Worse than the IRS

This summer Joanne's conference is in Finland, so I'll meet her in Helsinki around the 28th of July.

We'll be so close that a visit to St. Petersburg, Russia, seems like a good idea.

I had no idea, though, how much of a pain in the ass getting a Russian visa could be.

The two-page application asks the normal questions like age, place of birth, etc., but also asks for "all professional, civil and charity organizations which you are (were) a member of, or contribute (contributed) to, or work (worked) with." Hmm... is is better to list few or many? Big or small? Civic or political? Then of course there's the question about "special skills...related to nuclear, biological, or chemical activities?" As if any would-be terrorist planning to blow up the Winter Palace would say yes to this question.

After spending more than a half hour at the travel agency working on the application I had to give up the idea of finishing it, and bring it home so I can look up a phone number for the place I worked three jobs ago.

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