Developed countries vs. developing countries

(This piece was written on August 20th, 2009 while I’m sunbathing by the gorgeous out door pool at a hip gym I worked out regularly reflecting on my own experience of getting a French visa in the summer 2007).

Third world citizen vs. first world citizen, what does it mean?
Developed countries, underdeveloped countries, and developing countries, what are the differences and how? What does it mean to be a citizen of a middle income country? I often asked myself. Realize I have raised questions that bigger than my tiny head could answer I just have to descriptively find meanings of those concepts my ways in reality.

Having some years studies in one of the most developed country on earth, at one of the most elite educational institution, spending sometimes wondering 4 continents observed the differences that happened daily here and there while being a citizen of one underprivileged country on earth and hanging out with some of amazingly poor folks in the slum of Saigon, has shaped and change the course of my life. These experiences taught me to understand the meaning of these raised concepts and I’m going to dissect it here.

In my unsystematic humble opinion, in no particular order, developed citizen means automatic accessibility. Developed citizen means inherited credibility. Developed citizen means possessed a sense of entitlement over governmental institutions and organizational systems. Developed citizen means your liability is cared for. It means you’re insured and there are institutions that willing and wanted to insure you. It means your security is being taken care of and you, more importantly you won’t be barricaded by majorities of national border gates since you do not need to apply for visa when you go to other countries in the same club with yours. Nice, isn’t it?

But oh no if you are a developing nation passport holder, you can’t have access to that niceness. How about that???

Being a developing citizen and was born in underdeveloped country, you automatically don’t have those privileges and you have to work darn hard to earn that. Sometimes, you were refused to access to all services made available for fellows human beings (from developed nation) just because….. ironically and precisely it might sound, …. You are not came from developed club. Too bad, isn’t it? What a shame!

Summer 2007, I got a grant to go to do archival research in Paris and Aix-en-Provence in France. A small university grant that could help with travel expensive and enough for a few French coffee. In academic world, having a grant meaning people pay you for your time in which you spend maximum 20 percentage of your 24/7 to do work-related jobs and 80 percentages of your time doing personal-related affairs. Maybe this is not the case for every academics, but it is for me as a going to be academic who holding an developing nation passport.

I was visiting a friend of mine in Norfolk, Virginia at the time. My apartment in Ithaca was subletting for a friend. I spent 4 months trying to contact different European consulates to grant me a visa to go to Europe in the summer. The Netherlands refused. Swiss didn’t even bother to talk over the phone. Italy requested so many extra papers which I don’t have. Germany initially agreed to give a tourist visa, then outrageously took the visa money and sent my passport back with a note: under our law, you can’t sue us. French politely denied on the phone: if you don’t have a valid US visa, we won’t give you a visa to go to France, and for the two months that you’re there, we would like to see your bank account to have enough $100/day for the 2 months that you’re there, and by the way, we would like to see hotel booking and return air ticket, sil vous plait! I showed them my US visa appointment confirmation with US embassy in Paris with I managed to book online from NY which cost me a heaping 14 euros, but every effort seem to go in vain. After 4 months trying, I went from many options to 1 option. The mission description: get a Canadian visa, go to Canada, then get a US visa, then go back to State side and finally get a French visa (considering my original need is: to have a European visa so that I can go to France to do research in the summer).

I spent precisely a week on the road, and 4 months of contacting to got all my visa process settled before I can even set foot to Charles the Gaul airport. One of my American friends, he just bought the ticket online, and off he goes to France. Just like that!

Here was my condition: enrolled as grad student at Cornell University. Have 15K in saving account. Have 9K in checking account. Have endowment of 300,000 for my study from the Ford Foundation and Cornell University. Health insurance covered. US visa expired. In needs a French visa. No driving license. Absolutely having no credit debt and have a clean crime record. All of that didn’t do me any good. The French suspected that I might as well overstay and start earning euros on their land! Yup, pretty ironic!

The week in details:

1. Monday night, took overnight bus from VA to NYC to apply for Canada visa. Bus left at midnight and arrived to China town in NYC around 6a.m Tuesday morning. Sleepless night. Seat was not comfortable and fellow Chinese passengers were too loud on the phone ALL NIGHT LONG. One way bus ticket was $25.
2. Had a baked apple pie and a hot coffee at McDonald in order to use their bathroom so that I can change my outfit, brush my teeth, comb my hair, put all some make-up for a presentable look for an visa interview at Canadian consulate.
3. Took metro to Canadian consulate. Got in line by 8a.m, had all the paper filled in the night before. Pay fee $80 for Canadian visa. Waited. By 11:30, got my Canadian visa.
4. Grabbed a take out sandwich from Wendy. Run for my life literally from Canadian consulate to Port Authority bus station in NYC, just in time to catch the 12:30 Shortline bus from NYC to Ithaca, NY. It was supposedly a 5 hours drive. One way bus ticket was $45.
5. Bus arrived to Ithaca late than expected. Arrived to Ithaca by 6p.m. Crashed for a few hours at a friend house. Showered.
6. 10p.m (same day Tuesday), a friend was graciously offered to drive me from Ithaca to Quebec, Canada and back. Applied for US visa in Quebec. Why far away Quebec (and not 4 hours drive Toronto) was another story by itself! The drive was 10 hours non-stop, and probably 12 hour drive if we take some stops and doing paper work at the border. Take note: next time learn how to drive so that you don’t bother your friend. Gas cost for the trip was $120. Hostel cost at a university’s guest room were $80 for both.
7. Arrived to Quebec around 9a.m Wed morning. (2 sleepless nights check!). Get lost for like an hour to find parking lot (Quebecois are freaking Francophone-conscious; they have all their street signs in French and the roads were narrow and my uptight-US midwest small town- never left the country- male friend are being ridiculous about asking for direction. It might cost his masculinity as a male or something) Changes clothed for a presentable look in the parking lot! Yes! In the parking lot. Found US consulate by 10:10a.m. just shy 5 mins earlier for my interview at 10:15. Paid US visa fee $131.
8. Drive around town to find free couches offered by a fellow couch surfer. Found the place, met a nice Quebeccois hostess who was a young lawyer and who offered us a couch in her living room and a private room for free. US consulate in Canada don’t issue same-day visa. They need 24 hours paper processing. (Side note: to successfully secure an US visa interview appointment, the week before this day, I had to reserve an interview slot over the internet which cost $14. Had problem with online reservation system, have to call to a human-talked service which required to pay by the minutes to fix their online registration technical problem on my own expenses. The 10 min talked cost $15 something.
9. Picked up US visa at 4p.m Thursday afternoon. Drove around to find hostel to stay over night. My US male friend does not feel comfortable to stay in his own room offered by stranger couch surfer.
10. 8a.m Friday morning drove from Quebec to Ithaca. Arrived to Ithaca 6p.m same day. Crashed at a friend house for Friday night and whole day Saturday. Try and success to secure online a visa interview appointment with the French consulate in NYC on Monday. A miracle gift from God! Since securing an online appointment in such a short time during the summer is not that easy.
11. 2 am Sunday morning took bus from Ithaca to NYC in hope of getting a French visa. Bus arrived to NYC around 7a.m Bus ticket $45.
12. Had a baked apple pie and a hot coffee in McDonald in order to use their bathroom so that I can change my outfit, brush my teeth, comb my hair, put all some make-up for a presentable look for an visa interview at French consulate. Contracted a deja-vous feeling: hrm…I did it before.
13. Got in line by 8a.m by the French consulate. Paid French visa fee $80. Had interview. Convinced French consulate officer that I have at least $100 per day for my entire 2 months stay to do research in French (show him my bank account, my saving account, my hotel reservation, my return airline ticket, my DS2019 paper where the Ford Foundation said: we invest $300,000 for this young lady to fulfill her PhD degree at Cornell, show him my university transcript with GPA over 3.7, show him letter of introduction from Cornell University).
14. Wondered around Central Park like a real bum for 3 hours. Take a nap on the park bench which bag trap across my shoulders.
15. Showed up at French consulate by 3p.m to pick up my French visa (same day process).
16. Got on Chinese bus around 5p.m to head back to Norfolk, VA. Paid bus ticket for $25. Having another deja-vous feeling: Gosh, I’ve done this before!
17. Arrived to VA might night Tuesday morning. Mission accomplished. Slept for 1 day straight.

Sometime you have an urge of cursing, to say bad things, the urge of being exploded on somebody or something. The urge of hitting and getting somebody to get hurt just to release the level of annoyance, frustration, humiliation, that you encountered because you happened to held a developing passport and being a citizen from developing country, but you were just deadly tired and loose all of your energy in that tornado of paper process and identity screening process. The only thing you remember were and have your last energy to utter out these few words: thank Gods, it’s over!

How the heck you supposed to have the sense of entitlement, accessibility, credibility, confident, feel of security after all of that? How? But being a developing nation passport holder, I began to realize my ability to cope with difficulty and adversity and my hidden skills of trying to get around problems. However, all of these abilities also consume the bulk amount of my energy which left very little room for creative thoughts. Little did I know if I possess these hidden resilient abilities had I have developed nation passport? and no wonder my creative thought often smell sleep deprived!

I also learned option is a good thing. While too many options might lead to different problems but option does reserve your ability to chose, and it is a fundamental right everybody must have. When you have option, you have better chance to have opportunities shoved your ways. Bottom line, it is pretty nice to have option.

When quitting is not an option, and your have exhausted all of your rationale meaning and your brain ceases to make sense of why things happened too ridiculously illogical, the only thing you can do is go with the flow (even that means being death fish in Sarah Palin’s term), and the backbone thought that hold you up and move you forward is hope. (perhaps you might want to blame you mom why she does not choose developed country to give birth you) but I found that argument is fruitless because your mom might not have that option herself.

Next year, Vietnam is going to become a middle income country, I don’t know what it really mean, but one thing I do hope that we will register for more developed nation clubs and international organizations so folks out there will stop being paranoid about us underdog clubs trying to illegally overstay and suck up their buttery welfare.