which was smooth and confident, weathergirl style. Good job, Daze!
Her interview was a bit longer than mine. No matter. What's important was in the end...
...she was also approved.
WE'RE GOING TO HOLLYWOOD!!! I MEAN, ORLANDO!!! *&^&^$%^VBWQ^%T&YO*!!!
When Daisy stepped out of the interview counter and walked towards me, flailing her white paper (white = approved, red = denied) like a rabid swan, I may or may not squealed out of joy. We then high-fived and softly chanted "U-S-A! U-S-A!" complete with the tacky fist pumps. WE'RE NOT EVEN OUT OF THE ROOM YET. Everybody just stared at us with fierce 'judging you' looks.
But did we even care?! Ya think? We left the room in giggles of bliss. Quoting Daisy, "I COULD KISS THE FLOOR RIGHT NOW!"
So that was our visa adventure! Which basically made our trip LEGIT
We're going to Disney World! Oh, yes we are!
At exactly 5.15 am, Daisy called me and squealed through the speaker, "Are you ready yet?!! I'm in front of your house!!!"
It's time. Cue Rocky theme song!
So it was the day that we've been dreading for - our visa interview day.
I slept at midnight the night before, woke up at 3 am, and couldn't sleep again afterwards. I need my 8-hours sleep every night, so having sudden insomnia attack is always a disaster. To make matters worse, I was having a mild flu. Plus, I (and the rest of Muslims worldwide) was fasting because it's the holy month of Ramadhan.
Needless to say, I was less than stellar that morning. Weariness, hunger, and nervousness jumbled into one, creating one million butterflies in my stomach.
But, of course, bailing out is not an option! So after a quick shower, we marched towards the United States Embassy, about 45 minutes drive from my house.
Our interview appointment was actually at 8.30 am, but we arrived at around 6.15 am. About 30 applicants were already standing in a line. We're already doing Rope Drop before even setting foot at WDW. Fun! Not.
Overall, there were several lines that we had to go through before getting into the Embassy's building.
First, we queued outside the Embassy's massive fence. During this part, our appointments were confirmed, and there's also a security scanning. Every kind of electronics (even USB drives) was not allowed inside.
Then, we went inside the fence, and lined up at the front yard. At the end of the line, we had to submit our confirmation papers and passports.
Next, we lined up inside the Embassy's building (air con! Finally!). During this part, our fingerprints were scanned.
Last, we queued in front of these small booths for the interview. Behind every booth there's an officer a.k.a. our interviewer.
We started out at 6.20 am, and reached the interview booth at exactly 8.30 am. From what I've heard, this was not bad at all! Daisy and I stayed together during the whole process.
The most stressful part was standing in line for the interview, while watching (eavesdropping?) the people before us. It was nerve-racking, obviously, but a bunch of the interviews were also unexpectedly hysterical! Daisy and I would stood in line while trying to memorize the 'right answers', but every now and then, we'd hear someone's interview and need to pinch each other to stop ourselves from LOLing.
Here are several examples of the hilarious, lost-in-translation interviews.
1.
"What is the purpose of your visit to America?"
"Conference."
"What conference?"
"Mmm... Agriculture."
"Can you tell me more about it? Be more specific?"
"Mmmm... flower?"
"....."
2.
"So what do you do now?"
"I just graduated from high-school."
"OK. Who's paying for your trip?
"Myself."
"Yourself??"
"Eeeh! I mean my parents!"
"What do they do?"
"Farmer."
"Oh, do they own their own farm or do they work for someone else?"
"Yes."
"No, no. I'm asking you, whether your parents own their own farm, or do they work for someone else?"
"Yes."
"....."
3.
"You said you've had a US visa before?"
Nodded.
"Where did you go in US last time?"
"Yes."
"No, I ask you, where did you go? Dulu kemana?"
"Oh, belom belom!" (No, never been!)
"Belum pernah ke Amerika?" (never been to America?)
Shook head.
"But you had a visa?"
Nodded.
"Why didn't you go last time?"
Shook head.
*kills self*
All of the examples above eventually got their visas, by the way!
What surprised me was that, it seemed not everyone came to the Embassy with some kind of mental preparation. And I'm not talking about the language, because all of the interviewers could speak Bahasa Indonesia.
For example, as an applicant, you need to prove that you have strong ties to Indonesia. You must guarantee that you would come back and not become an immigrant in US. I thought that was very obvious.
But apparently, many applicants failed to sound convincing. Heck, they didn't even convince me one bit. And they're shocked to be rejected?
Anyways! It was finally my turn.
My interviewer was a lady. She's very casual and pretty cute, too. I liked her. My interview lasted for only, like, 2 minutes? All of the questions were simple and anticipated: "where are you going, for how long, with who, do you have relatives in America, what was the purpose of your previous visits, may I see your old passport, what was your previous job."
And we're done! My approval was given without hesitation.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Then, it was Daisy's turn.
Because I had to step back, I couldn't eavesdrop her interview. I could only see her gestures, which was smooth and confident, weathergirl style. Good job, Daze!
Her interview was a bit longer than mine. No matter. What's important was in the end...
...she was also approved.
WE'RE GOING TO HOLLYWOOD!!! I MEAN, ORLANDO!!! *&^&^$%^VBWQ^%T&YO*!!!
When Daisy stepped out of the interview counter and walked towards me, flailing her white paper (white = approved, red = denied) like a rabid swan, I may or may not squealed out of joy. We then high-fived and softly chanted "U-S-A! U-S-A!" complete with the tacky fist pumps. WE'RE NOT EVEN OUT OF THE ROOM YET. Everybody just stared at us with fierce 'judging you' looks.
But did we even care?! Ya think? We left the room in giggles of bliss. Quoting Daisy, "I COULD KISS THE FLOOR RIGHT NOW!"
So that was our visa adventure! Which basically made our trip LEGIT
We're going to Disney World! Oh, yes we are!
thanks again for joining in!
Sorry!
Good God. Daisy and I have no more fingernails. We chew them all off while watching the terrifying fluctuation. 
