Back in business

My new passport arrived today, ten days ahead of when the Embassy promised to deliver it.  It feels sort of odd to have a clean, thin document again, pages crisp at the edges and unmarked by visa stamps.  Strange, too, to see an expiration date of 2027.  Where will I be when that date rolls around, 72 years old?

Stranger still is the question of what security there really is in these documents.

My nationality is as a US citizen, permanent UK resident, and Netherlands long-term resident.  My domicile of origin is American, my domicile of choice is European.  It’s all a bit tangled, moreso with Brexit which will split my Dutch and British status in unknown and possibly contradictory ways.

And, as the recent ban on US entry to Green Card holders demonstrates, while citizenship is a right, residency is a privilege.   A ‘Green Card’ is a document conferring permanent US residency.  It is  earned by living in the US for years, taking integration tests, passing government reviews and documentation checks, spending a majority of time in the US for many years, and not engaging in any activities that are either illegal or economically dependent. 

It’s not much different in the UK and NL: 5 years uninterrupted permit, civil integration including language and culture, maintain nationality, yearly review of status, and a history of tax payments on economic contributions.

The process is time consuming and expensive, takes persistence and resilience, and establishes beyond doubt your personal and political history and intentions.

It is ‘extreme vetting’.

Charles Cooke wrote a thoughtful piece on this topic last week in the National Review, a respected conservative US magazine.  He reminds the nativists that permanent residents are, indeed, different.

By law and by expectation, this country is their home; their base; the ground in which their roots are planted. Because of this, permanent residents are able to purchase, own, and carry firearms; they are required to register with the selective service; and they are treated for tax and welfare purposes as are U.S. citizens. They can’t vote or serve on a jury, but, other than, they effectively enjoy all the liberties that natural born Americans enjoy. When they re-enter the country, the agent says “Welcome Home,”.

They are not Americans, and they mustn’t pretend to be. But they are as close as one can get without being one.

I do feel a bit threatened and insecure when British and EU politicians talk about yearly fees for residents and of reinstating visa fees.  I worry that barring permanent residents from the US invites the same at other borders.  And dual citizenship should not be a litmus test for loyalty or patriotism.

Finally, its important to remember that virtually all immigrants are neither refugees or terrorists.  Like me, we seek opportunity and a better life, and are willing to work for it and to sacrifice for it.  I read a wonderful essay by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee, Sizzler and the Search for the American Dream, that is more typical of most of us:

Our family immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s. We left behind our friends, our family, our language, our customs and everything we knew. We squeezed everything that was important to us into two giant, seventy-kilo bags per person, and still managed to have room to wedge in our hopes and dreams.

Tuesday’s links

‘back at Woodside 5 after a nice weekend in Cambridge.  LastMinute.com produced a deep discount at the University Arms on Parker’s Piece, a lovely old hotel with wood accents and Tiffany lighting, soft bed tucked at the top of a few steps up into the room, 20 year-old scotch in the evening and expansive breakfasts overlooking the green at sunrise.

I needed the break.  We’re still waiting for key lab results to arrive that will define the future of the business.  Preparations for the move are ongoing, but I’m finding that making reasonable decisions and good choices incrementally are perversely leading to bad outcomes.  Unexpected events involving people at work and in the US added to the worry. 

It all got to me more than I realized, making for worried days and sleepless nights all week. With the arrival of a sunny, cold weekend, it was nice to just relax in elegant surroundings and distract a little with others.  It gave me the chance to separate from work and Poole, to browse bookstores and colleges, to try a new Turkish restaurant, and to dream plans for my upcoming birthday celebration.

…and caught up with a few worthwhile expat links and readings:

• Holland Expat Center South has a new guide to Maastricht and South Limburg that is worth checking out if you live in, or plan to visit, the area.
• And a shout–out for Invader Stu, a fellow blogger who has been recognized as a finalist for this year’s Bloggie Weblog Award as Best European Blog.  He’s always fun and insightful to read, and worth your vote.
• If you’re thinking about going expat later in life, the Times had some good thoughts on health insurance.  You should think carefully both about the quality of care available and the cost of your insurance policy: remember that a home policy that covers travel abroad may not cover care while living abroad (I was surprised to find that both my life and disability insurance plans had qualifiers that limited benefits if I was living overseas.
• Heffers, a major academic bookstore in Cambridge, has completely reorganized their interior.  It’s much simpler, many fewer books. much less interesting to browse.  Most tellingly, shelves of weighty books have been replaced by kiosks of ‘simple guides’ to academic subjects, problems, life, and Great Ideas that feel like an affront to deep thought and genuine insight.  ‘especially in a place like Cambridge.

• If you’re expat, you travel; if you travel, you pile up the frequent flier points.  The programs are getting tougher though: Delta has instituted spending requirements alongside mileage thresholds for top-tier qualification.  Lounge acc3ess costs over $600 per year, double what it cost a couple of years ago.  It may be time to reconsider costs and benefits, advises the Times.
• The Artique Gallery in central Cambridge is opening their spring show with seascape painter Rebecca Lardner.  Interesting individually, her seaside villages and round-eyed animals become repetitive and kitsch when multiplied into a wallpaper of near-identical images.  This holds for almost every artist exhibited in the gallery, unfortunately.

  

• Alec Baldwin recorded a really good interview with Billy Joel, including a discussion of whether marriages are more likely to fail when one partner is immersed in creative work.  Is there enough, indeed anything, left to give to the relationship?  It’s a recurring question (see Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George”) that I think poses real issues for even the most committed couples.  That’s why it was also nice to read Katy Guest’s thoughts in the Independent about the value of simply being kind to one another.
• Finally, in the ‘too true’'; category, this is, indeed, what the world seems to be coming to.   Java programming may be the new ‘Language of Life’, just like ‘Her’ might be the vision of future relationships.

Sunday reflections

There’s definitely an autumn tang in the air: crisp cool mornings, leaf-damp fogs, combines chewing through fields of wheat along the road to Royston.  My brother says  that there’s fresh snow in Colorado, just above the highest runs.  It’s really been a short summer, late to start and not enough breaks to restore the mind and spirit.

The FT asked about whether a retreat is better than a vacation, separating to focus on mental peace and well-being instead of connected physical relaxation and exploration.  The authors suggest using the silence to confront what is most real in the world, rather than turning your back on it.  But, for me, stillness awakes demons, and I wouldn’t try it without a companion to talk me through the shadows.

A few Sunday reading recommendations for expats:

Pirate Bay browser avoids censorship: I pay my TV license; I subscribe to NetFlix.  But if I want to download the Newsroom or Amazing race, watch 3 Days of the Condor or The Notebook, I have to pull a torrent file.  ISPs gave gotten very aggressive about blocking index sites like Pirate Bay; this utility helps.

Is Europe Still Worth the Schlep:  Has enough European culture already crossed the Atlantic to make a vacation irrelevant?  Superficially, yes, but there are yawning cultural and social differences that have to be experienced.  And castles and wines still don’t transport well…

House Hunting…Amsterdam:  What does $3m buy in the capital?  I’ve reached the age where photos of aspirational architecture is the new porn, and the slide set is lovely (although the rooms are surprisingly tight).  Alternatively, House Hunt…St. Maartens or Cambridge.

Britain is slamming its doors:  The barriers being erected against working expats grow by the day, and this FT essay gets a lot of it right.  12 months short of converting my Tier 1 to a permanence, the changing social climate leaves me wondering if it’s desirable any more.

My camera comes back from the shop tomorrow; I’ve missed pulling it out for a quick shot whenever light and motion catch my eye. 

Meanwhile, my Lumia 720 phone surprised me: the quality of the pictures has really been good.  They are sharp and vivid, twilight performance has been excellent.  Light balance is poor, it stops down to the  brightest part of the scene, overexposing sky and deepening shadows.  The aspect ratio is panoramic and the lens fogs easily, but those are minor considering the convenience. 

I can see where a phone camera might replace my pocket cam within another year,  even without a macro focus.

I’m still  broadening into cooking and container gardening: Leeks and Thyme are my current explorations. 

I put leeks in heavy erwtensoep, Dutch pea soup, but little else.  They are a staple in Wales, creamed leek and leak-and-potato dishes elsewhere.  I’ve got a good basic version going, but need to find the right spices to bring it alive.

Herbs are individuals.  Water and trimming that makes chives, basil, or mint happy is fatal to thyme, dill, and rosemary, who each like a full head of hair.  Thyme, in particular, is tricky, it insults easily and forgives slowly. Hopefully, with a better approach, it flourishes.

And, if wash hangs on the line overnight, is wet with heavy dew in the morning, should I let it dry or rewash it?

Facebook Messenger and Skype are messaging services that support SMS text and voice calls. Each  is cross platform, so I have copies on my phone, tablet, and computers. And each relays an indicator to friends that I am online or off.

But these programs run in the background, so as long as any device is on, I am on.  If I shut down one device, I’m probably still logged in on another, so friends think I’m around when I’m not.  I log in to find ‘chat heads’ asking why I don’t answer; every device in the house and car rings when a Skype call comes in.

It’s becoming socially problematic and impossible to manage. We have to get better state synchronization or I’ll have to start restricting apps to just one device.

And, last but never least, CamStent’s CFO, Clare Twemlow, finished the Mongol Derby successfully tied for third place!  Amazing Race, indeed: ‘can’t wait to see her pictures.