Sunday, March 16, 2014

Next Step - Pledge the Allegiance as a (German-)American

I passed my civics test and interview on March 3rd 2014. Quiet honestly I was nervous - for the first hour of waiting and then I became impatient. My appointment was scheduled for 10.50am that morning. I got up a little earlier and got my run in, had breakfast with the pups and got dressed. My moral support and I got to the building I wanna say around 10am. The invitation said one should not be there more than 30 minutes before the actual interview since seating is limited. We made our way upstairs to the stated room. I turned in my invitation and was asked to have a seat. As they called my name they took fingerprints again and a picture and sent us to a different room. There was a security officer that asked us to turn cell phones on silent and asked me specifically to turn it off when I am called in for the interview. There were some people there, some alone, some with family members and some with attorneys. People were being called into the interview rooms at random times, no patterns really. The interview officers all looked pretty relaxed and fun, some more serious. My interview invitation also stated that the entire process might take up to two hours so as the first hour had passed I relaxed a little more. I had already turned my cell phone off shortly after we sat down - after 90 minutes of waiting I turned it back on because I was sure my family in Germany was getting worried since they had not heard back from me. After two hours of waiting my support team became impatient (very uncommon for him) and he went up front to ask the officer what was taking so long. He asked him to bring my green card and he would be sure to check on me. A short wait later he came back and informed us it would take another ten minutes. It did. A more serious interview officer called me up front. we had decided earlier that we did not really want him to interview me because he looked so serious but he was actually pretty funny, just in a different kind of way. No introduction on his part, he walked me into his office. There were pictures of his family and loads of files around, crammed into a little office. He asked me to put my purse down and raise my right hand to swear to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth, also that I had filled out the application on my own. I swore and was asked to have a seat. He promised me to be very quick and have me out and done in ten minutes. We started with the civics test (argh). The ten questions (they asked you up to ten, you only have to answer six correct, they stop asking after that) were on a separate sheet of paper and he wrote down all of my answers. I missed the first question. It was a question I always missed (of course) when I had someone quiz me - and I was nervous.... Anyway, I answered the next six questions correct and he put the sheet away. Next, he asked me to read three questions about Congress and lastly I had to write a sentence he dictated. After that we went through the entire application I turned in in Novmeber. Every single question and he marked them with red marker. As we were done with that I had to sign a couple of sheets and he told me Congratulations. Made a copy of my driver license and informed me that the next ceremony was scheduled on March 14th and he was not sure if they could get me in that one since it was only eleven days away. Yea, the letter came on Friday (14th), so I get to go in April (as I had already assumed anyway). 

Sunday, March 2, 2014

What came first - the Declaration of Independence or the writing of the Constitution?

So, seriously ask yourself the following question and try to answer it without looking up the answer online: "How many amendments does the Constitution have?" Anyone? I have my interview for naturalization tomorrow (March, 3rd 2014) and that is one of the questions on my list. I have to be able to answer six out of up to ten questions correctly, chosen out of a 100 question catalog. Hmm, yea. I am a little anxious but I have had co-workers quiz me as well as the man, I have had conversations about the questions with my clients and managers and that has helped A LOT. Some things just did not want to stick in my head but I think I am pretty well prepared now with everyone's help. The man is driving me downtown because I am pretty sure I would get lost. 
Last night we had the pleasure of attending a beautiful wedding. One of my clients tied the knot with her man and we had a great time celebrating the awesome union of the two families. My mind is focused on tomorrow so here are some pics of the last couple of weeks while I am going to watch the Oscars on TV.