I have had a really sucky time in the past 24 hours.
I had originally planned to do a lot of studying in order to get prepped for the upcoming exams but instead I got so upset at Danish immigration that I swear I got a small ulcer (major stomach pains), got my bag and wallet stolen at a really touristy bar and partied a bit too hard for my liking. The latter two events were mostly my fault. I was being too careless and getting too carried away with the exchange student lifestyle. I miss my nerdy introverted sober self.
Danish Immigration still has yet to issue me a visa for my study term that is almost over and they also owe me around $300 CDN since I overpaid for my application. I have not been able to reap any benefits of having a student visa such as signing up for a bank account, free danish lessons, free medical care or the ease of traveling back and forth between countries in the EU. In any case, when the customs official gave me a bit of trouble when I was coming back from London last weekend, I realized it was time to get back in touch with the office. The people on the phone are never all that nice to me always telling me to be patient and that there is nothing they can do for me because my visa is still 'processing' even after 6 months of waiting. After a particularly rude conversation on the phone I was told I had to line up at the office to get a re-entry stamp so that I would be able to get back into Denmark after my travels since it is getting dangerously close to my 90-day limit as a tourist in the Schengen region in Europe. I had no choice but to comply.
So I showed up 45 minutes before the office opened and there was already a line outside the door. I ended up spending 3 hours there waiting for said re-entry stamp. Added to the last time I spent another 4 hours waiting to produce documents for my application, these were the 7 hours of my life that I have felt the true impact of my being a part of a visible minority group. I have never in my life felt so segregated as a result of my race than at this time. Nearly every single person in that office was of visible ethnicity. There were about 3 other caucasian people there and they looked of Eastern European descent. Although I don't have any proof, my theory is that my visa is not being processed because of my asian last name. Lots of exchange students had also been in my position waiting for a visa but they have all since received theirs, save another student also of asian background. I have also had conversations with many Scandinavians and even the Danes themselves who confirm that the Danish foreign policy on a whole is very blatantly racist. So yes. I feel discriminated against and it sucks very much.
It's funny, I've lived in Canada all my life and while people have brought up the issue of racism, I don't think I've ever felt it for real until now. And perhaps even funnier is that whenever I am in China or Hong Kong I feel that people treat me different because although I am fully chinese hardware-wise, I am very much Canadian on the inside which means I don't get the asian cultural and historical references either. Depending on how optimistic you are, I suppose I either got the best or the worst of both worlds. I like to think best despite my little bit of unhappy today.
After this ordeal, I had major stomach pains which were not calmed by a breaking of my cleanse and indulging in a hot chocolate and a slice of carrot cake. I went on to try and soothe it over with a glass of mulled wine (called Glogg) and several pints of cider. Still no relief for the stomache. (not surprisingly) What it did do though is make me drunk and this is where someone stole my purse and threw my life into a bit of mad chaos for the next 18 hours. Good thing for my non-high maintenance tastes. The purse that I currently carry around is a complete piece of junk that is falling apart at the seams. And so while the thieves stole another guy's super nice tan leather satchel complete with his laptop and passport inside, they only grabbed the cash in my wallet then threw the wallet and everything else in my piece-of-junk bag in the parking lot. A very nice lady picked up my purse for safekeeping and that is how I was able to get all my IDs and credit cards back. What a relief!
Luckily, as with most stories in my life, they have happy endings and this one is no different. I am celebrating the finding of my wallet, the rising above of racist segregation and the breaking of my silly cleanse with a big bowl of ice cream and a Big Bang Theory marathon tonight. Life is good. =)
I had originally planned to do a lot of studying in order to get prepped for the upcoming exams but instead I got so upset at Danish immigration that I swear I got a small ulcer (major stomach pains), got my bag and wallet stolen at a really touristy bar and partied a bit too hard for my liking. The latter two events were mostly my fault. I was being too careless and getting too carried away with the exchange student lifestyle. I miss my nerdy introverted sober self.
Danish Immigration still has yet to issue me a visa for my study term that is almost over and they also owe me around $300 CDN since I overpaid for my application. I have not been able to reap any benefits of having a student visa such as signing up for a bank account, free danish lessons, free medical care or the ease of traveling back and forth between countries in the EU. In any case, when the customs official gave me a bit of trouble when I was coming back from London last weekend, I realized it was time to get back in touch with the office. The people on the phone are never all that nice to me always telling me to be patient and that there is nothing they can do for me because my visa is still 'processing' even after 6 months of waiting. After a particularly rude conversation on the phone I was told I had to line up at the office to get a re-entry stamp so that I would be able to get back into Denmark after my travels since it is getting dangerously close to my 90-day limit as a tourist in the Schengen region in Europe. I had no choice but to comply.
So I showed up 45 minutes before the office opened and there was already a line outside the door. I ended up spending 3 hours there waiting for said re-entry stamp. Added to the last time I spent another 4 hours waiting to produce documents for my application, these were the 7 hours of my life that I have felt the true impact of my being a part of a visible minority group. I have never in my life felt so segregated as a result of my race than at this time. Nearly every single person in that office was of visible ethnicity. There were about 3 other caucasian people there and they looked of Eastern European descent. Although I don't have any proof, my theory is that my visa is not being processed because of my asian last name. Lots of exchange students had also been in my position waiting for a visa but they have all since received theirs, save another student also of asian background. I have also had conversations with many Scandinavians and even the Danes themselves who confirm that the Danish foreign policy on a whole is very blatantly racist. So yes. I feel discriminated against and it sucks very much.
It's funny, I've lived in Canada all my life and while people have brought up the issue of racism, I don't think I've ever felt it for real until now. And perhaps even funnier is that whenever I am in China or Hong Kong I feel that people treat me different because although I am fully chinese hardware-wise, I am very much Canadian on the inside which means I don't get the asian cultural and historical references either. Depending on how optimistic you are, I suppose I either got the best or the worst of both worlds. I like to think best despite my little bit of unhappy today.
After this ordeal, I had major stomach pains which were not calmed by a breaking of my cleanse and indulging in a hot chocolate and a slice of carrot cake. I went on to try and soothe it over with a glass of mulled wine (called Glogg) and several pints of cider. Still no relief for the stomache. (not surprisingly) What it did do though is make me drunk and this is where someone stole my purse and threw my life into a bit of mad chaos for the next 18 hours. Good thing for my non-high maintenance tastes. The purse that I currently carry around is a complete piece of junk that is falling apart at the seams. And so while the thieves stole another guy's super nice tan leather satchel complete with his laptop and passport inside, they only grabbed the cash in my wallet then threw the wallet and everything else in my piece-of-junk bag in the parking lot. A very nice lady picked up my purse for safekeeping and that is how I was able to get all my IDs and credit cards back. What a relief!
Luckily, as with most stories in my life, they have happy endings and this one is no different. I am celebrating the finding of my wallet, the rising above of racist segregation and the breaking of my silly cleanse with a big bowl of ice cream and a Big Bang Theory marathon tonight. Life is good. =)
HAHA. you like big bang theory too? Isn't it AWESOME?
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