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Praha bureaucracy (2019#6)
Mar. 29th, 2019 07:31 amSo I forgot to mention in the last entry - after all that nonsense with getting our visas ... NO ONE LOOKED AT THEM. We entered Europe via Madrid, and we went through customs there. Our passports were stamped, but not even looked at long enough verify that we were who we were supposed to be. So when the plane flew into another EU country, there was no customs, no looking at passports, no nothing. There were signs pointing to immigration control, but only a single dude in a uniform watching us leave and not interacting with anybody!
However we did have to go to Immigration Control in Praha to register our presence - although if we had not, I don't think anybody would have known/cared. I think *they* might have looked at the visa, because when I told the woman that our visas weren't looked at when we came in to Prague Airport, she asked if they were looked at in Madrid, and the only way she would have know about Madrid is if she actually looked at the damn passports and saw our Madrid stamp, and presumably the Czech visas. So anyway, we are finally here and even legal.
We both got yearly metro cards, which was another silly thing, requiring two trips to the central metro station downtown, and help from one of E's colleagues, and both our passports, and interactions with yet another grumpy Czech bureaucrat. And then E had to open a bank account which *also* took two separate trips and help from a colleague and apparently the approval of the bank president, since we are not EU citizens. Currently the bank account has a grand total of 100 Kr (about $5) because E hasn't been paid yet. They are paid "usually around the 10th of the month, but it can vary." Yikes. Oh and also you can only withdraw $10000 Kr a week, which strikes me as really strange.
Being a stranger in a strange land has pointed out to me that after being there for 14 years, I no longer feel so out of place in OK. I mostly blend in. And until someone tries to speak to me, I pretty much blend in here, also, which is a relief. So far I haven't noticed any of those "what the hell are you," looks.
I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, because I'm not, and I'm certainly not bent out of shape about any of this Czech stuff, I just think it's interesting and kind of funny.
However we did have to go to Immigration Control in Praha to register our presence - although if we had not, I don't think anybody would have known/cared. I think *they* might have looked at the visa, because when I told the woman that our visas weren't looked at when we came in to Prague Airport, she asked if they were looked at in Madrid, and the only way she would have know about Madrid is if she actually looked at the damn passports and saw our Madrid stamp, and presumably the Czech visas. So anyway, we are finally here and even legal.
We both got yearly metro cards, which was another silly thing, requiring two trips to the central metro station downtown, and help from one of E's colleagues, and both our passports, and interactions with yet another grumpy Czech bureaucrat. And then E had to open a bank account which *also* took two separate trips and help from a colleague and apparently the approval of the bank president, since we are not EU citizens. Currently the bank account has a grand total of 100 Kr (about $5) because E hasn't been paid yet. They are paid "usually around the 10th of the month, but it can vary." Yikes. Oh and also you can only withdraw $10000 Kr a week, which strikes me as really strange.
Being a stranger in a strange land has pointed out to me that after being there for 14 years, I no longer feel so out of place in OK. I mostly blend in. And until someone tries to speak to me, I pretty much blend in here, also, which is a relief. So far I haven't noticed any of those "what the hell are you," looks.
I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, because I'm not, and I'm certainly not bent out of shape about any of this Czech stuff, I just think it's interesting and kind of funny.
