That was very...sneaky.*
Jul. 18th, 2007 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bending_sickleAfter spending a futile couple of hours a couple of weeks ago trying to find out what the hell the beurocratic pigglets wanted me to do with my birth certificate, in which the Ministry of Justice's webpage was completely gone from the internet like Atlantis in the middle of a monsoon, things are a bit clearer now.
It's not as pretty as an azure lake in summer, but it's decifrable.
The Ministry of Justice's page, now present, says that I have to send them my birth certificate so they can stamp the Haye Apostille onto it. This is, allegidly, to reduce paperwork when legalizing documents within EU countries. Oh, yeah, I can totally see how you're sparing me the red tape, totally.
I spoke with the Dutch Consulate, and the nice though unhelpful lady said there was such a thing as an "International Birth Certificate", which comes in a number of languages together with the famous Haye Apostille.
That...that pisses me off. Why? Because I've had to do all those steps - all three of them, yes - one by one. It's like having someone tell Indiana Jones, after he braves angry snakes, rolling balls and psychotic axe-murderes** that he could've just walked up those stairs right over there, easy-peasy, and just asked for the Holy Grail, Magical Pony, whathaveyou.
So what I think is going to happen is that I'm going to have to send my papers to the Ministry in Madrid and ask MJesus - old family friend with the married-and-mother-of-two daughter in Chicago - to pick it up and resend it to me. It would've been so much simpler if I'd known this earlier, when she originally picked up my birth certificate in Madrid.
Fuck the beurocracy.
And then I get an email from the university with different dates for the orientation, or some other orientation. Originally there was a two-day orientation for international students set for August 30 and 31, but now they're talking about August 21 being "the main day of introduction for foreign students". And if you can't make it then, sign up for the meeting August 28.
What the fuck is going on?!?
ETA: Never mind. The new dates are for Vrije, which I'm no longer going to. Now, the question is, why the fuck are they sending me this information?
In other news, yesterday I bought 3 DVD's mainly because I apparently have lousy self-control (and they were on special, like 8.95-11.95 instead of the usual 20-odd). To compensate, I have Shopper's Guilt and Doubt.
I bought 28 Days Later: Collector's Edition (oh, the shock!), Full Monty and Ravenous. Now, I've opened up 28 Days Later, so that's a definate purchase. I really like Full Monty, though I could rip it off my uncle's. (But I like it...) Ravenous is the one I'm least sure about. On the one hand, there's 3 commentaries by a) the villain, RCarlyle, b) two supporting actors and c) the director and writer. On the other hand, it's completely available on YouTube. (SO not kidding.)
Links of the Day:
Neil Gaiman posts neat TV spots and a picture of MPfeiffer as Ze Vitch on Stardust.
Bunny and Dr Who: why we all need a sofa. I love this comic so, so much.
* Ives, Ravenous
** I can't remember anything about Indiana Jones, so bear with me.
It's not as pretty as an azure lake in summer, but it's decifrable.
The Ministry of Justice's page, now present, says that I have to send them my birth certificate so they can stamp the Haye Apostille onto it. This is, allegidly, to reduce paperwork when legalizing documents within EU countries. Oh, yeah, I can totally see how you're sparing me the red tape, totally.
I spoke with the Dutch Consulate, and the nice though unhelpful lady said there was such a thing as an "International Birth Certificate", which comes in a number of languages together with the famous Haye Apostille.
That...that pisses me off. Why? Because I've had to do all those steps - all three of them, yes - one by one. It's like having someone tell Indiana Jones, after he braves angry snakes, rolling balls and psychotic axe-murderes** that he could've just walked up those stairs right over there, easy-peasy, and just asked for the Holy Grail, Magical Pony, whathaveyou.
So what I think is going to happen is that I'm going to have to send my papers to the Ministry in Madrid and ask MJesus - old family friend with the married-and-mother-of-two daughter in Chicago - to pick it up and resend it to me. It would've been so much simpler if I'd known this earlier, when she originally picked up my birth certificate in Madrid.
Fuck the beurocracy.
And then I get an email from the university with different dates for the orientation, or some other orientation. Originally there was a two-day orientation for international students set for August 30 and 31, but now they're talking about August 21 being "the main day of introduction for foreign students". And if you can't make it then, sign up for the meeting August 28.
What the fuck is going on?!?
ETA: Never mind. The new dates are for Vrije, which I'm no longer going to. Now, the question is, why the fuck are they sending me this information?
In other news, yesterday I bought 3 DVD's mainly because I apparently have lousy self-control (and they were on special, like 8.95-11.95 instead of the usual 20-odd). To compensate, I have Shopper's Guilt and Doubt.
I bought 28 Days Later: Collector's Edition (oh, the shock!), Full Monty and Ravenous. Now, I've opened up 28 Days Later, so that's a definate purchase. I really like Full Monty, though I could rip it off my uncle's. (But I like it...) Ravenous is the one I'm least sure about. On the one hand, there's 3 commentaries by a) the villain, RCarlyle, b) two supporting actors and c) the director and writer. On the other hand, it's completely available on YouTube. (SO not kidding.)
Links of the Day:
Neil Gaiman posts neat TV spots and a picture of MPfeiffer as Ze Vitch on Stardust.
Bunny and Dr Who: why we all need a sofa. I love this comic so, so much.
* Ives, Ravenous
** I can't remember anything about Indiana Jones, so bear with me.
