Visa appointment

So it was the dreaded visa appointment today!  I was up at 5.45 to make sure I was at the station in time to get the car parked and pay for parking, then get my tickets.  I was so tired I fell asleep on the train (cuddling my folder of visa docs to make sure they didn't disappear) was slightly embarrassed when I woke up but noticed that every business man on the train was taking a sneaky snooze so clearly its the thing to do on early morning trains to London.


My appointment wasn't until 10.30 but stupidly I believed the estimate online for getting on the underground from Waterloo to Bond Street and then the walking time on google maps from the underground to the embassy would be an underestimate so I'd allowed just over an hour.  It took half an hour, the 20 minute walk only took 5 minutes!!!  Also really didn't need the map I'd printed off to get from the underground to the embassy, paranoia clearly took over with my planning as its unbelievably easy to find especially with the massive queue outside.


Anyway, because of my complete miscalculation on how long it would take I was an hour early for the appointment, I decided to join the queue anyway and hope they'd let me in anyway (they did).  Took half an hour to get into the embassy because of the security checks (like airport security); and then the waiting began. 


I was given a ticket number and told to wait for my number to be called, as a few people have already said its just like Argos.  After 15 minutes I was called to the window, I was very pleased with this thinking that I was going to be out in under half an hour, turns out thats the first window and the real wait is for the second window...


After my documents were checked at the first window, I was told to wait for my number to be called again; I spotted another ICPer (the Disney folder was the big clue) so we had a good chat about Disney excitement and randomly Love Never Dies, which she'd been to see last night and has been changed loads since I saw it last year.  It was great to meet someone going and on my flight as well (I've forgotten her name because I suck), and it meant the next wait went really quickly. 


The second window was the one I was nervous about as this was the interview part, so I walk up all nervous and the woman sees were I'm going to work gets excited asking what I'll be doing out there and saying she wishes she could do that too, no scary questions, no requests for proof or return, so all my worrying and preparing of proof for nothing!


In the end I was out before 12! I was so pleased I'd genuinely expected a five hour wait from what most people have been through, especially with the amount of people waiting; I was just really lucky.  I made my way back to Waterloo got my money changed (Waterloo station currently has the best exchange rate in the country so thought I'd kill two birds with one stone) and was on the train home at 13.10.  The train journey home was dull until a sensible looking business man spotted my Disney hoody, got excited, and wanted me to tell him all about the program as he's taking his family to Disney World again this August and his daughter is obsessed with Disney and tells everyone she wants to work there; was great to chat to yet another stranger about Disney even if I was a little concerned when I spotted him looking at me with a grin (reading the hoody as it turns out).


Sorry for the ramble but today has been eventful and I'm just too excited to be that coherent! 


J x