Category Archives: Admin

One step nearer

Admin, Friends, Travel,

Well, perhaps more than one. I now have flights. This is certainly a whole lot nearer than I have ever been before. I am still not assuming that it will all go well. In fact, I am trying to cultivate a healthy cynicism about the prospect. Regardless of this, I went through this morning (thanks to some marvelous friends) to Pretoria to complete the visa application process. Applying for a teacher’s (E-2) visa for Korea involves sending a whole bunch of crucial and hard-to-obtain documents to Korea where the school will start the process and then, once you’ve received a visa issuance number/visa certificate from them, applying at the local consulate or embassy – which, by the way, are in different places in the South African case.

It was a beautiful day for a drive to Pretoria. For those who have never done the drive, the trip between South Africa’s economic hub and her capital, is generally less than pleasant for the driver. There used to be miles and miles of open space and quiet road between the two cities. These days most of that has been filled with cluster-housing developments and the quiet roads have morphed into raging, over-subscribed highways. One of the reasons for the development of SA’s Gautrain is to try and deal with the congestion on the N1 and related routes between Joburg and Pretoria.

Anyway, the drive, for a passanger, is quite enjoyable when the winter sun is shining from a clear blue sky and the company is good. The trip doesn’t take all that long. In fact I think we probably spent more time wandering around Menlyn Park shopping centre (which is huge and definitely designed to confuse) than driving through. At least it felt like it, but that may just have been the result of an innate dislike of shopping centres, even when they’re pleasantly empty on a Monday morning.

Eventually heading off to find the Korean consulate, we spent a slightly nerve-wracking little while following various roads, almost (but not quite) certain we were going in the right direction. Eventually we drove past the address listed in my guide-book as where to find the Korean Embassy. Isn’t it inevitable that you will always drive past the place you need to be. When we turned back and reached the Embassy, we were informed that the consulate was around the block and down the road.

We ultimately found the consulate and handed in all the documents. Which was remarkably easy. I am torn between joy at the lack of bureaucractic hoops to jump through and fear that this may simply indicate that everything will now go pear-shaped and fall apart again. I am hoping for the former and trying not to think to much about it.

Instead I’m focusing on how lovely a day it is in Gauteng. And it really is. A slight breeze, pale blue sky, stunning sunshine and dry winter grass. It really is lovely to be able to spend a little bit of time here before, all things being equal, I head off into the sun… rise, actually… and summer.

The tyranny of administrative bureaucracy

Admin, Travel

Admin terrifies me. Not that I’m disorganised. Actually, I can be very organised. And logical. I’m quite logical about organising things. Which may be the problem. I sometimes think that logic is an alien concept to administrative bureaucracy. At every step, they have another, different form that has to be filled in. Sometimes it is a form that asks for exactly the same information as the last form. Sometimes it is mostly identical information except for that one obscure question that you never thought anyone would ask and that you can see no reason for them to ask and that you never actually bothered to find out. And they can never tell you WHY they need the information. Or why the last form you filled out can’t suffice for this step, too.

And just when you think you have it all sorted out, they announce that they’ve changed some of the regulations and you have to go back to the beginning. Or some muppet forgot to tell you that you needed to have photos. Or to fill out the form in triplicate. Or to stand on your head and click you heels together three times while singing Sarie Marais and smiling at the imaginary baby.

The worst part, the most terrifying part of administrative bureaucracy is that they have complete power over you. They can do whatever they want. On a whim, because he/she woke up in a bad mood, it is fully within the power of an admin person to lose/reject/terminate a crucial application or piece of paper with absolutely no explanation. And there is nothing you can do. You will be sent right back to the beginning of the queue. Months of admin and waiting and fighting with various government departments will dissolve into nothing – like a disprin ad – and you will have no choice but to start all over again. It’s like bad teachers and lecturers who spend all their time bemoaning the performance of their classes when the actual problem is that they don’t bother to set clear question papers.

And it’s not as if you can phone them and yell at them. There would be nothing quite as satisfying as going up to or calling an admin person who is messing you around or delaying you and yelling at them. But that would be counterproductive. Because upsetting them will simply make things take longer or get lost altogether. Assuming you could even get them on the phone. Answering phones (at any time in any manner, never mind  promptly and professionally) seems to be a section that was skipped in most admin people’s training. Especially if they work for government.

My admin journey seems now to be safely out of the hands of the South African bureaucracy, which I fervently hope is a good thing. A few things I’ve learned in the 5-month long process of obtaining all the documents required to apply for a visa:

1. Don’t, whatever you do, live in a small town on the other side of the country from the departments you need to fight with

2. The post office is actually a lot more efficient and effective than you’ve been told. Couriers not so much. Postnet is amazing!

3. The DFA will send back your documents and do what you ask but are incapable of answering their phones or email, so you’ll get your docs, you just won’t be able to track their progress

4. Never, ever, ever try and get admin out of any South African department in the same month that there is at least one public holiday ever week (April) and a national election. Just don’t. It will make you sad.

This afternoon, I am sending off all of the paperwork to another country, hopeful that I’ve filled out all the forms correctly, that there is nothing missing, that they will be a little quicker than my own country’s bureaucrats and that no-one loses, refuses or rejects any of the crucial bits of paper it’s taken 5 months to collect.

Made of fail

Admin, Russia, Why,

I should have know. I did know, I suppose. Or at least I anticipated. I thought it was too good to be true. But I let myself believe. Rookie mistake.

This blog was started to chronicle my Russian adventure. I was supposed to be flitting off to Moscow in January to go and spend a year teaching English in the winter wonderland country I’ve always longed to visit. It was all on track. I was just about to confirm flights and visa. The letter I was waiting for even arrived. Stupid of me to think that that might mean that I could relax and enjoy the anticipation. Stupid, stupid.

Contractions in the Russian economy, global financial crisis, the actions of stupidly irresponsible American and international governments in not curbing reckless lending which have made it impossible for ordinary, responsible businessess to stay in bussiness, etc. etc.

Sorry but your ideal job in your dream country which has been the one thing that has kept you from seriously contemplating suicide for the past four months is really just a silly dream and would never actually come true.

Made of fail.