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Well well well, today is the 2nd of April and I was gonna write this yesterday but thought it was too epic a day to write under the April fools day date. ....On Thursday 29th March we left wolves at 0500 and got a lift to B'ham by Chris and Dave, where we were going to get a megabus to London, the bus was due to arrive at 0610, we fortunately waited in the warmth of the car until we saw a bus arrive, we then got out and Chris and Dave left. It wasn't until we read the side of the bus that we discovered it wasn't the bus to London but to Cardiff, so we hung about and waited. After about 20mins another arrived, but this one was for liverpool, another 3 megabuses arrived all for other locations apart from London. We were starting to get cold and hungry by this point but we weren't alone as there were at least another 5 passengers all waiting for the bus.
We were standing at the bus stop, feeling as if we were in a wind tunnel due to its location, so we moved a bit further up the road to stand inside the doorway of a health club, while standing there we thought as the bus was now over an hour late we may as well see if we could find a macdees, Jen got on google and found one close and then set off to go and buy some breakfast stating to me to call her immediately if the bus comes, you guessed it, sod's law played a card and sooner had she gone out of sight than the bloody bus arrived and so with my finger on the dial button I pressed it fast waiting for connection, Jen picked up and I blurted to her that the bus had arrived, she hung straight up and a few moments later as I was pleading with the bus driver to hang on as Jen as on her way, (he wasn't to best pleased as he was already an hour behind schedule) anyway, I had hardly finished listening to his reply when Jen ran down the street and onto the bus, with one coffee in hand, we found our seats then jen began to explain that she had ordered and paid when I called and was waiting for the dozy cashier to pour a cup of coffee which she said she did in what seemed a speed only a macdonalds morning cashier could do. With coffee in hand we sat down on the bus and began the journey down to he big smoke. We tried to sleep on the way but only got a little before we were getting into the city, we could see another passenger making his way down to the front of the bus asking the driver what time we would be gettin into Victoria and looking stressed out at his reply, he also had an envelope with his passport in and a visa appointment letter so we asked him if he was going to the us embassy, he said he was and that his appointment was at 1030, the time was 1020!!? We got into Victoria station soon after; we got off and went for breakfast (again), when eaten we then wandered through the streets towards Hyde pk where we stopped for a minute before ambling our way past the riches of Park lane to grosvenor square where the embassy was. As we got closer I could see the ccusa staff outside and so went up to introduce ourselves, they checked through our documents and put them in order, it was only midday at this point but there wasn't an queue and so I asked if I could go forward now or whether I had to wait for my allotted 1230 time, they said it was fine and I stepped forwards through the roped area to where they checked my letter was appropriate and it tallied with my passport then through the security building which was similar to an airport where you empty your pockets and go through a scanner. All going well so far, I thought. I made my way into the building where again I was asked for documents at a reception before being told to await my number, after about 5mins my number came up and I made my way to the booth where I showed my documents again and where they took my fingerprints, all was going fine I thought, they then asked me to read a leaflet before making my way to the interview booth, I took a while to have a read of the leaflet then walked around the corner to the booth, I Was chaperoned to an empty booth where the interviewer, an typical fat American with oversized grey goatee sat in front of me and looked at me before asking his questions. His first question was asking what I was going to be doing in the states, I replied to work at a camp as a waterfront director, he answered "a bit long in the tooth for that sort of job aintcha", I was stunned at his comment and stutteringly replied that I didn't think so, he then asked me what job I did in his country to which I answered that I was a deputy care manager of a children's home, he asked if I owned the home, confused at the stupidity of his comment I replied that I didn't I was an employee, he then asked me if I was going to return back to this job, at which I replied that I wasnt and that I was going travelling (this was the mistake). The conversational questions stopped at that point and he got a piece of paper from his desk and wrote a code on the top before looking at me and saying that he wasnt going to authorise a visa at this point and that if I wanted to travel I should apply for a travel visa and not a j1 working visa..... I was stunned to say the least, I asked him why and he stated that I didn't fit the criteria and that he wasn't convinced I had strong enough ties to the UK, I pleaded with him if there was anything else I could show him a this point and he stated that the decision had been made and that there was nothing else I could do. I backed away from the booth in what i can only describe as shock and made my way out of the building feeling as if my world had collapsed. I made my way outside to where Jen was lying on the grass in the sunshine listening to tunes, I took the earphones out of her ears and told her what had happened, she looks at me as if to say " stop messing", before realising I wasnt. We sat there for a while trying to understand why and what had happened, Jen was slivat this point consoling me and telling me that it was ok, I must say she did a great job, as she always does, and brought me around so at least I could talk coherently, we then went to go and tell the ccusa guys who briefed me that I could re apply and that ur was probably because I told the truth b saying I wasnt going to return back to my job and I was going to travel that I got refused. Still stunned we left the embassy area and went to find a pub, however we were still in the park lane area and he only bar was full of suited business types and bloody yanks and I didn't feel to welcoming to them at the time and the fact that the beers would have cost a bomb so we wandered through the streets to a more realistic place outside of the posh and rich part of london. Eventually finding a more suitable one we sat down and ordered a beer and some food. Drinking alcohol and eating food felt great!! As prob too would have a cigarette been at this juncture ur I had given up 5 days previously!!? We decided to grab some lunch and found a little place and grabbed a few beers before deciding to do the tourist thing and go and see some sights, we ended up in trafalger square and as it was a lovely day sat on the grass bit near the national gallery and sat and watched the day go by a little. We styaed for over an hour before Jen contacted Becky (who we were staying with for the night) and arranged a meeting place and time, which was that instead of going to her flat and then back out for dinner, for us to stay out and meet them at the restaurant at 7, we chilled out on the grass a little longer before seeing if we were cultured enought to go into the National Gallery and look at paintings, we made it up the steps and inside the building, looked at the map of the 40 odd rooms with paintings in, looked at all the tourists with their cameras and walking tour groups, decided that we weren't cultured enough and left (well it was still a lovely day outside!!) We made our way to a bar and had a ferw pints and charged our phones before leaving and making our way to leicester square to meet Becky, we arrived first and then Becky arrived a half hour later soon followed by her partner (John) what followed was a very nice evening of tapas beer and good company. We left Leicester Sq and made our way to their flat where we bedded down for the night on their inflatable mattress. We woke in the morning and set off into the city again for Jens appointment with fuzzy heads, we said goodbye to Becky and got out near the embassy, where we sat on a bench for a while and looked at the queue of people awaiting entrance to the embassy, different from yesterday was that they were of all ages and from all walks of life, not just the student types that i attended with the day before. Jen and i went to stand in the queue and tried to shake the hangover off, as we got towards the front of the queue i left and went to sit on the grass outside. It was no more than 5mins before Jen came towards me, i was thinking "crikey that didnt take long", Jen said that she didnt have any documents that she needed or any money to pay for the courier (so much for clearing our heads eh?) She got what she needed and then set off again for the embassy. I sat on the grass and waited ....and waited and waited and waited and waited, in fact for over 2 and a half hours sitting outside, wondering what was happening in there, had she been arrested for the heinous crimes she committed as a 15 yr old, had she been extradited or was she in an interrogation, my mind boggled. Time was getting on and so was the fullness of my bladder, i thought i cant go because if i do then she would come out and wonder where i am, i waited until i was nearly wetting myself then got up and walked towards an exit where the embassy was, then as if by fate as i got to the gates Jen came out. I smiled and looked at her in anticipation of the decision and she said "Got it"; Phew, i thought. Well that means that i will be trying again then...! We wandered off to find a toilet and then got out of the riches area and found a cafe for some lunch and a chat about what had been asked of her, it was at this point that we realised that the interviewers go through set questions which determine the outcome of their decision as the initial questions were exactly the same as mine apart from Jen answered the question "Will you be returning to your job", with a firm "Yes". We called CCUSA and spoke to the guys who we met the previous day and informed them of our plans to re-apply, when this was done we were both tired from the stress of the past 24hrs (and prob the alcohol too) and so we made our way towards Hyde Park where we lay on the grass for a while and snoozed a little in the sun before making a slow wander through the park towards the bus station and a bar where we had a beer and got on the coach for our journey back to Wolves and to end the 2 days of stress and emotion that was not expected to say the least!!!
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