Thursday morning, I woke at 7 a.m. to hear Fumiko on the telephone with a friend in Japan (not to worry, I have a very cheap dial-around service). We decided to try for the Consulate today -- we can go 8:30 to 10:30, but we need to get photos before that. Left here about 8:30, went to CVS drug store, but they don't do different photos (specs for Canadian visa photos are different from those for US passports). To subway to go down to 48th Street, assuming we can find a photo store near the Consulate that knows the specs. However, my transit card wouldn't work! Expired, it says! I was frantic and made a lot of fuss, since I had just filled it yesterday, but the receipt was at home. I couldn't cope -- too many obstacles for one day -- and I stormed out toward home. There, I found the receipt, which showed that the transaction had not completed, so we went to the subway and I did it again, and we proceeded downtown once again, still had time.
Found a photo store (expensive, but you can't have everything), got the photos, and went to the consulate. There, it took only a few minutes to hand over the passports and photos and get back a little card that said to come back next Thursday between 2 and 3. Great! Well, we have already paid a lot of money and waited two years, so we certainly deserve not to have to cool our heels any more! Now I feel like we're really on our way!!
[Technical immigration note: The consulate asked if I had a letter from the attorney agreeing to let me pick up the visa directly in this manner, rather than through him. I said no, no one mentioned that -- not the lawyer, not the notification from Canada. They said no problem, they would call the lawyer. Neat! Later, I emailed our lawyer in Toronto about this and he said they asked him to send a letter for the record, even though it will probably arrive after we have picked up the visas. ]
It's so great to have Fumiko here! Since I'm not working, we can be together 24 hours a day if we want. After our victory over the forces of chaos (internal and external) this morning, we went to the Times Square Information Center to get a program for this weekend's Open House New York, some new bus and subway maps, and also found a few local Japanese newspapers for Fumiko. While there, we tried out their Internet cam and took our picture (see profile here) and mailed it to ourselves. Then, to 43rd Street where the Asian grocery Sam Bok used to be -- but the whole block is different, with skyscrapers going up on the south side of the street and (apparently) rents going up on the north side -- no Sam Bok, and no one to ask.
On to the Japanese block on 41st Street off Fifth -- a Japanese bakery-cafe, book store, and grocery store, where we loaded up. Then home, feeling like it's been a day well spent, and not yet noon!
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