The day after I arrived in Oklahoma I mailed off my visa application to the closest consulate, in Atlanta, Georgia, which had jurisdiction over my state. Then I waited. I spent the first few days getting my furniture organized to move. but after that was done I had to find things to keep me busy. I read more books in 3 weeks than I had in the last year, imported dozens of old CDs into ITunes, started on Rosetta Stone German lessons, and even followed my hometown newspaper, where football rules supreme. I made sure to fill up on my favorite foods that I can't get in Switzerland, like bagels, cheddar cheese, and a decent juicy hamburger or steak. Spring came while I was there, and the weather was fantastic after a cold fall and winter in Switzerland. I could run around in skirts and short sleeves, and soak up some much missed sunshine.
After 2 weeks I emailed the consulate to inquire if they had everything they needed, and a few hours later received a phone call from an actual person at the consulate who was working on my application. He told me they had mailed the necessary documents to the local Swiss authorities, and only needed that local department to click "ok" in their online system for the whole thing to be finished. After asking Celgene to ask the local office if they had everything they needed to click "ok", the local office said they hadn't yet received the mailed package. However, in very un-Swiss-like form they made an excpetion and approved my visa ahead of time, without the package. (They must like Celgene a lot.) The consulate put my passport in overnight mail the same day.
On a red letter Wednesday my passport arrived in a gleaming fedex envelope we had provided to the consulate in advance. The company insisted that I arrive in time to start work Monday morning, so I should just "make my way leisurely back to Switzerland." I called the airline to change my flight again, but nearly every flight out of Oklahoma was completely booked for the 4 days of the weekend. Nothing to Denver, Chicago, new York, or DC. The woman couldn't figure out why they were so full until I offered that it was spring break weekend? The additional cost to actually get a flight that got me back in time was nearly $1500. Since the company was paying my ticket I wasn't sure if this was acceptable or not, but after I asked for their suggestion they told me it was fine because they definitely wanted me there for Monday. So I booked a flight leaving Friday noon that put me in Geneva Saturday morning, and began to pack up my suitcases again.
Football rules everything.
Even the house numbers show football spirit.
The best drive-in in the country.
With $3 burgers. . .
And a $5 full meal.
All the cheddar you could want.
Rows and rows of succelent (cheap!) beef.
That crazy horse statue with the eyes that glow red at night. (why do they need to be RED?)
Spring has arrived!
First daffodils in my backyard.
A sign I passed many times on my evenings jogs. Norman is definitely still a small community, and people try to help each other out.
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