Saturday, August 26, 2006
Applied for a Passport
Today we went and applied for a US passport. They said it would take about 6 weeks. I think it will take less time. Let's see.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
A Dream Come True -- We are now American citizens!
It is official. Sandhya and I are now American citizens! This has been a very exiting day for me particularly. Sandhya, of course, is quite blase about it, but for me it has been a very big deal.
The ceremony was at 1pm and went on for about 2 hours. I was a bit disappointed in the ceremony itself, because I thought we'd get an inspiring talk from a good speaker on what it takes to be a citizen, etc, etc. But otherwise, it was well run. The bottom line is we got our citizenship certificates and came home happy campers.
The ceremony was at 1pm and went on for about 2 hours. I was a bit disappointed in the ceremony itself, because I thought we'd get an inspiring talk from a good speaker on what it takes to be a citizen, etc, etc. But otherwise, it was well run. The bottom line is we got our citizenship certificates and came home happy campers.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Passed the citizenship interview!
This is a great day for Sandhya and me. We passed the citizenship interview! We go next week to take the citizenship oath and get the citizenship certificate.
I have been waiting for this for so many years. When I first wanted to immigrate to America and become an American citizen, it was--I thought--a pipe dream. This was way back when we were in Lucknow (what is it now, thirty years ago?). Of course we first landed in Canada and I was quite happy to settle down there. But when I got the opportunity to get a green card to come to the US, it was simply too good to be true! Of course, we sometimes do make our opportunities, and I will admit that I did push Sandhya to also accept the idea of moving here and looked for any possible job opportunities.
The interview itself was very pleasant. The Homeland Security Officer was exceedingly polite and courteous. He first swore me in and then he asked me a few questions to confirm what was in the application. I was also asked to read a sentence and then write a sentence dictated by the officer (this is the english language test). Then he asked a set of questions on the history of the US and the government system, like when was the consitution was written, how many Supreme Court justices there are etc. I got all questions right!
He then congratulated me on having passed the tests and the interview and handed me a piece of paper to bring in next week (Aug 22) .
Sandhya also got everything right.
Looking forward to the citizenship ceremony next week.
I have been waiting for this for so many years. When I first wanted to immigrate to America and become an American citizen, it was--I thought--a pipe dream. This was way back when we were in Lucknow (what is it now, thirty years ago?). Of course we first landed in Canada and I was quite happy to settle down there. But when I got the opportunity to get a green card to come to the US, it was simply too good to be true! Of course, we sometimes do make our opportunities, and I will admit that I did push Sandhya to also accept the idea of moving here and looked for any possible job opportunities.
The interview itself was very pleasant. The Homeland Security Officer was exceedingly polite and courteous. He first swore me in and then he asked me a few questions to confirm what was in the application. I was also asked to read a sentence and then write a sentence dictated by the officer (this is the english language test). Then he asked a set of questions on the history of the US and the government system, like when was the consitution was written, how many Supreme Court justices there are etc. I got all questions right!
He then congratulated me on having passed the tests and the interview and handed me a piece of paper to bring in next week (Aug 22) .
Sandhya also got everything right.
Looking forward to the citizenship ceremony next week.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Mount St. Helens
We visited Mount St. Helens on the week end. Here are some pictures. Very impressive. Everything around for several miles was devastated!
View from the Johnston Observatory (about 5 miles from the volcano)
From right to left: Kevin, Rekha and Me (unmistakable with the pot belly!)
Kevin and Sandhya at the coffee shop in the information center when we entered the national park where Mount St. Helens is situated
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