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August 22, 2005
Y'all aren't from around here, are you?
I forgot to tell my border crossing story. So we packed up the van on the 4th, with all my belongings in boxes and the camping gear on top. I had several copies of the deed to our house and Peter's salary letter (no letters from our families, forged or otherwise). I also had a three-page inventory of every single thing in those boxes, which I had spent the last 3 days making, running back and forth between the pile of boxes in the front room and the laptop in the dining room writing things down and numbering all the boxes.
When we got to the immigration office on the American side of the Ambassador Bridge, the place was packed. There were at least twenty people working behind the counter, tripping over each other like the Keystone Kops in a space smaller than my kitchen, and the other side was so congested with travellers who didn't know where they were supposed to go that it was impossible to move. There was a Robert Q van full of Germans heading to the airport, and they all had to have their fingerprints taken before they could cross the border.
Someone took my 1-20 form and made us stand in the bathroom hallway for a while. After about ten minutes, during which time we watched about two dozen people get fingerprinted and one girl (nearly in tears) being told that she could be banned from even entering the US again because she had worked at her job there for four days after her work visa had expired, the lady entering my information into the computer called over to Peter.
Here is how his interrogation went:
Lady (calling across the room): You dropping her off?
Peter: Yes.
Lady: When you coming back?
Peter: Around the 21st or 22nd.
That was it. They didn't ask to see any proof of our ties to Canada. All those copies of the deed are still in my folder. They didn't ask to see my inventory either, and we ended up ripping it up to use for grocery lists later. All that work and worrying was for nothing, and we were heading down the highway with my student visa in less than half an hour from the time we crossed to bridge. I have to admit it was a little disappointing after the stress of getting ready for what I was sure would be a big hassle and interrogation. But it's definitely a disappointment I can handle.
There was one little moment of excitement, though. When the lady asking us the questions called me over to a computer at the counter and asked me to hand over my six American dollars (after paying a hundred in advance just to be allowed to do this paperwork--sheesh), she suddenly looked at her computer screen and yelled "LANE FOUR!" and ran from the room, followed by one or two others while everyone else stayed put. We could see through the window that more than half a dozen officers had surrounded a car sitting at the booth in lane 4. But nothing blew up, nothing was taken from the car and they all came back in laughing. We still have no idea what happened.
Posted by jodi at August 22, 2005 10:40 AM | categories:
Comments
nice photo. Free Lays. Heh. But only if you buy 2 hot dogs. If you eat them - you just get bad gas.
I'm glad to hear that border security is as secure as it always has been. When I cross the border at home (in NB), I can still get away with answering "jus'over town" to the "Where ya headin'?" question.
Guess who is going to Atlanta in October? No really, you've gotta guess.
Posted by: Stephanie VW at August 22, 2005 11:26 AM
Glad that all the border/immigration stuff went so smoothly. It's always the way. And if you didn't have the deeds, family letters, proof of everything, etc etc, they would have asked for it.
Thanks for the photo too. Brought a smile to a cloudy Monday. We'll miss you at Stitch'n'Bitch tonight.
Posted by: Kirsti at August 22, 2005 12:00 PM
Glad it went smoothly! We have to start sorting out paperwork at some point, can't believe how much it's going to add up to be! Guess if I'd actually renewed my passport when it expired about 4 years ago it would have been cheaper now!
Looking forward to your Knit Night?? :o)
Anna
Posted by: Anna at August 22, 2005 12:31 PM
i had a fun border crossing a couple of winters ago with my boyfriend. i was driving his truck when we rolled up to the officer's booth. the officer checked us out while i dug in my bag for my i.d.
"move to the side!" we had to go inside and be interrogated by another officer. he threw questions at us before we even got out the answers to the previous batch. he finally determined that we were just roadtripping, and posed no threat to the u.s.a. after all those questions, he let me ask a question, "why did we get pulled out of line for questioning?" his answer, "because HE looks like a european terrorist." HA! and HE had given me crap saying it was MY FAULT because i didn't get my i.d. out fast enough!
Posted by: graylagran at August 22, 2005 12:56 PM
Honestly, the nerve! Why does anyone need more than one hotdog for a free lay?
Posted by: Gina at August 22, 2005 01:45 PM
That sign is hilarious! Thank you! About the crossing of borders and bureaucracy and such... I have an anecdote! When I went to NYC (fall of 2002) with some people from school I was politely asked in a friendly manner what the purpose of my visit was, how long I was staying and so on by a nice woman at the airport. I checked the box for NO on the form asking me if I intended to "commit an act of terrorism" while in the country (Who ever checks the YES one?) and that was that.
But one of my friends in our party didn't know the address of our hotel and had mixed the dates up and was vague on the "When will you go back home?"-question. So they hauled him off to a backroom where apparently both rubber gloves and foul language had been used. Not the friendliest welcome... But everyone was giddy and on guard in NYC in sept of 2002 - understandably so.
Posted by: Lisa at August 22, 2005 02:12 PM
Remind some time to tell you my border crossing story when I took the kids on vacation in Canada a couple of years ago. It was a dirt road crossing in the middle of fucking nowhere and the American pulled a gun on me during re-entry. Oh, and if anyone ever tells you the cops don't really pay attention to speeders in Montana, they're lying through their teeth.
When do classes start?
Posted by: Snowball at August 22, 2005 04:12 PM
I guess that guy really is desperate to sell his hot dogs. Fabulous sign.
Glad to hear it was fairly painless. My BF is going through the US visa paperwork hell and it's funny that men are required to fill out an extra form, asking about their firearms experience and whatnot. I feel like they are discriminating against women, are they trying to say women can't be terrorists too?
Posted by: Rebecca at August 22, 2005 05:57 PM
Well hell, if they are giving away free lays, why aren't more people crossing that border?
:)
Posted by: Micky at August 22, 2005 08:11 PM
Welcome to Georgia form a a Georgia Knitter.
I am about an hour from Athens, so if you need some info about GA just let me know. I would be glad to help.
Fiber RAOK
Posted by: Katie at August 23, 2005 11:59 AM
OMG, that's the funniest thing I've seen all day.
I was really down and needed the chuckle. Thanks...
Posted by: NWJR at August 23, 2005 07:22 PM
Sorry for the late comment. I'm glad to hear your border crossing when well. I just crossed bringing in my husband as my dependant (on a J visa) and we didn't even have to show the marriage certificate - nevermind the inventory in the car! All those regulatations on the government websites are written for people immigrating from countries other than Canada! Enjoy Athens!
Posted by: lori z at September 2, 2005 04:27 PM