Deported Being
As a few of you have been told/heard/read,
An attempt to renew my visa at the Greek border has resulted in an exact opposite outcome. It turned out that I have overstayed a single entry visa. Completely unaware of it being a ’single entry’ thus that has made me illegal since my student residence permit expired in October.
I will need to leave the country asap and will not be able to come back for at least three months. On top of that I will have to pay a fine for each day overstayed. I’m quite lucky to not be deported immediately to a Greek island, it would have been a sexy (mis)adventure but begging the custom officer and telling him that my whole life’s possession is in Istanbul was a wiser move.
The bright side is that I have a working visa for London and would not have to go back to the far east. The decision made is to fly back to London next week and utilize the work visa for a slightly longer term.
Definitely did not see this coming but am doing my very best to be very objective about the situation.
I’ve made Istanbul my home and it will be so whether i’m physically in it or not. Perhaps to start here from scratch is rather ambitious and in the last couple of months it has been extremely challenging if not foolishly so. With a new language to grasp, I am reduced to a five month old baby, it has improved but only to buy more groceries and impress parents to marry off their sons to me.
The stint I have with the agency has never been a stable affair, especially so since i lost all my clients to the global crisis. Perhaps London would be a more practical option despite the economic crisis. If anything would have to work in contradiction, I’ll be one to embrace it. Perhaps why i am not half as emotional as i was when i left the city the first time around. i have found a home that i cannot live in for now, like everything else in Istanbul and of Istanbul, life as it is, is an oxymoron.
love, you’re making it sound less severe. how are you holding up, really?
Comment by jan — December 15, 2008 @ 5:55 am
apart from the fact that i really really hate packing, i’m alright. no worries darling.
Comment by Tutee Ng — December 15, 2008 @ 3:09 pm