Resident Permit - Oleskelulupa
- Cat
- Oct 26, 2016
- 4 min read
This weekend we flew to Washington DC to visit the Finnish Embassy in order to apply for our Resident Permit Cards. It's starting to feel real: we are about to become expats. Somehow when Adam booked the flights, he didn't notice that our flight in was to DCA but our flight out was from IAD, about an hour out of town (we didn't book a rental car).
Apart from that oddity, the trip was a nice long weekend. We even got to celebrate our anniversary (with G in tow) at Ruth's Chris in Crystal City. G may not have eaten the broccoli, but he devoured the steak (it WAS good)!
The view from the restaurant was spectacular and we had a nice time planing the rest of the weekend. We stayed at the Marriott Crystal City which had great access to the Metro directly from the hotel. Since it was a bit chilly, the underground walkway to the metro, shops, and dining saved us a lot of complaining since we didn't bring "winter" gear.
Having grown up traveling to this area annually, I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the city. Perhaps it was the weekend we visited, but the city felt quiet. Other visits to town in the past proved to be overcrowded and stifling. This weekend however, was the perfect introduction to our nation's capital for G. We had cooler weather and virtually no tourists.
We spent Sunday visiting the hot spots everyone must see: the National Monument, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (G's favorite), the Smithsonian Museum of American History, and Georgetown (Dean & Deluca - you have the most amazing red licorice I have ever tasted!). We also went to a few places we had never been before and surprised ourselves. The Smithsonian Castle had a great history lesson and a nice sampler of the kinds of artifacts to expect in each museum. So, although it didn't have any major exhibits, it was nice to see. We had no idea Smithsonian had never set foot on American soil, yet donated his entire estate to the burgeoning country. Impressive, and it left us humbled.
Around 4 PM, after traversing the city on foot all day, we made a last minute decision to check out the National Archives. To be honest, we weren't expecting much, but since we were nearby, we talked ourselves into it. One word: WOW. Perhaps it was because it was close to closing time and the Rotunda was nearly desolate, or the fact that we are about to leave the country and temporarily live in another, or perhaps it was the documents themselves - but seeing firsthand the pages of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as well as the Bill of Rights was really amazing. The room itself is impressive, but the words of our founding fathers are definitely something to see in person. I can't say exactly what I expected to feel when seeing these things, but the sense of patriotism nearly overwhelmed me and is not something I have experienced often. To anyone in the city, I would highly recommend a late-afternoon visit.
On Monday morning we packed up the room, stored our luggage with the concierge, and ate breakfast at the hotel. G ate his weight in berries - I sure hope they have fresh berries in Finland as they are one of his favorite things to eat!
We then took a cab to the Finnish Embassy. In an effort to ensure we weren't late, we got there too early and it hadn't yet opened, so we walked around Embassy Row and a forested trail. It was neat to see so many trees in the middle of such a big city. It also reminded me of a visit many years ago to the Spy Museum and my eyes were drawn to every seemingly innocuous piece of garbage that didn't fit into the landscape around the trail! I'm sure it was all just discarded scraps of paper, gum wrappers, etc. but it was fun to imagine the possibilities.
At 9, we made our way back to the Embassy for our meeting with Annette. Before coming to DC, we had read, reread and read the application again to ensure we didn't leave off anything. Annette had told us if there were any missing documents so would be unable to process our applications. Still, even knowing we had checked and double-checked, I was nervous. The process went fairly smoothly until Annette asked us for our prepaid envelope to mail the Resident Permits! We hadn't brought one, and it definitely wasn't on the list of items to bring. Luckily, there was a post office a few miles away Annette said we could run to.
Walking out of the Embassy, we were unsure where to pick up a taxi. We called the cab company that had dropped us off but they said they they were unable to complete a pick up originating in DC, it had to be in Virginia. So, we downloaded the Uber app and booked our first Uber ride. It was a great experience! We Ubered (sp?) from the Embassy to the post office and back, then from the Embassy to Georgetown and finally from Georgetown back to our hotel. We then took a cab to Dulles airport to fly back home. Next time we will Uber that too as the cab ride was over $80!
Now, we just have to wait up to 6 weeks to find out if my and G's Resident Cards are approved...I don't think my nails will appreciate the next few weeks as I am sure to bite them to the quick in anticipation!
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