Two wonderful weeks!

Three months ago I went to Seattle for two weeks to activate my Green card, to visit my friends and prepare my stay. Due to legal reasons I haven’t been able to update my blog in a while, so I have some catching up to do. If you don’t care about the whole Green card procedure, just scroll down and check out the pictures!

On June 26th, I arrived in Philadelphia. There I was guided to an immigration office and had to hand over the sealed envelope the American Embassy in Brussels had given me. They took my fingerprints with ink and I scribbled down my signature. It will appear on the actual Green Card I should receive within four to six months. So far I haven’t received anything, but that’s not a problem. Thanks to the embassy my passport now declares that I’m allowed to live and work in the US for one year. The Green Card will make that permanent.

The first business day after my arrival I applied for my social security number. In the US that number is very important. It gives access to a whole range of governmental services. In the US your name and social security number  are more important than any kind of ID (identity cards as most of us know them don’t even exist).

Three weeks later the number was sent to my friends’ home. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t get the number while I was there. Because I didn’t have the social security number I couldn’t open a bank account.  It would have been handy to already have a bank account with some money in it to smoothen the permanent move to Seattle. I tried opening a bank account from Belgium, but that didn’t work out.  Opening a bank account will be the first item on my to-do-list.

To my surprise I spent very little time on paperwork during this trip. For most of the things I needed I just had to wait. My friends took this opportunity to show me around. Brie took me to her performance at Artopia in Georgetown, Amy took me up to Granite Falls and during the weekend of Independence Day we all went up to La Push – yes the very place where Twilight was recorded – to go camping and to enjoy the fireworks. It was wonderful to spend time with Brie & Yousman, Amy & Dann, Johanna & Noel and their daughter Sady. I already feel part of the Holan family a little! Having such great friends makes it much easier to move!

While my friends were at work I explored the city. I’ve become quite familiar with the downtown area and Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill is definitely the place where I would like to live. This is where all the cool kids hang out and it’s close to lots of cool bars, clubs and restaurants. Besides wandering through the city I met with some Drupal development companies. I’ll soon be working on a large website for a European client and I’d like to outsource the content management . These were my first steps towards a job as a freelancer or maybe my own business?

When I got back from this trip I booked a final ticket, left my job, moved out of my apartment and organized a going away drink for my friends. I’ll go into the specifics in my next post. For now, please enjoy the pictures! Click on the images to see the full set.

Seattle Downtown, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)

Granite Falls, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)

La Push, Second Beach, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)

Indepence Day, La Push, Second Beach, Washington State (click the picture to see the full set)