My great Arventure

Welcome to The Windy City!

Well, I've finally made it!!!! Hello Chicago :D Although it wasn't easy getting here.

So, originally I was supposed to move down last Wed. (July 26). However, at the border crossing in Wpg Airport I ran into a BIG obstacle. No, not a McDonald's give away... my application for a work visa was denied :S

It wasn't really my fault though. At the border I'm supposed to have a letter drafted by my company which describes what pos'n I'm being hired for and what my job duties will entail. My company had put my job title as 'Management Analyst'.

The problem: Mgmt Analyst is NOT on the list of occupations elgible for the TN (Treaty Nafta) Visa. Mgmt Consultant is on there, but not Mgmt Analyst. So the border officer didn't let me in because of a title. A TITLE?!?!? Something so stupid and arbitrary as a title!!! The officer said, (and I quote) "You're qualified all-right to perform the duties of your position but I can't in "good conscience" grant you a visa because "Mgmt Analyst" is not on the list"! But what could I say. I wasn't about to piss this guy off and have me barred from the country for life. And who could I complain to? His boss would probably just agree with him anyways. It was just so aggrevating that this guy was sticking to the rules so much and being so anal about a minor detail.

The solution: Get the company to change that one word 'Analyst' to 'Consultant'. How ridiculous is that!! So anyways, I went to Chicago as a visitor so I could dump my stuff in the apt.

Chicago is great!!! I've only been here for a few days but I really love this city already. There's always something fun and exciting going on . Tonight I'm going to 'Movie in the Park' night, this wknd there's a free music/street festival and on the 13th Anoushka Shankar is coming to town for a free concert.

Oh, let's not forget that the Cubs and Sox are around, The Magnificent Mile is literally a mile worth of every designer label you can think of (including the recently opened Nokia store which is pretty cool) and there are a gazillion restaurants around. My kind of town ;)

People are quite friendly as well. The security officers at my office building keep complimenting my watch, wallet and sunglasses ("That watch right there is kickin") and I can usually squeeze a smile out of even the saddest looking person.

So all, in all Chicago is good. I like this city. My kind of town. Now why don't you hurry up and visit me? In the words of Gwen Steffani, "Whatcha waitin for"? :P

posted by Arvind @ 6:52 PM