HI all! I am back!
Okay, loads has happened! I got re-married to a US Air Force guy and we now live in the panhandle of Florida. It was a hell of a process to get my green card, so many legal hoops to jump through and also I still have to get my 10yr green card next year!
My cats are with me, Kitty has hyperthyroidism (we only found out through a blood test they did before her dental work, you wouldn't believe it, this cat weight 15 pounds)! Twinkie (the black ball of evil) has arthritis in her spine... she got... umm... backed up shall we say and an x-ray showed she didn't poop because it hurt her. We only knew when she stopped eating... $300 later and a visit to the emergency vet she is on pain killers for the rest of her life.
Anyways, we got stationed over here October of last year and I am still (and I really mean this) adjusting! I had to get my driver's license so now I am on the road (look out if you are in my area!), I work in a call center booking privately owned condos as well as some condo resort in Orlando (
www.resortquest.com if interested, ask for Emma, lol). I have had some really mean calls, two of which made me cry!
The first one, the guy outright said at the beginning of the call that he hated my accent. I said that I was sorry to hear that (and not surprised, it was bound to happen eventually, working with Americans for three years now) and if he left it at that I would have been fine. But no, he asked where I was from and at the end of the call he said "well, Emma from London, England, I am glad to have you here for the summer". I answered "actually sir, I live here now", he said oh and hung up... I balled my eyes out!
The second one, a customer called saying that she booked the rental with another online travel agent (so like bookit.com or hotels.com, not directly with us) and she wanted to make changes but wasn't having any luck with them. I said that I was sorry to hear that and that I could not do anything to help her out since she had not booked directly with us, she was bound by their policies (which the company was saying was our policies, but that was bullhonkey). She then said to me "why are people like you doing in my country anyway ruining it for us!?!" and then hung up before I could respond. Again, I balled my eyes out.
I'm sorry that she had issues, but I seriously could do nothing for her, and I bet if she looked down her family tree, she was an immigrant from the European countries just like myself!
I also get a lot of calls and people don't believe that I am in the location, I hate using this excuse but I say "my husband is active duty and I moved here to be with him since he got assigned here" and then their tone just changes! Sorry, but I should not have to clarify why I am in this country to begin with, let alone use my husband's job to justify why I immigrated here! I am legal, I pay my taxes, health care, social security and all of that. Do you know how much it cost for me to get here? Do you know the stuff I had to do to prove I was not going to be a burden on your government? NO, then sorry but then you don't have an opinion (the people who asks my why I am here, none of you lot just to be clear, lol)! FYI if curious, my conditional 2 year green card cost me about $1,500 for the process, I gotta pay an additional $600 to get my ten year on next year.
The other calls, loads of people like my accent, I have had a few people telling me to burn in hell, those calls don't bother me, but when you attack my right to be in this country and my immigration status without knowing anything? That hurts! Some people asked me to prove I was where I say I was, they would ask me questions about the local area and of course I would answer them correctly, but still that isn't an excuse or a right to ask me these things... I am the person on the other end of the phone trying to help you out, why do you care if I am where I say I am?
Okay, rant over, lol! I miss so much from Germany and the UK. Not only my friends but my family too. I lost my step-mum earlier this year to cancer so I had to make a unexpected visit to the UK for the funeral. Now flying back with Delta however, the lady at the check-in desk when I handed her my green card interrogated me and I am like "this is like none of your business, I have a legit green card, why the hell do you care? And why is it any of your business?!?" I was lucky I got my new green card back in time to go to the funeral (the original one had my name spelt incorrectly by their fault, not mine, so it was free replacement).
Okay, I think that is everything. Hubby had surgery last Thursday so I am keeping an eye on him when I am not at work... He is doing pretty well and recovering good, so that's great!
Can't wait to catch up with everyone!