I heart Swiss French lady
One of the little oddities of my travels is that despite traveling to all sorts of places in recent years, I've never once had to get a visa in my passport prior to leaving. Until now, that is--I need a visa for my trip to Beijing next week.
Which explains how I found myself waiting in line at the Chinese embassy in Bern yesterday. (I had already been once a couple of weeks ago, but they told me it would take a week and I was leaving for Mexico so I had to come back this week instead...and then go back again next Monday. Three trips to Bern--good fun. By the same token, having seen the hoops that people have to go through to get into the US embassy, I realise that complaining about anyone else's bureaucracy would be the pot calling the kettle black.)
Anyway, a woman ahead of me had like 25 passports that needed visas and there was only one clerk working, so by the time she finished (at least a half-hour) the room was pretty full of fellow visa-seekers. Interestingly, most seemed to be French speakers, which I knew because they would all say "bonjour" when they entered, and everyone would respond with "bonjour" in kind. (IMHO, a comparable group of Swiss Germans would endure the wait in silence. But I digress.)
So finally Slow Woman With Many Passports (her Native American name, no doubt) finished, and a bike messenger moved from the back of the room to the front of the line to ask for a signature. Turns out he had a visa application, which the clerk started to process. You could feel the tension in the room as everyone realised that this Bike Weasel was bypassing the line, but I for one am not comfortable enough with the language to protest, plus this is a culture where waiting in lines is anathema. So I was very pleasantly surprised when one of the Swiss French (French Swiss?) women behind me marched right to the front and gave the clerk and Bike Weasel a loud earful about how we'd all been waiting a long time...at least that's what I'm assuming, because all of a sudden the clerk told Bike Weasel he'd have to wait until everyone else was finished. Et voila, the mood instantly lifted and we all smiled and/or nodded at Swiss French lady, and I even whispered a "Merci". Take that, Bike Weasel, you piece of merde! Ha! And to you, Swiss French lady, I raise a toast...
Which explains how I found myself waiting in line at the Chinese embassy in Bern yesterday. (I had already been once a couple of weeks ago, but they told me it would take a week and I was leaving for Mexico so I had to come back this week instead...and then go back again next Monday. Three trips to Bern--good fun. By the same token, having seen the hoops that people have to go through to get into the US embassy, I realise that complaining about anyone else's bureaucracy would be the pot calling the kettle black.)
Anyway, a woman ahead of me had like 25 passports that needed visas and there was only one clerk working, so by the time she finished (at least a half-hour) the room was pretty full of fellow visa-seekers. Interestingly, most seemed to be French speakers, which I knew because they would all say "bonjour" when they entered, and everyone would respond with "bonjour" in kind. (IMHO, a comparable group of Swiss Germans would endure the wait in silence. But I digress.)
So finally Slow Woman With Many Passports (her Native American name, no doubt) finished, and a bike messenger moved from the back of the room to the front of the line to ask for a signature. Turns out he had a visa application, which the clerk started to process. You could feel the tension in the room as everyone realised that this Bike Weasel was bypassing the line, but I for one am not comfortable enough with the language to protest, plus this is a culture where waiting in lines is anathema. So I was very pleasantly surprised when one of the Swiss French (French Swiss?) women behind me marched right to the front and gave the clerk and Bike Weasel a loud earful about how we'd all been waiting a long time...at least that's what I'm assuming, because all of a sudden the clerk told Bike Weasel he'd have to wait until everyone else was finished. Et voila, the mood instantly lifted and we all smiled and/or nodded at Swiss French lady, and I even whispered a "Merci". Take that, Bike Weasel, you piece of merde! Ha! And to you, Swiss French lady, I raise a toast...
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