I am not giving up yet

well, well, after a really bad feeling on Wednesday, I feel a little bit more optimistic now after the last few days.
Thursday night, my sister and I met with Ilka T. [no, not the Ilka you all know :) there is another girl with this rare name] and Yvonne, two of my sister’s friends. Apparently, Ilka T. is about our age and she has lived in Sacramento for about a year and is scheduled to go back there in January. She works for a European business in Sacramento and she told me that she had also applied for an H-1B visa this summer and got it approved through an “emergeny order” that was filed directly with the Immigration Services to emphasize that she was very much needed for the business and that nobody but her could do the job. She explained to me that I should definitely try to convince my boss and sponsor to file again and to explain that I have to return to the US and that my work is crucial to the USGS research and that there is nobody in the US who could replace me.
I would think that the letter that the USGS composed for my waiver application should be sufficient to explain to the USCIS that I am very important for the government.
Ilka’s sponsor was a private company, so a supporting letter from the USGS in my case should be even more convincing to the Immigration Office.

It was really good to talk to Ilka T. since she made me feel a lot more comfortable that there might still be a chance to obtain the visa and it was also very cool to talk to someone who knows Sacramento and the surrounding area :) it’s too bad I didn’t know her last year – we could have met for a coffee or something ;) – but who knows, maybe we’ll be able to do that soon.

Friday was my Dad’s birthday. In the morning and afternoon, I helped my Mom prepare some stuff for the party in the evening. We had a nice get-together with family and friends and my Mom had planned out a very nice buffet with a pot roast, rosemary potatoes and salad, tiramisu and semolina pudding as well as a yummy cheese platter:) yes, we do eat well in Germany :)
It was a fun night and people stayed until late.

Saturday morning, I went shopping with my Mom, had a cappuccino with her at the local coffee shop and in the afternoon Ilka came over and we went to Düsseldorf to meet with Kim. Kim spent the weekend at her friend Pia’s place in Düsseldorf and we had decided to meet for some coffee in the afternoon. We went to the “Mangold“, a nice café bar/lounge/restaurant-type of place in Düsseldorf-Derendorf, and had a really nice time together :)
Ilka and I spent the evening on the couch watching almost all “Dancing with the Stars”-episodes drooling over Joe ;) that was fun! :)
We slept in this morning, had some breakfast with my parents and sister and spent another few hours talking on the couch… what a lazy, but fun weekend!
Later in the afternoon, after Ilka left, my parents and I went to the electoral office to cast our ballots, because today was election day and our chancellor Schröder had called for the vote of confidence.
As we know by now, the election was really tight and not satisfying for any of the parties. The CDU didn’t get the absolute majority with the help of the FDP and the SPD and Green Party didn’t make it either… We actually don’t know yet who’s going to be the governing party since different coalitions are still under consideration…. I guess, we’ll see what happens ;)